New-York tribune., 1909-01-27
city EMPLOYEES ANGRY
r1FJRS4LIRIES HELD UP.
rommany Men Said To Be Blocking
Change in Metz's Office.

se their nav has been held up through
pss,t5e delay in installing the system Of
t,,u;ing in the Finance Department employees
soD police Commissioner Bingham, Park Com
SSo-- Smith and Street Cleaning Commissioner
l,.srds are angry
- Bruere. direetor Of ihe Bureau Of Mu-
re- Research charges that the criticism of the
sSH. Is horn OF resentment At an honest attempt
pD o,,t the old system Of graft and favoritism
t - certiacaiion Of rayrons and the payment of
nUo,nsf the city. Park Commissioner Smith
p1N omnlaiHed 70 the Mayor that his men are un-
a. 6eprived Of their pay and that the loan
-. are plying their business with unfortunate
S. src-s The complaint against the delay is
esnsEal ,-.--- -...-. ~. ..+,,,,+,z
-. is being used TO overhaul the system OF
,,tng al for the glory of the Bureau OF MI
- Research, a private business enterprise
,gh which the bureau will be a large finan-
- etner in its dealings with other municipalities
e to, Of II all is the declared intention of some
- aegrieVed persons 10 nave AIR. Bruere and
A Cleaveland, his associate, go on the wit
-. stand before the Cassidy committee and tell
-, the plan and scope of their bureau and en-
stsn the public with reference to its financial
bsskers
= ,s understood that John d. Rockefeller, An
= carpegaie r Fulton Cutting and Bayard
Icing contribute together $4,000 for the mainte-
&c cf the bureau. When Mr.. Bruere was asked
- tbe threat 70 have him investigated he re
pied hotly:
aTr1 give $500 if they viii bring us before the
cassidy committee. There is nothing that we do
= have that we wish conceal Our financial
z.,te-s include John y. Rockefeller. Andrew Car
nsrie Felix Warburg. Jacob H Schif, E H Van
,en Mr. Cutting and Mr.. Segrnan- They give
,ns ranging from sl00O up. AS TO its being
tainted money I wish TO say that if 1t were not
.- This tainted money the reforms needed IN tue
,st-,s accounting necessary 10 stop grating and
ssslt.g might never be effected
rom present indications it VIII be another week
~ :Eo before city employees receive their salaries,
s.ts- weekly or monthly. Undoubtedly one Of the
4rcipsl reasons why it is 50 difficult TO make the
rssnge in the accounting system is the opposition
~ Tar7ranv men, who are hoping for a return OF
=. good old times and oppose any new ideas in
accounting. This does not &ppiy 10 lle SoiiiiiilS
sinners mentioned
Police Commissioner Bingnam's clerks discovered
,ht tbe forms sent for his payrols were defective
,5s rss told by the Controllers Office 10 go ahead
sns use the old forms. The new forms made no
,ov5sior for fines or pension payments. This was
sr1c5eEt 10 anger General Bingham, who sent
to e+ter 10 the Mayor. denouncing fads and frills
!, the reform Of accounting methods. OF his let
,.r Dr. CleaTeland said yesterday at the Con-
ueiler's otlcs:
~An honest analysis of the Commissioners letter
will show thet every one of his material assertions
q untrue He may think they are true because
n. has been told certain things by his subcrdlnates
hyt they are untrue, just the same
Ninety per cent Of the delay VIII tse eiiiiliii''Vu
.4fblp thirty DAYS and the other 10 per cent Will
disappear IN the next sixty days, saAa Inc Coh-
,r,srs representative 1t is impossible 10 change
.n accounting system affecting seventy thousand
,- ,tera +-renty-fi15e thousand different kinds OF
vouchers are used without causing more OF lees
sssv 40 one had the nerve TO try 10 make the
change until Metz took hold Of the department. ana
now that he is doing it, certain heads OF depart
-suts and employees who are inconTenlehced are
yelling blue murder
Mr. Br7,ere and Dr. Cleveland then began TO cite
Instances Of gross violations OF the ClVh service
hx which. they said, would be impossible after
a. new accounting system is established, as the
sriacation CT items viii hold some one definitely
rsEoasible.
~7be-a mas the case of a woman helper in Belle
Evs al S75o q year She really was purchasing
szent. handling ssDOGo in supplies every year
did she DO il honestly
That isn't the point said Dr. Cleaveland. 1t
gas a violation Of the Civil Service law, and as
such shoald not be permitted Then there was d
laborer used as a stenograpiler by Borough PTesl-
dent Coler. Under she law he could be prosecuted
and sent to prison for seven years for an offence
Ike that. The new system Of accounting viii stop
al such violations and viii the citizens hun
6reds Of thousands Of dollars year.
President Ahearn said he had his January pay
rolls made out in the new way TO comply with the
Controllers request, Hut afterWard was asked 10
have them made out IN the old Way. by some one
IL the Controller Office but he wouldn't DO It.
he said he had been asked TO certify on the 10Th
Il The month. payrolls of men up 20 the 18th lie
fefused to DC H. He had received no complaints
fEon his Of delays, he said.
When Mayor Mcclellan wrote his annual message
he was fayoraby impressed with the work Of the
bureau, bat he is longer enthusiastic.