New-York tribune., 1910-01-28
NO NEW CHARTER
SLIGHT CHANGES ARE
RECOMMENDED.
Report against Radical Gen.
trali1ation of authority as
Fauored by Iuins Board.
rBy Telegraph to The Tribune. ]

BY Telegraph to The Tribune.
Albany, Jan. 21-The report of the
legislative committee appointed to re-
port on a new charter for New York
City will be presented tomorrow. No
charter will be put in with the report.
and the report itself will recommend
only comparatively slight changes from
the existing conditions. The committee
will declare against any radical central
ization of authority as was recon-
mended in the draft charter presented
last year by the WINS commission. This
report will recommend that no changes
be made in the powers and duties of the
members of the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment until the expiration of
the terms of the present members. Then
there should be a separation of the ex-
ecutive duties of the borough presidents
from their power of appropriation as
members of the Board of Estimate, the
prepared at present to say whether the
new members of the Board of Estimate
who should replace the borough presi-
dents in that body should be elected by
the city at large or one from each bor-
ough.
A new department will be recon-
mended by the committee-a department
of hospitals, with commissioner ap-
pointed by board of trustees. appointed
I'm turn by the Mayor. This department
is to have charge of all hospitals sup
ported by public funds except those used
for contagious or pestilential diseases,
which are to he under the jurisdiction of
the Board of Health. A commissioner of
accounts and salaries appointed by the
Mayor also will be recommended. to
give to the Mayor opportunity for the
fullest investigation of all department
matters.
FISCAL SUPERVISOR FAVORED.
The committee will not favor CEN
trail purchasing bureau, substituting
therefor a fiscal supervisor. who shall
purchase supplies in the open market
The Board of Estimate will decide what
supplies shall be bought by contract,
delegating to this fiscal supervisor the
duty of purchasing these supplies on
competitive bidding and distributing
them to the different departments. AS
has been indicated in The Tribune, the
radical difference in this treatment of
the charter question from that of the
WINS commission is due quite as much
to the fact that a fusion Board of Esti-
mate now is in Office as to the fact that
the legislative committee was entirely
open to the influence of those politicians
who last year opposed the abolition OF
the borough form of government The
committees report is based chiefly on
the notion that the people of the city
indicated at the election that they were
satisfied with borough government. but
wanted to have it clean and we'll con-
Quoted.
The result will be that any new char
ter adopted this year will be a change
only in detail from the present scheme
of government in New York City. One
important change, however will be made
if the Legislature acts on the commit
tees report. That will be the abolition
of sinking funds TO which specific reve-
nues of the city are pledged and the
adoption of policy requiring running
expenses of the city to be paid from the
annual tax levy. Thus, the budget each
year would be an accurate index 10 the
oity's expenditures, and the possibility
of a sharp rise in the tax rate wouId r.
an effective deterrent os municipal ex-
travagance.
The committee disapproves of the
transfer OF the bureaus for collection NJ