New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-12-04

ever, in applying the narrow principles
Of trade To the question. The accounts of
each one OF the twenty different branches
Of the government which now own auto
mobiles are kept in e different way. and
so it is almost impossible to disentangIe
the statistics which he requires Each
car has been bought as it was wanted.
and so there has been no opportunity for
a single firm 70 make a special low price
, on a lump order for several cars. 1t is
well known that while such large orders
would effect a saving OF thousands of
dollars on even ten or a dozen cars. they
would make hard feelings on the part Of
the dealers whose machines had been pro
noUnCed unfit or TOO expensive by the city.
No such blunder has been made. In
stead, nearly evHy make and kind Of car
has been bought ar one time or another
at the regular price, and no one in the
city government has made any embarrass
ms experiments 10 find out which gave
the most or the best service for the
money Beyond the receipted bills for re-
pairs, rental and supplies there is nothing
10 show carping critics that one car is in
Eerior to any other, and so nothing to
keep any generous public official from
scattering his orders for new cars impair
tally among ali the dealers.
But at this point Commissioner Fosdick
has made his illiberal attack He called
in the assistance of a sordid, cent-trapping
expert accountant and devised a system
for recording exactly the performance Of
each car and each chauffeur for keeping
track of where it went of nights, how il
spent the days and just who rode as pas
sengers every time d wheel turned.
Il l0nSa
Office, to which one automobile Is attached.
A few weeks later he conferred with Bor-
ough President McAneny of Manhattan and
installed the same system in that office.
There it has operated since the first of
May, The results have been surprising
/ The eight cars Of the borough govern
ment We're run for the four months at q
! cost of s., go, or at the rate OF 81. gSS a
year. Adding to this a charge of s.. $50, or
; 10 per cent Of the first cost of the cars. 70
cover the depreciation OF their value. the
yearly cost under the new system is S23, 21-.
Last year the borough spent $50, 356 for au-
tomobile and carriage expenses. As car
rage hire has been eliminated this year.
there is a saving apparently Of SlOI3S
Moreover. last year the borough owned and
managed only one automobile, and the bill
for that amounted TO 1852 During the
four months in which the new system has
been in vogue the borough has kept eight
machines for just half that amount. or al
an average yearly cost of $500 apiece, or
less than one-fourth what the one machine
cost last year
Still more remarkable is the change that
has taken place in the disposition OF the
chaufeurs Instead of standing up for their
rights as Chauffeurs and refusing To be-
come partners 10 such time-serving sys-
TEN of niggardlness. they have fallen in
with the purposes Of the scheming account
ants. They take a real interest, apparently
they almost take pride. in their closely kept
records Instead of striving TO outdo one
another in speed and in hospitality 10 their
. friends at the city : cost, they inquire anx-