New-York tribune., 1910-02-02
NEW AUDIT BUREAU
TO PAY CITY BILLS
MORE QUICKLY.
Controller Makes Drastic
Changes as Result of Tr1b-
mes Exposures.

1OT the purpose OIL bSS'Si
troll OF the receipts and expenditures OF
the city. He has created new Bureau
of Audit, under H. M. Wolfe, with TWO
deputy auditors, one for receipts ana
the other for disbursements. Thls reor-
ganization is the first step of MI Prem
dergast in carrying out his pre-electioii
pledges. made as a result of The IT'D
une's exposures of the financial m1sman-
agement of the city. At Durlahu
Academy. on October %, Mr.. Prender-
CAST said:
The New York Tribune has shown
that the cessation of large numper vi
contracts in the year 1907. on the plea
that there were not sufficient funos 10
prosecute them. would not nave peeh
necessary at all had proper care peeh
exercised in outstanding the dlfterent
funds so that such funds as should nave
been available for permanent improve
ments would be on hand
According to information when mas
been acquired, il has been shown thatsat
the end of the third quarter OF the year
1907 there was standing to the creuiI
of the combined accounts from WHICH
the costs of permanent improvement
works are payable. the sum of S3S,Sl9.-
4s2 but that s24,340.172 of this amount
had been used to redeem old revenue
bonds furnish money that had neen DOT
rowed in previous years to pay tue cosI
of the city government, and the remdlilo-
err sseTg32O, was on hand at the time
mentioned.
It is not a difficult proposition to estl-
mate the hardship occaSioned by sucn
situa ton, not only to labor but 70 those
who furnish the supplies and equlpment'
from the stoppage of such CONTRACT WORK; I.
and it seems anomalous that there shou!o
be anv occas sion for the great city or
New York. finding itself in position
where il is necessary to plead 1or de-
lay or Ieniency in respect to fulhIllng us
contractual obligations
In announcing his changes Controller
Prendergast said he had found the de-
partment operating under system OF
so-caIled bureaus and divisions widely
different from what he conceived to be
the. intent of those who planned the work
of the department Authority. he found
had come into the hands of persons OF
whom the charter took no cogniZance
whatever. He has taken steps to do
away with the multiplicity OF bureaus
and centre responsibility
SYSTEM" SAYS CONTROLLER
In speaking of the length. Of time IT
has taken TO pay bills, which mas oeeh
from sixty days upward. the ControLer
practically charged that system mao
orerated under an unwritten agreement
whereby the city's credit had been weak
ened and certain persons in the depart
n,ent had been able to do political and
business favors by looking after the ex-
nedition of claims of the favored ones
He expects to cut down the time TOT
nassing claims and paying bills to total
of ten dsys-fve in the department IN
which the bills are received and i've in
the Department of Finance Regarding
this system he said:
MANY devices have been most effec-
4ive1v 11sed to destroy tie city's trading
credit and force its business into the
hands of political contractors and inter
n9ediaries Chief of these is the with
holding of payments A person WHO mas
been able to effect the right personal re-
1ati0ns has been paid promptly Others
are required to wait months, even years,
for their paw To the end that no one
may he held responsible for this result
an ella borate system has grown up which
REQUIRES each of the two hundred thou-
sand claims passed each year 10 De sep
aratelv and specially treated
No one in the service knows or IS ex-
nected TO know the exact status or To-
cation of a claim. except one VINO takes
A special interest in II mus every
clerk every inspector. every ooohheepeI,
examiner and auditor may become a spe-
cial agent of the claimant, ana the WORK
of the department is constantly inter-
r,,nted nv swarns of claimants on per-
sCnaIlv conducted tours, tracing their
claims
70, Qph
With the city equal and fair treatment
that I have undertaken TO reorgan!ze the
department and change It's metnouS-
What I expect to accomplish Is 10 re-
duce the average time in the Depart
n1ent of Finance to about five days, and
in doing this to have every claim take
it's turn-that is. every claim should
come within the average, except those
concerning which there is some doupt DIS
to their validity. Such bills VIII lmme-
diateIv be brought to the conSloerdtioh
Of the Controller or to some one deslg-
mated who may be held officially re-
sronsible for action and for the pTotec-
tion of the interests of the city as Well
as the rights of the claimant
Mr.. Wolfe, as head of the Bureau Oh
Audit. has been put in charge OF all the
bookkeeping of the department, super
seding Frank W. Smith, who has been
chief hoolxkeeper since Joseph Ha1g re-
tired TO become {. ,cretary of the Board
of Estimate and Apportionment-
FREQUENT TRIAL BALANCES
MIR. Smith has been made chief ledger
clerk. with one assistant, and his salary
reduced from $4,000 to $1,000 a year.
The Controller desires to have trial bal
ances struck at frequent intervals, and
il will be the duty of Mr.. Smith TO get
out such balance
Richard NJ Chapman. as deputy au-
ditor. has been placed in charge of the
divisio, of disbursements, with fifty-four
assistants Duncan McInnes, deputy au-
ditor. is in control of the division of
raceipts. with TWEEN zone assistants.
In Connection with this Capitalization
ne authority the Controller said:
When | came into the office | found
G. system of devoluJion had been in
stalled by which the auditor of accounts
had been stripped of practically all au-
thority given him In the charter. and
that the authority had been distributed
among certain bureaus TO which no
authority was given in the charter. That
system or deVolution, | do not hesitate
IN saw was responsible for many OF the
abuses in the department., and / VIII go
even further and say that the system
was permitted to continue by the per
sons who were responsible for bringing
il about for the purpose or maintaining