New-York tribune., 1910-07-15

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From the proceeds Of his first bond sale
the Controller explained that he had funded
s.. S.ooa,0oo Of the deficiency. and it was his
intention from the proceeds of the nsxr
bond sale, which he expected would take
place late IN the current year, TO found
s2oo0,Ooo more. so that by following this
policy Of refunding the entire deficiency
would be wiped out within eight years He
had been asked why he had not made an
effort to refund the entire amount during
his present term, and his answer had been
that he was of the opinion that such q
course would overstrain the city's energies.
This condition of affairs was first made
public through the columns OF The Tribune
in A series Of articles dealing with city
finances just prior to the last municipal
elections. After the accession to office OF
the present administration Controller
Prendergast made an investigation into
the facts published by The Tribune, with
the result that they were corroborated and
officially issued in the Controllers state
ment
Revenue Bond Issues
On the question CT revenue bond issues
the Controller said he was firmly OF
the OPINION. that if II could possibly ne
avoided, the city should never avail itself
Of the full limit of tts borrowing capacity,
but that a reasonable margin should al
ways be left to represent probable denclts
in tax collections The tremendous strain
on the financial energies Of the nation rem
dered it increasingly difficult 70 find within
the home money market all the means
necessary to meet the city's requirement
and with view TO relieving these con-
diticns he had secured legislation at Al
bany empowering the city to issue ordinary
bills or certificates of Indebtedness, similar
to those issued by the London County
Council in lieu of revenue bonds, because
these ordinary bills were more salaole IN
foreign money markets. In this manner
he had been successful in extending the
city's market for temporary borrowings
Owing to the burden of duties which had
devolved on him in the last six months
the Controller intimated that he had oeen
unable to complete the formulation OF
plans looking TO further Improvement OF
the present method Of making temporary
borrowings on revenue bonds. he could
say. however he was strongly OF the
opinion that the city should, by appro-
pirate legislation, avail itself at regular
intervals during the year Of its tax col
lections He believed that the present
policy of making practically all collecnohs
at the end of the year was entirely un-
scientific.
After describing the loose methods and
utter absence of control in the bureaus OF
receipts and expenditures in his depart
ment Controller Prendergast indicated the
scope of the improvements which are being
carried out under his direction in the audit
ing of receipts and expenditures and IN
making closer and more thorough the in
spection of claims against the city.
Expected to Save City Millions.
This new system of audit and inspection.
he predicted. would not only save the city
millions of dollars, but would result IN
the handling of claims against the city in
a manner which would materially reduce
the time now required TO audit claims for
payment It would also insure the elim1na-
ton OF any favoritism to those having a
close knowledge of the system and nullify
the friendship Of officials in securing pay
ment of claims ahead of those less favored
or who possessed less knowledge OF the
former methods of accelerat1ng the work
of auditing claims for payment.
Briefly the Controller outlined the work
that was being done by a special commit
tee charged with the task of standardiz1ng
specifications and contracts for the pur-
chase of supplies. The scope of the Work
of this committee was prodtgious, and,
while little more than preliminary work
had vet been done, there was good reason
to believe that the ultimate result would
be the evolution of a scientific system
which would save vast amount of money
each wear which was now lost because oS
the lack of such system in the purchase
Of millions of dollars worth OF supplies
used bv the various departments of the city
government.
Speaking generally of the citys credit
Controller Prendergast said that greater
New York was ushered into existence at a
time which marked the beginning of a
nerio6 of great economic evolution No
period in the history of the world had been
marked by so many evidences of personal
and government outlay and extravaganza
as that of the last twelve years The area
now comprised within the greater city.
representing some 326 square miles. is com
posed in a large part of that winch was
farm lands at the time of consolidation.
The homes of the people as TO improvements
in public utilities had been heightened by
tbe agreements used in favor of the greater
ax+ravsgent tendencies OF the period. had
their results. Communities which in ordi-
nary circumstances would have been salts
aod with the proverbial red schoolhoUse
and country roads. demanded and received
schcol buildings typical Of the most ad-
varced stages of American civilization and
,-eII raved citv streets And this iiustra-
+ior7 held good so far as almost every other
form, of municipal activity was concerned.
IF was inevitable therefore, that the
neriod since consolidation should he
marked bv a tremendous increase in the
ci+v debt. although the assessed valuations
of real estate and her own possessions had
sIso grown apace Consolidation repre-
sented a merging Of cities and country
towns and the task Of the last twelve
Years had been TO make metropolitan al
+hese distrtegrated units The work nae
rasn sr1pendous and the cost great me
ci+vr's funded debt had increased from
5000 rAo in 1903 70 ss4S SIS eea in the pres
en+ wear OF this vast debt approximately
s1oS 524 eSs could reasonably be attributed
m the advance in prices OF materials and
land values during the twelve years The
remainder Of the citys debt was repre-
eenred bv great public Improvements. the
carving out Of which was without a par
auAI in sny city et any time IN the history
of the world Hundreds of millions OF dol
lars had been expended in many fields
The progress Of New York since consoH-
da+ior has marked an era in municipal ad-
vsncsrnent and development that made the
CITY one of the creates in the world.