New-York tribune., 1910-07-15
NO POLITICS IN FINANCES
Controller Prendergast Says New
Era in City Has Begun.
rRv Tslesranh 10 The T,rihune.

[By Telegraph 10 The Tribunel
Cooperstown, n. Y, July 14.-Controller
Prendergast of New York. in an address de-
livered tonight before the New York State
Bankers Association, made the emphatic
announcement that so long he was chief
financial officer of the city the practice fol-
lowed by preceding administrations of al
lowing political considerations to affect or
dominate the conduct of it's finances would
be entirely discontinued. The day has
passed, he intimated, when ability to con-
troll city department enabled a political
boss successfully to maintain his political
sway.
The complete success of the recent city
bond sale the Controller attributed to public
appreciation Of his candid exposition of the
condition of the city's finances as he found
them when he assumed office This candid
exposition was contained in a statement
issued by the Controller IN March of the
present year. and was largely based on
revelations contained in a series OF articles
on Hidden Chapters in City Finance"
published in The New-York Tribune during
the month of October last
The Controller also graphically outlined
the results of his efforts in the last six
months to place the conduct Of the Finance
Department on a practical business basis
and intimated that it was his intention to
introduce number of radical reforms in
the. future conduct Of city business, such
as the more frequent collection of the tax
revenues. the perfection of the audit and
bookkeeping systems the closer and more
complete inspection of claims and the appli-
cation of the principle of Standardization to
the purchase of city supplies
The Controllers Address
The Controllers address was. in part. as
follows:
City of New York Is one of the greatest
nscal problems that confronts the people of
any community in the world. 1t is incon-
ce1yable that such problem should be af
fected or dominated by political considera-
tions, but such has been the history of New
Yorks finances during many different ad-
minisTatons To divorce politics from city
fnanciering is the present duty, and to
prosecute that duty to the utmost is the
obligation 10 which / have addressed my
self. Party government is a feature of cur
national life but party government can
fuences being permitted to course through
the channels Of the ordinary business func-
tions of the government, be It national,
state or city
Bureaucracy in the conduct OF the citys
affairs has been used as the Tlatnstay OF
the political system The ability OF the
even al important integral division Of a de
partment. has frequently accounted for the
success Of his political sway We have
reached a time when bureaucracy must
only be used for legitimate ends and boss
ism must give way to competent and en-
ightened leadership. Such leadership
makes for the prevalence of sound prin-
cipIes in government and efficiency in 9d
rnintstration- No other kind OF leadership
is required and none other will be tolerated
The once Of the Controller is distinctly
twofold IN function. Under the city charter
he is the general financial manager OF the
citv. and he is also the administrative
head of the most important single depart
n1ent OF the city government. Upon as
first duty I owed the CITY vas to explain,
without excuse or equtvoCetion, the exact
state Of its financial AFFAIRS, so that the
citizenship Of the city and the lnVestlnS
public should have q correct view Of its
financial condition. With this in mind 4
statement. giving The Ultimate results
estimates as of January I, 1910, was pub
lshed, and in this statement there ap-
peared for the first time n explicit setting
forth OF the question OF deficiencies due 70
uncolectibIe taxes which had been financed
by the issue of revenue bonds or loans from
other funds I believe that the city is en-
titled 20 candor on the part of its officials,
and that anything less than candor is a
betrayal OF the trust imposed by the public
in such officials
II has been matter Of great personal
qualification to realize that the public has
appreciated this attitude OF mind on the
part Of its fiscal officer That good results
have followed this policy of candor Is shown
by the absolute success OF the bond sale OF
Marcn 81 1910 when 500, 100000 Of bonds
were oversubscribed nearly four times the
premium on this issue being S210. .00o
greater than the premiums derived by the
city upon larger issue during the nrst SIX
months of 1909
on January /, 1910. the city OF New York
owed for account of land liability the sum
of sl5, ,000, 900. made up of unpaid awards and
the accumulation Of interest This was
legacy Of previous administrations. When
large bond sales had been held in previous
years no serious effort had been made to
uquidats this enormous liability OF the city.
immediately upon the success Of the bond
sale in March OF the present year I issued
instructions that these liabilities should be
paid in the order in which they had been
confirmed by the Supreme court; In three
months more than four-rfths of the total
liability had been discharged
Compelled to Borrow to the Limit.
Taking up the question of the charter re-
ulirennent which compels the city TO bor-
row large sums of money each year in
ticipation OF the collection OF taxes, the
Controller pointed out that IN the past the
city's necessities had been such that fnan-
cial officers had been compelled TO borrow
TO the very limit permitted by the charter
without taking into account the inevitable
dehcits dne TO uncoliected taxes. The eft
feet he said, was that deficits were CON
stantly piling up. SO that in 1905 there was
a deficit of some ss6 cDo.oao. Although legis-
lation was secured to fund this amount
only 100000 vas funded between the time
that legislation was obtained, in 1905, and
the beginning of the present year. In the
mean time the deficits were continuing
wear that when the present admin