New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-17

! IdA pdNtlo VI IiIlo ivy thc 'DN'AN -
sents the following communication:
To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: Relative to the howl about Mayor
Mitche's proposed cut in the salaries OF
city employees, ! suggest that some one OF
standing in the community urge him to take
the time from his social and other duties to
make a study of the payrolls of the dlfer-
ent departments. | wager that II he VIII drop
all the barnaces from the different depart
ments he will save enough to pay extra taxes
and have a nice little sum over
What | mean by the "barnacles" are the
sinecures in each department which are filled
by appointment and are occupied by politi-
cal heelers, who only stay for the term for
which their "superors" are appointed by the
Mayor and who know absolutely nothing
about the duties to be performed and care
less. | know what | am talking about, for
held one such job under Mayor Gaynor for
four years under a commissioner who was
positively a joke when it came to knowing
anything about the business of the depart
ment of which he was appointed commits
sioner AS for myself, | had to dig around
to find enough to do to keep me anywhere
near occupied.
There are also a number of so-called
efficiency experts, who are one of the biggest
jokes ever sprung on long suffering public
When it comes TO doing the work of the city,
or directing how it shall be done, they do
not, fguratively, know their elbows from
other parts of their anatomy, and are in
the majority of drawing fat salaries
and doing their own private business on the
side.
One case in particular that l know of is
chief clerk in a department, lawyer. In
the entire four years that he served in the
department | was in he did not show up at
the Office for more than fifteen minutes Of
about two days week, and on pay days
only long enough to get his check He Is
still in the department, but was so odorifer-
Gus where he was that he was transferred to
another borough and told he would have to
mend his ways be dropped. | have heard
that he is just as industrious in his new loca-
ton as he was in the old. His political pull
/ f. strong enough, however, to keep him COW
cred, and am sure he is only one of a great
many | mention this specific case, for it is
one with which am personally very familiar
In my humble opinion, the work of the city
could be effectively done by just about half
the employees now on the payroll, and all
the so-called commissioners could be dropped
and never missed.
Let the Civil Service employees of known
merit alone, for they are capable of running
things o. X. Cut off all the parasites and
there will be no occasion to increase the tax
rate, nor will there be any increase in the
budget; rather will the city show a decided
increase in its treasury.
AN EX-CHIEF CLERK.
Huntington, l.. l., Sept 10, 1915.
Whether the aggregate compensation of
the barnacles would amount TO the FRO
ceeds of the prospective jump in the tax
rate. and whether all the commissioners
could be dropped with profit, are matters
somewhat questionable. The fact remains
that the gist of "An ex-Chief Clerks" let
ter is common knowledge. II the political
appointees and sinecure holders were
rooted out of the city departments the
saving might be one million dollars, or it
/ might be ten million dollars, year. No
/ body knows. The list of city employees is
a volume of AIS large pages of small type.
If the city authorities would go through
that list and cut out unsparingly every
needless or .proftless person, as a private
| individual whose business was in straits
comparable to the crisis the city faces
would do, there would be many pages less.
| If then the salaries of those who remained
were readjusted, even on generous basis
of compensation TO- work actually PER
! formed, there would be almost an equally
great saving. 1t is time the taxpayers
forced such action.