The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-18
The Cost of ''Social Service. "

| In New York City the newspapers continue to
make great cry the prospective action of
the legislature in levying direct tax upon the
people Of the State of $4,000 900. which may be
| increased to even greater and of which,
upon the established basis of assessment the city
of New York must pay three-fourhs. The mayor
OF the city is out with statement showing that
the municipalities share of this direct exceeds
the combined annual cost of the city's park de-
partment, health department. charities department,
! the correction department and the Bellevue and
the Allied hospitals. The World newspaper says
that the city is the Belgium of New York State.
! 1t is ruled from Albany conquered province
| and must submit to what tribute the legislature
chooses to require. Most of the other metropoli-
tan journals talk in much the same way. The city's
representatives in the legislature are roundy
abused for not seeing to it that such burden
is imposed upon the tax payers of the Metropolis
The tax levy is denounced crime and outrage
and so FORTH There are even people who declare
that New York City ought to refuse to pay its
share of the tax and that in some way the country
districts ought to be made to pay more.
Now, of course, this is the talk of children and
not of grown men and women. The tax is heavy,
but it is necessitated by the current indebtedness
of New York which has to be paid The mayor
of New York City did propose scheme which
involved intricate arrangement of deferring of
certain Indebtedness. of fastening the times of
payments and other details all of these involv
ing substantially a plan for paying off the in
debtedness instament basis. But the law
yers easily showed that the scheme was unwork-
able The State must pay its debt and New York
City, the largest taxpayer in the State must
pay the largest share OF the debt
But all this harks back to the essential aucs-
how the debt incurred and II for
necessary There can only one answer be
made, that the debt legally incurred and a
good deal OF it was for reasons dictated by ex-
travagance and not for causes of necessity And
in this is a warning for all State and municipal
authorities and for our great nation itself. Less
than score OF years ago New York was without
a State debt. and OF course able to sell bonds
at as high rate of premium and bearing as low
rate OF interest almost. the United States it.
self. There practically limit to the credit
OF the State. But as soon the people and poll
ticians of both parties found this out what was
the result? The city and the State of New York !
plunged into every conceivable species of extrava
gance Hundred million dollar bond issues, ono
after the Other were ordered for every description
of social service" and doing good to everybody
without any regard to the ultimate cost of the |
work or its real benefit to the community A veri- |
table craze set in, which has had to run its course
for the establishment of innumerable boards and |
commissions to do work which was previously
done by a few employees Of the regular State de-
partments or. in many cases. work that was previ-
ously not done at all Particularly, the public school
system of New York City was enlarged in an ex-
traordinary degree by the demands of reformersi
and faddists The system was so revolutionizedI
tha frills and fancies took the place OF plain ele
mentary education of the old-fashoned conmonl
school kind. The annual cost of the system is now
42, 10000. or more than the interest charge on
the eitys entire funded debt. Tho idea prevalent
in New York has been. seemingly. to spend money