New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-09
Improvements Made by
Administration Told
in His Report.
Is DEPARTMENTS
WORK SURVEYED
Ex-Chamberlain'S Aim to
Record Tasks Still To
Be Fulfilled.

A detailed picture of the constructive
work accomplished n the improvement
of the city administration under Mayor
Mitchell is presented in report on a
survey Of the sixteen city departments
under the Mayor. made public to-day
by Henry Bruere, former City Cham
berlain. Mr.. Bruere announced that the
report was prepared on the basis of an
impartial. though systematic, examina-
ton of the progress made in these de-
partments during the present admins
tlation in carrying out the pledges OF
the fusion platform in 1913.
Its aim, he said, was not only to
catalogue progress. but to summarize
work remaining to be done to fulfil the
expectation of the people of the city
when they commissioned the present
administration to undertake the recon-
struction Of the municipal govern
mcnt.
The report recognizes the fallibility
Of any administration. including the
present, but seeks also TO make clear
the fact that actual progress OF
notable character has been made, not
cnly giving better service in city man
agement now, but insuring a fuller
realization Of civic efficiency in the
future.
Only One Part Made Public.
II consists of $50 printed pages, OF
which the first part only, treating OF
the fulflment Of the fusion platform
programme and the legislative and gen
cral progress made, is now made public
The second part, containing review
Of the departmental organization in the
city government and a survey Of the
administrative departments under the
direction of the Mayor. will be made
public Wednesday.
"Much of the constructive work &C
complished during the last two years IS
merely the consummation of the work
begun four years before, when the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment
was placed in the control of the first
fusion officials" says the report.
"From 1910 to 1914 many improvements
we're effected in the methods Of con-
Quoting the city's business.
"The presidents Of the boroughs of
Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx
undertook the reorganization of their
departments. prompted by the reveia-
tons of incompetence existing in them
made by Mayor Mitchell. as Commits
sioner Of Accounts, and the Bureau OF
Municipal Research during the years
o. Mayor McClellan's administration.
Unnecessary Places Abolished.
unnecessary positions were sbol
ished. Offices wer. consolidated, pur-
chasing methods modernized, efecting
large economies; improved methods OF
contract and public letting were in
stalled, and better control over the
maintenance of highways, sewers and
public buildings was achieved. The ad-
nlinistration of the Borough Of Man
haitian set a high water mark for the
conduct Of city business, and its ad-
vance was in many respects paralleled
by the administration Of the other
boroughs."
The report further shows the pro-
rressive reorganization of the Con-
t~oller's department, resulting IN bet
ter financial and accounting methods. IL
explains also how the Office OF the
President of the Board OF Aldermen
was made an effective working instru-
nent Of the city government.
Reviewing the attempts to establish
home rule in the city government
through legislation at Albany, Mr.: Bru-
ere SAYS they have almost failed in the
legislatures Of 1914. 1915 and 1915. he
points out how helpless local officers
are in many respects az the present
time because of the conflicting and IN
consistent provisions upon which the
whole government of the city is based,
which really create three kinds OF local
rovernment-the city, the borough and
the county.
The report reviews the investigation
recently made by a legislative com
mittee under the Craftsmanship OF Sen
ator Ogden L. Mills, which considered
the problem Of local taxation. II main
tains that sufficient material has now
been collected TO enable the Board of
Estimate 70 determine what measures
Of tax relief should be advocated by
the city in the near future.
The reorganization OF the Police De-
partment, pursuant to pledges in the
fusion platform, is also extensively dis
cfrcaod IN thu