New-York tribune., 1917-12-31
Mayor Hylan's Heritage

The City Of New York will be turned
over tomorrow to Mayor Hylan and his
Tammany colleagues a going concern, in
the best condition in which it has been in
the memory Of men now living. The peo-
pie decreed the change in administration,
and it is idle to quarrel with the decree.
II is desirable now only TO take account Of
stock-to record the condition as Of Janu-
airy /, 1918, for the benefit of those who
will be actively interested as voters in the
next four years and those who, as tax
payers, will bear the burden Of whatever
IS done in and by the city departments.
For other new administrations the Po-
lice Department has presented the CHIEF
prob en-. For Mayor Hylan there should
be no such problem. From Mayor Mitchell
he will receive heritage almost priceless
"a Police Department well organized,
honest and efficient. In the four years of
Mayor Mitchers handling of city affairs
the police force Of the city has risen TO an
estate of high degree. The men have been
brought to a point Of individual efficiency
never SURPRISED here. Graft has been re-
duced to a minimum. Politics has been
kept out of the working Of the department.
The mans record in the force has been
the basis Of advancement, not political pull
with some district leader.
Old alliances Of vice and the police have
been broken up. Crimes Of violence have
been lessened. In exceptionally trying
times. when war conditions have imposed
heavy burden on the policemen, the city
has been patrolled and protected as never
before. It's unusually heavy street traffic
has been so regulated as to protect and
save lives. Safety Of property and lives
has increased. The gangs have been dis
persed, and some Of their most important
leaders have gone to jail. A volume of sta
tistics might be quoted to illustrate the
gradual, steady improvement in the oper-
alton of this department The decrease i'll
the number Of homicides, due to the wip-
ing ou+ of the gangs and the consistent en-
forcement of the concealed weapons law,
is indicative. In 1913, there were 265
homicides listed; in 1914, 244; in 1915,
222. and in 1916, 186. With this may be
taken the verdict Of the report recently
issued by the Bureau of Social Hygiene,
which says that in five years-with the
time when "commercialized vice" was at
its peak as a starting point-prosttution
has been tremendously lessened in this
city. "Commercialized VICE resorts" in
that time have been reduced SO per cent;
the worst Of them have been wiped out
- t1xy
duced in numbers; New York City has
become an improbable field of operations
for exploiters Of vice"
To this must be added items apparently
insignificant but actually of great i'm
portance, such as the police field days,
which have become an institution the
police chorus, the police unemployment
fund and kindred welfare work, the police
Christmas trees, and the like. These mean
that the force has become humanized-
that it is, and is willing TO be- part of
the life of the people with whom it deals,
friend and guardian rather than an abb
stract official agency OF restraint and pun
ishmeut, Of oppression and prey.
As important as the police reconstruc-
tion work of Commissioner Woods has
been the fire prevention and fire fighting
work Of Commissioner Adamson. No other
n commissioner has had a record 20 equal
y his. In morale in discipline, in equip
ment he leaves his force better than when
he took IT, Under him there have been
physical changes as well as those moral
changes produced by the elimination Of
politics and the establishment of merit
system Of advancement and a training
school for fremen. The automobile engine
has become the thing. A new fire alarm
system for Manhattan is being constructed.
Reorganization and redistribution of the
personnel of the uniformed force have en-
abled the men 10 do effectively a greater
amount Of work than before. Through the
Fire Prevention Bureau inspections have
been carried on with thoroughness, and fire
azards, both in construction and those
caused by the habits Of tenants Of build
ings, have been removed. The net result
has been 70 lower the fire rate and the fire
loss per capita. For the year 1915 the
Fire Department had the first reduced
budget since greater New York was es-
tablished; for 1916 It had the second; for
the year 1915 the Tire loss was the lowest
rated according TO the number Of fires and
the number Of inhabitants, in the city's
history. What this means 10 business men
and citizens is shown by the fact that the
FIRE insurance companies have begun the
discussion Of general reduction of fire
insurance rates