New-York tribune., 1918-07-07

attacked Mayor Gaynor bitterly during
the campaign, but came to like him
afterward, and turned to him for coun-
sci on many municipal matters when
they worked together In the city gov
| ernment.
Mayor Gaynor and Mr. Mitchell did
not meet until the day the Mayor was
inaugurated and held his reception n.
the City Hall. When Mr.. Mitchell came
| along in the line the Mayor said:
"Well, we'll, 30 you are Mitchell.
Dear me, you are just n young chap!
But | always like to see young men get
along and you seem to be getting along
all right"
The new President of the Board of
Aldermen did not think much Of his
job, except that it gave him three votes
in the Board of Estimate and posi-
ernment. Upon assuming office he con-
demned the Board of Aldermen as
useless and archaic institution and said
it ought to be abolished He threat
ened to go to Albany himself and ask
for legislation abolishing the board, in
Guiding the president. He said he
could not accept n salary from the
city and do nothing"
Prepared for Fight
The Tammany aldermen didn't like
the presidents attitude and they set
about to clip his wings. Sensing a
good fight again, Mr.. Mitchell made
study of his powers as head Of the
board, and found that he could make
something of the office. He gave up
the room assigned to the president of
over to the Emigrant Industrial Saw
ings Bank building, in Chambers Street.
He began to reconstruct aldermanic
matters and make the board real fac
tor in the city government. He sue
ceeded in this, gaining the full CO.
operation of the Board of Estimate in
his work
Mr.. Mitchers biggest opportunity
came when he was acting Mayor, fol-
ON the deck of steamship in Hoboken
early in August, 1910. That was a
trying position in which to place the
young man, who had been openly hos
tile to the Mayor in the Board of Esti-
mate. Mr.. Mitchell, however, instantly
buried all animosity, and, rushing to
St. Mary's Hospital, in Hoboken, where
the Mayor was taken, placed himself
entirely at the disposal of the Mayor.
The acting Mayor refused to act on
any important office matters without
first consulting Mayor Gaynor or his
secretary, Robert Adamson Mr.. Mitchell
waited until Mayor Gaynor had been
taken to his summer home at st. James,
Long Island, to convalesce before he
began to assert himself in his new
office. He continued, however, to con-
suit the invalid Mayor on important
matters.
Acting Mayor Mitchell had many COM
plants about this time from citizens
that New York had not been so wide
open in years. He quietly went about
to investigate matters personally, as
sisted by Raymond B. Fosdick, another
efficient Commissioner of Accounts.
They succeeded in closing many gam
bling houses in the Tenderloin, and
then turned their attention to wiping
out the disreputable resorts at Coney
Island.
The Subway Controversy
When the controversy over the new
Board of Aldermen and Controller l
Prendergast opposed Borough Presi-
dent George McAneny, the Mayor and
members of the Public Service Com
mission, who advocated the dual sub
way plans. They campaigned the city
together, preaching the doctrine of the
trl-borough system. They lost out, but
MT. Mitchels adversaries in the Board
OF Estimate afterward admitted that
the fight had greatly improved the
terms obtained for the city from the
traction companies
Whlle President of the Board of
Aldermen Mr.. Mitchell started to work
out the so-called West Side improve
ment,. which was to be part of large
plan for terminal development He was
earnestly interested in improving con-
dl0ons in Riverside Park, where the
unslghtly tracks of the New York Cen
tral ran, but the agreement with the
railroad company finally reached in the
latter part of the Mitchell administra-
ton became subject to so much criti-
clsm that it furnished good campaign
material in the Mitchell -Hylan contest
and was instrumental in putting Mr..
Craig, the present Controller, in office.
Appointed by Wilson
Mr. Mitchell held the office of Collector
of the Port, to which President Wilson
had appointed him, when he was drafted
to head the Fusion ticket against Tam
many in 1918. When Mr.. Mitchell with
crew from the city government to ac-
cept the Federal position he did so
with sense of duty to his family. a.
he had made very little money so far
IN his career and the large salary ap-
Eealed to him. The Tammany no]iti-
clans were delighted and thought thew
had gotten rid of him. His competitors
Tor the Mayoralty nomination in the
Fusion Committee of lot were District
Attorney Whitman and Borough Presi-
dent McAneny. The vote in the com
mittee was so close between Whitman
and Mitchell that it was not made unan-
imous until the ninth ballot, when
the McAneny forces retired and most
of them went over to Mitchell.
District Attorney Whitman was re-
nominated for that office, but he
showed clearly to his friends that he
was keenly disappointed oyer not hav-
ing received the denomination for
Mayor. He never quite forgave Mavor
Mitchell for beating him, although it
led to his nomination for Governor.
In the last city campaign the Governor
endorsed Fusion" but omitted to an
prove the name of Mitchell.
"Pay-as- -You-Go" Policy
Mayor Mitchel's administration was
Tree from anv scandals of consequence
There was effective team work among
the elective members of the CITY gov
ernment, and high type of business
administration was developed. The
"pay-as-y -you-g go" policy worked out by
the Mitchell Board of Estimate was
formulated to put the city on a sub
stantial financial basis after a few
years of mounting budgets-a con-
dition which the municipality had not
enjoyed for many years. Mavor