New-York tribune., 1918-07-11
Negative Results Mark
Hylan S F iirst Six Months
Mayor orgets Pledges of Economy While Hearst and Tam
many Strive to Gain Reins of City-Peope Given
Letter Diet in Answer to Protests at Affairs

Kinds Of subjects. In method this di-
version recalls the epistoary practice
~ the tatc Mayor Gaynor, but in style
II is not generally considered its equal.
through this medium the Mayor has
announced IolIclcs, answered COM
plants and pleadcd his cause with the
same facility that he exhibited recent
The World,' the difference being that
with such a method the Mayor always
has the last word without aifordng an
opportunity for inquiry as to the why's
and the wherefores.
There ia no disposition not to dclvc
into details and give the Mayor credit
for the things his administrat, on has
accomp lished so far. The fact is. there
is not much TO report. 1t has been gem
orally said that "as goes the Police
Department so goes the whole admin
trte or trustworthy, the Mayor was
unfortunate at the beginning in his
experience with the hasco at Police
HeadGuarters. Never before has a
Police Commissioner served so short
time as twenty three days and then
resigned with such a parting torpedo
of dcnunciation of the city's chief ex-
ecutive. That was the case of Com
missioner Frederick Bugher who
charged the Mayor with playing petty
politics" insisting upon distasteful
appointments in the department, and
so interfering with the administration
of police affairs that the Commission
er could not hold his job and retain
his own self-respect.
Independence Short-Lived
Before Mayor Hylan took office and
was wrestling with the difficult prob-
lem of finding "the right man" for the
po ice head Charles f. Murphy, of
Tammany Hall let the hint drop that
the organization would prefer man
from the uniformed force. The Mayor
exhibited flash of his early nde-
pendence right there, but it was only
a twenty eday fash Tammany
pressure undoubtedly had something
t. do with the Bugher fasco The
Murphy hint grew to command, and
Lieutenant "Dick" Enright was the
product of the Mayors misdirected op-
position to the boss. The organza-
ton, however, has given the Mayor a
pretty free hand with his second Po-
lice Comm ssioner. and the Commits
sloner apparently being amenable to
reasonable Instructions, the depart
ment has been running with little fric-
ton and fairly commendabe progress.
dhe esprit Gle corps of the rank and
me- which was SO strong under the
leadership of Commissioner Woods.
was restored after threatened break
down because Of the incompatibiity
of he Mayor and his first appointee.
The Mayor prated a good dca dur
ing the campaign about "the Rookie
teller interests" dominating the public
schools, "imported experts" in the city
government useless bureaus and
jobs and various kinds of "trusts"
gripping the necessities of life. He
proclaimed that he would do away with
al these things-if elected Has he
done 1t? Not to any noticeable ex-
tent
DR.. Writ Deposed
If the Rockefeller interests" in the
Mayors opinion. meant the Garv svs-
tenn in the schools, it may be said
that substantial progress has been
made toward its elimination. DR.. Will
IAN Writ, of Gary, Ind, the expert"
IN Installing this system. was dropped
from the city payroll That may have
been crcditabie stroke for the new ad-
minlstratlon. and it may not have been.
Opinions differ.
me Mayor went after the .so-called
useless Jobs in the city departments
4i'''tNNi"NSly upon taxing once. q
wrote to the heads Of the various citv
departments under his Jurisdiction in.
Structlng them to weed out all such
employees. There were few changes
and transfers, but no one really left
the service, unless they went into the
government service, for which the
Mayor hlmself finally refused to grant
lcaVes OF absence in some cases. No
material economy resu ted in that di
rection. 1t happened, also, that most
OF the commissioners were Tammanv
men, and the tip is understood to have
reached the Mayor that the organjza-
Ton was decided opposed to any such
interference with the Gepartments. AT
any rate, the Mayor ceased writing let
,erS 10 inc comm ssloners along that
dence. -
Applications began to come in from
the Corporation Counsels Office and
other city departments for approprin.
TONS to secure experts" whose PAGES
the Mayor had dec AIRED useless" #
was insisted that they were essential
TO the proper transaction of the citv's
business affairs. The approximations
were granted by the Board of Estimate
IN most cases. The Mayor threatoned
to abolish some of the fl fifteen standinp.
committees and bureaus created by the
Mitchell administration as adiuncts of
the Board of Estimate. The standine,
committees had cost the city nothing
as they were composed of membe Of
the board, and they all stood in some
torn or other.e The Bureaus of Con-
tract Supervision and Standards were
threatened. The Mayor appointed his
close TREND and former Alderman from
me BushWlck district, Francis 2. Bent.
director OF the former bureau. and the
latter was consolidated and brought
under the supervision of Joseph Haag.
secretary OF the Board of Estimate.
Estimate Board Divided
The alignment in the Board of Esti-
mate, which has led to many dissen-
slons. is split in about equal voting
power between the close organization
Iammany members and their svmpa-
,hzers and the Mayor, Controller
Craig, and usually Borough President
R-egeimann of Brooklyn. The latter
three control eight OF the sixteen
votes. President Alfred E. Smith OF
the Board of Aldermen and Borough
President Frank l.. Bowling of Man
haitian are the Tammany war horses
he other three Borough Presidents
usually side with them when the issue
Is drawn. The Mayor has not vet as
sumed command of the board. 1t has
been noticeable during these first few
months of the Hylan administration
that Controller Craig has taken the
whip hand for the Mayor The voice.
advice and counsel of AZ Smith are.