The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-12-07
strong Arm st .te Treatment for
Local Building Graft.

Local Building Graft.
1t may come as a thunder clap In
the, ears of New York city, which has
struggled so long and so hard for
more, not less, home rule. that the
State Government is going to take
strong arm charge of our desperate
housing and building situation. But
il is incredible that the local stupid
ity, incompetence and immortality re-
sponsible for the evil which mas be-
fallen New York can cure 1t. 1t IS
unthinkable that the frightful mess
should be left In the state II is in.
Furthermore, the imperatiyely
needed cleanup work is vastly greater
than the general public realizes. II
calls for more activity, more jurisdic-
ton and more power than any Legis-
lature In its senses would be wiling
to give to local hands which have so
shockingiy and disastrously failed In
what they had to do.
The trouble, In truth, Is not merely
that building combinations have be-
come bandits preying both upon the
private purse and the public treas
ury and that labor union bosses
have become vultures. Along with
these crimes there Are the re-
sultant evils of inordinate taxes,
scarcity of mortgage funds, prohibit
tive interest rates-interest rates i'm
posed upon a crushing bonus ex-
acted from the borrower-underwrit-
ers' abuses, all kinds of faults and
wrongs to terrorize Investors and
mulet rent payers. The troubles are
so many and SO great as to make a
heroic disease for which is required
heroic treatment.
How far the State Government
can go and how much 1t can do
with this huge task only actual expe-
rlence will tell. But it Is only the
State Government which can be
counted upon to make more funds
available for building whether by in
dueement or by pressure. 1t is only
the State Government which can curb
If not repress the methods Of the un-
derwriters who demaad and compel
with their rules and requirements
change upon change during and after
construction until no owner of prop
erty can know where they are going
to stop or when, If they have stopped,
they are going to begin again. 1t is
only the State Government which can
accurately trace the cost Of brick,
from the making in the brick yard TO
the laying In the building. 1t can, in
truth, make brick and ship brick as
a test of what the cost Is. 1t Is only
the State Government which can thor
oughly uncover all the rottenness that
must be uncovered and break up the
criminal building rings and drive out
the union labor crooks.
Not only a central and great au-
thority but single handed power
must cripple with this problem. A
multiple commission will never do the
work that one man, equipped with the
necessary ability and armed with the
fullest possible power, can do. He
needs to be drafted, to be comman-
deered, from the best and the strong
est timber in the State. He needs to
direct all the action and to shoulder
all the responsibility. He needs tn
be chosen by the Governor and to be
accountable to the Governor. He
needs the force Of discipline over
his subordinates to get quick action
and right results.
A one man commission, backed to
the limit by the State Government. is
the only thing to meet this crucial
situation.