The New York herald., 1921-12-19

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menace to the public welfare.
Present conditions are undoubtedly
due to a too close adherence to municipal
precedents which. by reason OF the size
OF the city and its organization, are more
l or less inapplicable. They have pre-
served the form but discarded the SUBJ
! stance of such municipal organization
| by depriving the taxpayers, as such. of
any participation IN the city government.
/ This city exercises much wider authority
than is exercised by London, Paris or
Berlin. There is an inherent unsuitable
ity in attempting 10 fit the institutions
OF a village or OF city OF ordinary pop
ulation TO a municipality greater In pop
ulation than any State In the Union except
New York. Pennsylvania and Illinois;
weaIthler than any State in the Union
except the State Of which II is a part [;
with an annual budget exceeded by few
nations. greater than the three largest
States in the Union combined, and with
out a parallel where such appropriations
are made by executive authority; with
variety of responsibilities in govern
ment OF great public Importance. and
having some problems unknown In other
municipalities by reason OF county Or
ganiZation.
"On the other hand changes should be
made only for the purpose of correcting
conditions. and not to establish
utopia, or TO vindicate any theory OF
government. The present system is not
bicameral. since the functions OF the
present Board Of Estimate and Board OF
Aldermen are not Joint, but chiefly sep
arate. This will be true also of the
Board of Finance and the Board of Al
dermen, and there will be no more rea-
son for abolishing the Board of Alder
man, which furnishes means of popular
expression on matters of peculiarly local
concern, after the Board of Finance Is
established. than before
Two Classes of Powers.
"Under our system of government,
two classes of powers are delegated to
the city, those which are Of purely local
concern, and those embracing matters
which are OF Statewide Importance. like
the police, education and the local ad-
ministration of justice. The committee
Is OF the opinion that the powers Of the
city over matters Of purely local con-
Germ should be increased and legislative
interference with the exercise of such
powers should be further and effectually
restrained by constitutional enactment
Such enactment should also include a
provision giving power to the new
Board of Finance, In conjunction with
the Mayor, to veto legislation. The re-
striction as to interference with matters
Of purely local nature may be much
stricter than in matters OF Statewide In
terest. While municipality may be
permitted to mismanage its own pc
culiar interest ii cannot be permitted
to prejudice those OF others or to vio-
late principles of justice In dealing with
its own citizens.
Considered in its broader aspect.
there can be no real conflict of interest
between the State and city in changes
in the charter. It is the duty of the
State. Of which the city forms so great
a part, to secure for the city the great
est degree of autonomy consistent with
safety, financial soundness and security
OF citizens; but these matters are of
equal concern to the State and TO the
city.
This report is made under the pro-
visions OF the resolution appointing this
committee MS recommendation to the
charter revision commission. Other re-
ports covering the committees investiga-
ton viii be submitted. Respectfully
submitted. Schuyler NJ. Meyer. chair
man; Theodore d. Robinson, Maxwell
5. Harris, Frederick w. Kavanaugh ST.
mon l.. Adler, Sol Ullman, Walter w
Westfall, John r. Yale.
Il approve of the report In every re-
spect. except that l believe the Ave bor-
oughs OF the city should elect their own
representatives to the proposed board
of finance as opposed to citywide Sc
lection. Theodore Stitt."