The New York herald., 1921-08-11
The Education of a Mayor.

1t would be unfair to Judge HYLAN
to comment precipitately or too
harshly on the final significance OF
HIS witness stand exhibition OF ig'
norance and evasion concerning the
financial affairs of the great munic-
ipal establishment of which he is
nominally the executive head. Tues
day was surprise to every level
headed citizen. Yesterday the wit
ness apparently did little better in
some respects. Whether he quits the
stand now or not, the appraisal OF
his official intellectuals is not yet
complete; and until it is finished the
definitive rating of Mayor HYLAN as
an expert in his own business cannot
be ciphered in stable numerals.
The personal and picturesque as
poets of this notable incident are at
the front just at present. To his
grief in the sequel, the Mayor made
the initial mistake of submitting to
the legislative committee, as a part
of his own testimony, an elaborate
and specific and highly technical and
political statement. which not a few
impartial observers are now disposed
to believe was prepared and put in
his hands by somebody else.
1t was a rash If not brash pro-
ceeding. The sblunder was the cause
or Judge HYLAN's swift undoing.
The statement practically asserted on
the Mayors part an expert knowl.
edge and a right to speak with au,
thority, which gave to the much
keener intelligence of the senior coun,
sci for the committee an immense
advantage at the very start. The ex-
aminer lighted on the witness like
an eagle on an owl. Judge HYLAN
had not been in the witness chair an
hour before the pretence of expert
knowledge and authority to speak
for the city government had been in
great measure demolished and the
unfortunate Chief Magistrate was
foundering in confusion and con
fessed inadequacy. 1t Is due to for
mer Senator BROWN to say that his
questions have been shaped with dig
nity and courtesy and often with
forbearance, but the evisceration has
been not the less merciless.
Not only to serious students of
municipal affairs and to deeply inter.
ested taxpayers, but also to the man
in the street, the spectacle has been
producing and continues to produce
emotions varying from amusement
to amazement. To paraphrase
slightly.
"And still they gaze, and still their
won6erings grow,
That one small head can carry all he
doesn't know
So, while the broader questions as to
the actual status of the city's finances
remain unanswered, Judge HYLAN
himself has yet to qualify as wit.
ness possessing the knowledge of af.
fairs implied both in the fact that
lie holds the exalted Office Of Mayor
of New York and in the positive and
aggressive character OF his written
preliminary statement.
1t is certainly the hope of THE New
YORK HERALD, for the credit of the
town, that the Mayor will emerge and
shine before he says good-by to the
Meyer Committee or the Meyer Com
mittee says good-by to him. But
1t has been an ostrichlike manGuvre
to treat requests for approximate
totals of magnitude and vast impor.
tance, or for information as to his
understanding of fundamental pro.
visions OF municipal law, as IL they
were silly or tricky demands for
bookkeeping figures to the fourth
decimal place or for the exact word.
ing of unimportant statutes.