The New York herald., 1921-12-29
SALARIES HELD UP
BY HYLAN'S BOARD
952 Transit Commission
Employees Left Without
Pay Envelopes.
REQUISITION SHELVED
Board of Estimate Sends
Payroll to Finance
Committee.
EXTRAVAGANZA DENIED
Figures Show Only 80 Promo
tions. With Monthly Pay
Increase of $3.50.
EXTRAVAGANZA DENIED

Tie Board of Estimate, in its last
meeting of the old year yesterday
took n final fling at Mayor Hylan's
pet aversion--the Transit Commission.
IL shelved the commissions requisi-
ton for s11S,0SS wherewith to meet
pay roll requirements Of the commits
sion's employees for compensation due
them for the semi-monthly period
from December 15 to January I.
That means that 952 employees Of
the commission, by far the majority
Of them young men and girls earning
less than $4,000 a year and many of
them not more than from $50 to 800
a month. win find on pay day--Jan-
uary 2-that the city has held up their
pay for the latter half of the month
of December. The engineering staff,
with highly paid men, also is included
in the list. The commission is with
out resources except as it's acquisitions
are honored by the city. At the very
opening of n happy New Year season,
therefore, these salaried dependents
Will IlllQ tACiiloSitSo WttbOoS AAiOASSs
No other Is TO Suffer.
Apart from ina!ct;ns q hardship upon
these s52. the Hylan boards action pun
ishes nobody. The Transit Commissioners
themselves as well as their secretary
and their counsel. receive their pay di-
rectly from the State. The work OF the
commission. it was stated at its head
r g. O.. x4t~ A.A vail
on as usual. but the course taken by the
Board of Estimate was bitterly resented
there. whether prompted by ignorance
of conditions or by malice
Francis NJ. Scott. formerly Justice of
the Stpreme Court and now special
counsel to the Transit Commission, pre-
sented the petition OF that body to the
Board of Estimate. 1t instantly encoun-
tered q spirit of hostility. Duncan Mac
Innes, expert In the Finance Department
and economic oracle in chief to the
Mayor, suggested that the Transit Com
mssi3n would not have needed this
money had 1t kept within its means
by not hiring so much costly legal
talent"
f. Fl. La Guardia, President Of the
Board of Aldermen, asserted that the
way to put the Transit Commission out
OF business was to "starve It to death by
withholding financial sustenance."
Maurice Connolly, Borough President
Of Queens, tried to befriend the meas
ure in the interest of the Christmas
spirit and of the workers who would
need the money they had earned. His
plea was futile. The board shelved the
matter by referring 1t to the finance and
budget committee. That will tie up the
pay envelopes at least until the middle
of January.
Counsel Not Yet Paid.
The irrelevancy of Mr.. MacInnes's
criticism was pointed out by the Tran
sit Commission. Without stressfrg the
employment by the Hylan admlnistra-
tion OF such costly legal talent as Sem
ator Hiram Johnson and William A. De
Ford to fight the Transit Commission, 1t
was said that neither former Justice
Scott nor Clarence j. Shearn of special
counsel to the commission. has present.
ed any bill as yet. Nothing has been
paid to them. Neither has extravaganza
in any other direction depleted the COM
missions treasury, as intimated.
In requisitionlng the sum named to
meet ordinary payroll expenditures, the
burden Of which the statute places upon
the municipality. Chairman McAneny
addressed a letter on December 15 to
the Board of Estimate In which he
SuDNt0 lfidt lIic hCb aiiiOuiit eApCLQcu oy
the present Transit Commission had
been and would continue to be less
than that for which provision would
have been required for the support of
the Transit Commissions predecessor
bodies. the Transit Construction Com
mission and the Public Service Commits
sion of the First District"
Since the present commission was in
stalled last April it has made only
eighty-two promitions. These involved
an average monthly pay increase of
s21.50 and the increased expense has
been more than Offset by savings effect
ed by the commission through leaving
untitled positions authorized under the
statute.
Bond Issue Sought.
Col. Howard t. Kinssbury, general
counsel TO the Transit Commission, pre-
sided yesterday at hearing in which
the Eighth Avenue Railroad Company
applied for permission to issue $1,000 900
mortgage bonds, the securities to bear
per cent. interest and to mature in
Ave years. The collateral offered was o.
mortgage on the conpany's two parcels
OF real estate at Fiftieth street and
Eighth avenue. with part of the pro-
ceeds OF the issue II is Intended to pay
off certain short term obligations.
Altar listening 20 Michael Kirkland.