Year: 1877




Once upon time we had Mayor of New
York who believed that he was the chief
magistrate of this great city and acted ac-
cordingly. He also believed in the exercise
of the one-man power and was determined
that he would be the one man. Even before
he was installed in Office at the City Hall he
made it his duty to 60 around the city in
quiet way hunting up and investigating
abuses so rs to be in position
to apply the remedies when his term
of Office began. So energetic were
his movements, and so direct was the ap-
plication of the remedial measures which he
had already decided to employ, that the SUBJ
ordinate officials, the heads of departments
and bureaus, the bebuttoned police pachas
who ruled the precincts, the easily infu-
enced deputy assistant market inspectors,
and even the city lamplighters, became
terrorstricken and suddenly efficient, and
period of practical reform in the mu-
nicipal government unexpectedly set in.
Our modern Haroun al -Raschid had a
secret. It was that which enabled him to
inspire profound respect for his authority
and feeling of uncertainty as to the mo-
ment and manner in which he would exer-
else it in the hearts of those he was watch
ing so closely. No one could tell when and
where the ubiquitous Mayor of New York
might step in and inquire into the manage
ment of the simplest matter Of public busi-
ness The secret was that the chief magis-
trate had habit of attending to trifes, or
what the public and the officials were accus-
toned to regard as below the dignity of the
Mayor to notice.


When the vigilance and energy of this
IyEx-eyed executive began to turn night
into day in the dark places of the city, and
to expose the shortcomings of the lazy off,
cials, whose highest conception of duty never
scared above the drawing of their salaries
from the city treasury, they and their sup
porters were filed with indignation. Two
parties were soon formed, one of which de-
nounced the action of the Mayor as mere
dramatic display of mock efficiency, and in
sisted that he was in reality one Of the
worst Mayors that we ever had. The other
side claimed that New York was never under
better government than that represented
by his administration; that he paid equal
attention to the most comprehensive projects
and to the apparently most Insignificant tri-
fes But without offering any opinion as to
which of these parties were right we
think no one will dispute that the expert
ment of Fernando Wood Enthusiastically es-
tablished one fact-to wit, that it is quite
easy for real live man in the Mayors Office
to put the whole city government on its
| good behavior.


| Why do we recall now this episode of the
olden time in New York? Because there
never was period in the history Of the
metropolis when just such policy of vigil
ance, activity and attention to trifes was
more needed to rescue US from the evils of
misgovernment and extravaganza than the
present. The parcelling out Of the author
ity which properly belongs to the Mayor of
New York among o number of irresponsi-
BILE officials who shelter themselves behind
barriers reared by special and partisan
legislation at Albany from the just indigna-
ton of the people, is fraught with the worst
consequences to the metropolis. The cooks
of the Dock Departm ent and the chamber
| maids Of the Police Board consider that
they have their special duties to perform,
and will do nothing more The buffers Of
the Department of Public Works and the
pantry boys Of the Health Board, the
hostlers of the Department of Chari-
ties and Correction and the coachman
Of Finance are supremely Indifferent to
the necessities of the municipal house,
hold outside their own immediate depart
mcnts therein, so that when the thousand
and one trifes, the minor details of duty to
the people, the performances which are
really more necessary to the welfare of the
community than the ornamental perform
ances of the beplushed and gorgeous
licenses and John Thomases, present them
selves, there is no one to recognize them,
and they are therefore neglected


Now, to whom should we look for the ex-
ercise of those high official qualities and the
authority that would compel the under SER
wants of the people to perform all the du-
ties required of them sbut the Mayor who
is the chief servant, the majordomo of the
household? He alone by virtue of the pre-
dominant powers vested in him by the pub
lie, can effect the needed reforms We do
not want an executive whose time shall be
chiefly occupied in dealing with generaliza-
tions of municipal government or who
will act rs o mere referee in disputes
as to precedence between the cook and the
parlor maid We want no twaddling dis
cussions of abstract questions of economy
that are never followed by reduction OF
the city expenditures We do not desire to
see poor Jonahs of clerks dragged from their
high stools and cast overheard by frightened
heads of departments, 10 be swallowed by the
whale of reform. What we really need is