424





RECORD  AND  GUIDE





March 18, 1916





a year behind in its current revenues,
it entered into an agreement with in¬
vestors that it would adopt a policy of
paying for non-revenue producing prop¬
erties as it went along; and that it would
get over to this basis in four j-ears—by
including in the tax levy 25 per cent, of
all authorizations of this kind the first
year (1915); 50 per cent, the second year
(1916); 75 per cent, the third year
(1917), and 100 per cent, the fourth year
(1918). Being without a plan, how¬
ever, in 1915. in order not to swell the
tax rate, it included only about one-
fourth the average annual requiremeiits
and no one even noticed it. If the city
goes on this way four years the present
administration may escape unfavorable
showing, but what will happen during
the next four years when 100 per cent.
of all authorizations must be included?
Either the taxpayer must make up delin¬
quencies or the pay-as-you-go agreement
must be revoked.

Present Charter Prcvides for Planning.
This is not because the present charter
does not give the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment the power to make a fin¬
ancial plan each year. On the contrary,
this is specified as one of the duties of
the board. Section 22(i of the charter
requires the head of each department
bureau and office to submit to the board
each year "estimates . . . ,-in order to
enable said board to make a budget."
The duty of preparing and submitting a
budget is imposed on the board, as an
executive council, but there is no way
of enforcing this duty. There is a further
defect: The budget making body, the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment, is
so constituted that it is not responsible;
there is no chief executive; the board is
not a responsible cabinet; no provision
is made to insure unity of action; it is
organized on a theory of distrust; and
has not over it any representative body
or authority for calling it to account.

The   Present   Charter   Does   Not   Ade¬
quately Provide for Publicity.

In the present charter there is a mis¬
taken notion of publicity requirements.
The burden of criticism is placed on
the public with no adequate provision
for having the budget, as proposed by
the Board of Estimate, explained, re¬
viewed, criticised or discussed by the
Mayor or any member. .Another false
assumption is that the conferences be¬
tween the official subordinate and the
executive ofiicer is the occasion for pub¬
licity. The effective thing is not to re¬
quire the Mayor or other executive to
put his own subordinate on a spit and
publicly roast him; but to put the bud¬
get makers on the spit after they have
assumed responsibility for proposing and
submitting a financial plan.

Other Charter Defects.

Not only is the charter defective in
making provision for planning and for
publicity, but it is also defective in that
it does not provide for the other three
essentials of responsible government. It
makes no provision whereby the officer
can find out whether a majority of the
people or their representatives will sup¬
port any proposed plan before it is ap¬
proved; it makes inadequate provision
for holding officers responsible for faith¬
ful execution of the plan after it is ap¬
proved; it makes inadequate provision
for promptly retiring executives who do
not give a satisfactory account of their
stewardship or who do not retain the,
support of the majority. Each of the
members of the executive council (the
Board of Estimate) is elected for four
vears and nothing short of removal by
the Governor of the State or by court
proceeding will vacate the office. The
result is a piling up of popular dis¬
trust and discontent till the end of a
four-year term when action by the elec¬
torate is both unintelli.gent and indeci¬
sive of any issue. Under such circum¬
stances there can be no such thing as
effective  home  rule.

The fact that the charter is defective
does not mean that the members of the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment
can do nothing to make a budget pro¬
cedure  effective.





1.  The Board of Estimate can
make a budget—it can prepare and
submit each year a carefully pre¬
pared plan which can be under¬
stood, criticised, discussed and voted
on by the Board of Aldermen; and
in case there is a dissension in the
board it can submit a majority and
minority reports.

2.  The Board of Estimate and Ap¬
portionment can prepare its pro¬
posed budget in such form that ma¬
jority and minority members can ex¬
plain its "work program," its "im¬
provement program," the "proposed
terms and conditions governing
purchases and contracts," its "reve¬
nue and borrowing program." Both
the majority members and the min¬
ority members can go before the
Board of Aldermen to answer ques¬
tions and defend the plan submit¬
ted in their majority and minority
reports. The meetings of the Board
of Aldermen on the budget (if one is
prepared and submitted) can be
made a real forum.

3.  The Board of Estimate has
power to raise and discuss real
issues; to make news out of ques¬
tions raised concerning past expen¬
ditures as well as proposals for fu¬
ture expenditures, revenue and bor¬
rowing measures. They can make it
possible to find out whether the bud¬
get proposals of a majority of the
Board of Estimate and Apportion¬
ment are supported by a majority
of the representatives of the people
in the Board of Aldermen.

4.    The members of the Board of
Estimate and Apportionment can
work out a charter amendment
which will give to them an
opportunity to locate and to an¬
swer publicly the "opposition" of
their measures; they can propose an





amendment which will enable them
to know whether they are supported
by a majority of the electorate in
case a majority of the Board of Al¬
dermen votes against the plan sub¬
mitted.

The reason why executives have been
given a four-year term, is to enable
them to become familiar with the duties
of their offices and to become more effi¬
cient as managers. Four years is too
long a term for an officer who is dis¬
trusted; it is too short a term for one
who is trusted. Given a means wereby
public opinion can be kept behind an
administration, an election is only" a
method of expression of continued sup¬
port of effective leadership. Such a method
brings big men to the front; it makes for
stability of government, for continued
progress, for the development of ex-
pertness, for improved public service.
This is essential to an effective bud¬
get procedure; it is essential to the suc¬
cessful operation of home rule.

Whether charter changes were made to
give New York City home rule under a
commission manager plan, or under a
chief executive and council plan, the only
way to make the citizenship trust the
government is to give the government an
effective means for meeting the opposi¬
tion openly, and to have issues which
affect the welfare of the city settled by
a well informed electorate when these
issues are raised. An effective budget
procedure is the most powerful instru¬
ment for the accomplishment of such a
result. To make such a procedure effec¬
tive it is necessary to make the executive
responsible for planning, as well as for
the execution of plans and to make the
representative body responsible for giv¬
ing full publicit}' both to past acts and
future proposals, before further grants
are made. Such a change can be effected
by a few very simple amendments in the
present charter.







:! 1





HAMPTON   SHOP   IN   NBW   QUARTERS

New Edifice, Opposite St. Patrick's Cathe¬
dral, Another Addition to New Art Center

THE Hampton Shops are now located
in their new building at 18 East SOth
street, opposite St. Patrick's Cathedral.
This structure was designed by Rouse &
Goldstone and L. A. Steinam, architects,
38 West 32d street, for the exclusive use
of the concern, and will be devoted to
the exhibition of high grade period furn¬
iture and decorations. In this building
the owners will be enabled to demon¬
strate the belief they have held for years,
that not only each piece of furniture but
each hanging and covering should have
its own meaning and should emphasize
the intimacy of its relation to its sur¬
roundings.

The facade of this interesting struc¬
ture has been designed in the style of
the Perpendicular Gothic, to harmonize
with the architecture of the cathedral di¬
rectly opposite, and has been built of
terra cotta laid up in random ashlar, with
a varied but harmonious range of color.
This style of architecture has been
carried out in every detail of the first
floor. The upper portion of the building
has been treated with a loggia and flank¬
ing towers. The entrance to the build¬
ing, through gateways of wrought iron
and stained glass, leads into what would
almost appear to be the courtyard of
some mediaeval castle. This effect is
enhanced by the small windows which
look down into this court, and beneath
which are hung boxes of flowering
plants.

The entrance leads into a great Gothic
Hall, twenty-five feet in height, which
takes in the entire first floor and which is
lighted by hanging chandeliers and a
beautiful stained glass Cathedral window
in the south end. A gallery occupies
three sides of this hall. The balance of
the building has been devoted to eleven
spacious galleries for the exhibition of
furniture arranged in a series of room
interiors.     Each  room  has  been  treated







Rouse & Goldstone & L A. Steinam, Archt's.
Bing & Bing Const. Co., Builder.

in an individual manner and is decorated
and furnished in strict harmony as to
period and usage.

The building was erected under a gen¬
eral contract by the Bing & Bing Con¬
struction Company, 119 West_ 40th
street, and the cost of construction is_
estimated to be in the neighborhood of
$200,000.