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NEW YORK, APRIL 22, 1916
HOME RULE NECESSARY TO NEW YORK CITY
Municipality Should Manage Its Own Affairs
—Mandatory Legislation Should Be Curbed
By SENATOR ROBERT F. WAGNER
THREE classes of legislation have
been enacted in the past, and as the
result. New York City is the sufferer.
The first is mandatory expenses forced
upon the city in the administration of
its own affairs—for instance, increasing
salaries. The second class of legislation
froni which New York suffers is the dis¬
criminatory legislation such as provides
that the expenses of the Public Service
Commission of the First District be paid
out of the city treasury, while the Pub¬
lic Service Coinmission of the Second
Department, also a State department, is
paid out of the State treasury. Thus it is
clear that New York City is compelled
to pay the entire expense of the Com¬
mission of the First District, amount¬
ing to about $3,000,000, and also 70 per
cent, of the cost of the second district
commission.
Also the State Department of Health
lias jurisdiction over the entire State,
except the City of New York, and we
in New York City must have our own
Health Department at our own expense
and also contribute 70 per cent, of the
expense of the administration of the
Health Department for the remainder of
the State. We are compelled to support
our own normal schools within the City
of New York, while the expense of main¬
taining the normal schools in the rest
of the State is paid out of the State
treasury: so here again, while we pay for
the administration of our own normal
schools, we are also paying 70 per cent,
of the expense of the normal schools of
the rest of the State. We are com¬
pelled to pay 70 per cent, of an annual
$2,000,000 appropriation to maintain town
roads, although New York City is spe¬
cifically excluded from enjoying one dol¬
lar of this nionev. We are paying $75,-
000,000 of the $100,000,000 expended for
the comprehensive system of highways
throughout the State, but New York
City is excluded from the enjoyment of
any of these monies. There are a num¬
ber of other like instances to which I
could refer, but these are sufficient to
illustrate my point.
One Reason for Tax Burden.
Thirdly, New^ York City has its bur¬
den of taxation increased because of the
large number of so-called local appro¬
priation bills that are enacted each year
—appropriations which are given to the
rural legislators purely in the nature of
patronage. For instance, to improve a
creek, dredge an inland lake, change the
course of streams for the sake of improv¬
ing property. New York City has never
been known to receive any local appro¬
priation of that character for its own
use or benefit. These appropriations
amount in some years to several millions
and one can see the injustice to New
York at a moment's reflection, for we
must pay 70 per cent, of all these local
appropriations.
Then take the case of bridges: The
State of New York e.Kpended several
luindred thousand dollars last year to
provide bridges between Rensselaer and
Albany Counties and Rensselaer and
Saratoga Counties, the State paying the
entire cost of the construction of, these
bridges, while in the City of New York
the taxpayers of that city, without one
dollar of assistance from th? 5tate, have
"P OBERT F. WAGNER, repre-
-*-^ senting the 16th Senatorial
District of the City of New York
has advocated Home Rule meas¬
ures for the Metropolis and all
other municipalities.
Progressive thought throughout
the country has brought with it
many reforms, such as direct
primaries, social welfare legisla¬
tion and the revival of the theory
of Home Rule, Senator Wagner
has made sincere efforts during the
present session of'the Legislature
to put some of the Home Rule
ideas into effect and if he has not
succeeded he has at least kept this
question in the foreground and as¬
sisted in shaping some of the laws
which the Legislature in its clos¬
ing days has enacted for the bene¬
fit ot the city.
During the sessions of the Con¬
stitutional Convention held last
summer he addressed the members
of that body on Home Rule legis¬
lation and stated his belief:
1. That the city is capable of
self-government;
2. That city conditions require
self-government;
3. That cities would progress
more rapidly with self-govern¬
ment.
The majority of the members of
both houses in the Legislature rep¬
resent districts above the Harlem
River and Senators and Assembly¬
men from Rochester, Buffalo.
Syracuse and Utica join with rural
law-givers in preventing genuine
Home Rule amendments to be in¬
corporated in the State Constitu¬
tion. "What right has the maior¬
ity of the Legislature coming from
rural districts to imoose upon the
City of New York the laws which
they deem proper for it?" Sen¬
ator Wagner remarked in his de¬
bate on Home Rule. "Distinct
from the rest of the State." he
continued, "the Citv of New York
stands alone with its peculiar in¬
terests. We, of New York City,
are essentially a financial and com¬
mercial community in distinction
to the agricultural and industrial
communities of the State at larpe.
The interests of our citv, its de¬
fects, its tendencies, its advantages
and its disadvantages are primarily
local and peculiar to itself. To
satisfy those interests, to cure
those defects, to encourage those
tendencies, to co-ooerate with
those advantages, and to eliminate
those disadvantages are among the
duties of its citizens, and we
whose interests are identical with
the interests of our city and whose
livelihood and existence depends
unon our municipality, know just
what are our reauirements and
how those requirements mav be
suDplied. The government of the
ritv sVioiild be conducted from the
City Hall and not from Albany."
been obliged to spend millions to con¬
nect the County of New York with the
Counties of Kings and Queens.
The question is: What is the remedy?
In my judgment, there are two remedies:
l._ To prevent in the future the im¬
position of mandatory expenses upon
the city in the administration of its local
affairs, the constitution of the State
should be so amended as to give to the
municipalities of the State absolute
home rule; that is, the right guaran¬
teed to them by our fundamental law,
without State interference, to manage
their own affairs, property and govern¬
ment.
2. A never-ending protest, backed by
an aroused public sentiment within the
City of New York, which will compel
the enactment of a constitutional amend¬
ment guaranteeing to the city fair and
equal representation in the Legislature
according to its population.
The two remedies are interdependent,
for when New York City has the repre¬
sentation to which it is justly entitled
it will be political suicide for any Legis¬
lature to attempt to interfere Avith its
k cal affairs. It is obvious that these
purposes must be accomplished before
New York City can create for itself a
municipal situation which will insure
honesty, efficiency and wisdom in the
management of its local affairs. Until
the citizens of New York City can elect
its own officials pledged to carry out
policies which are approved by the
people themselves, it will never be as¬
sured of obtaining the result in city
government that its citizens desire and
certainly ought to have.
Not Real Home Rule.
The constitutional amendment which
Senator Brown, following out the rec¬
ommendations of the joint committee of
the Legislature appointed to investigate
the financial condition of the City of
New York, proposed in the Senate on
March 6, 1916, falls far short of satisfy¬
ing the public demand for home rule.
It is only half a remedy for our rnunici-
pal needs. The amendment contains no
guarantee that home rule shall be given
to the cities except when and to what
extent the Legislature may deem expe¬
dient. A genuine home rule provision
should not merely delegate to the Legis¬
lature the right to empower cities to
conduct their local government,^ as Sen¬
ator Brown's amendment does; it should
by its own terms vest in the cities the
right to manage their own municipal
affairs. The exponents of hoitie rule
have insisted, and continue to insist, that
local government be vested in the locali¬
ties absolutely and that in order to work
out their municipal destinies cities should
not be compelled to seek powers from
the Legislature but should have those
powers assured to them by the funda¬
mental law of the State. I have intro¬
duced a proposed amendment to the con¬
stitution which embodies my views or
rather the views of those who want gen¬
uine home rule. The amendment which
I introduced does not merely delegate
authority to the Legislature to confer
home rule upon cities, but actually vests
in the cities the greatest possible meas¬
ure of home rule independent of legis¬
lative action.