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I. Will. It's my privilege to introduce you to a founder of the budget commission look at but he is the founder is a member of the executive committee of these many is tremendous force in the budget commission of. A friend of a man who has recently won exceptional added. Mr Peter Graham. Thank you Mr Darling and ladies and gentlemen friends all I made for Zoom of the budget commission because of you and not a friend you probably wouldn't take the trouble to come here and I'm glad to see so many of you here you know the lot of a person sitting up on this day is about to make a speech or remarks is not a happy one a well meaning but friend of mine. Came to a just before the meeting opened and said I want to give you some good advice and holding him to be a friend I said All right Bill what is it he said three simple things would he be brave and be seated now you say that just upsets my whole. Mind I really think that's what he wanted to hear and I can't give it to you that simple. My partner's program is designated by the program as being that of making remarks that is gives me a very wide field but I will particularize it by saying that I'm to talk to you about prices everybody likes prices we like to get prizes we like to give prizes and we enjoy seeing friends get prizes who showed some superior excellence and so tonight we're going to play in this game we're all going to. Talk about prizes and see our friends get them citizens budget commission is giving the prizes now what are they giving giving a medal which I think is an extremely beautiful medal and I've heard that said by others whose competence in judging medals is greater than my own but I think we have a just a full justifiable pride in this matter. I like to remember that at the beginning when the idea was first broached. Assume. The job of selecting the artist and agreeing finally on a design and I've seen that many a job and he works hard at what he believes is worthwhile and sincere and so he took this job very thoroughly he surveyed the field of the audience he picked the man by name A We learned Williams Williams who we later found had a very high rank among sculptors and medalists and so. Followed that from the planning of the first model. I don't know how many models they made before they agreed on the final design but through to the striking of the metal was Bob dolling Zwart and I want to pay him that made of praise. And gratitude for having done his job so thoroughly and so well well now a little tonight is given for varying accomplishments I can think of no single act that is a great contribution to way of life then that we should single out a man because of some work he did for the benefit of the community it does a service even to the recipient himself for it gives him that deep in a satisfaction which a man can get only when his own peers in it's own failed have given him the honor for making a contribution and I like to think that. In turn the recipient. Ship Ians get and bring a luster to the metal which the metal doesn't have but a sure and brings to it. When the recipient accepts it and I look back now over the years. Since we have been giving these medals and I remember the name was overheard at Lehman and Stanley Isaacs man of blessed memory and I think of other men who bad boy in the middle and I think of Sam Leiter Stoff And I think of David Rockefeller and Harrison to wade and John Rockefeller SR June third on rock solid. And so down the line these men have wrought well and valiantly and the public good they have received the medal and by their acceptance of the medal have added last of the mellower which makes it worth more to all of us and to the community and does fall. The recipient the very thing which we wish to do for the recipient by giving him the medal in so tonight. Feel satisfaction thinking about these great name is that all men who have. Done well for our community and all bearers of the citizens budget commission medal now there are three classifications for the medal went as tonight first a medal for high civic service to an outstanding citizen to be awarded this year to Dr oath. On the design of for the version I know now Bridge hole received the medal in a moment from the hands of Dr Kirk and a second medal for high civic service in New York in The New York City merit system has been awarded annually since nine hundred fifty two and this share is awarded to Louis Shulman the director of the division of the capital budget of the department of city planning who are cvs the medal from his honor Robert F. Wagner and the third medal is given to the winner of the C.B.C. press radio T.V. award the award been given since one thousand nine hundred fifty two in the nineteen sixty four when there is a C.B.S. T.V. the present ation will be made by Professor John Temple chairman of the popular journalism. University. That will be special citation scrolls within the scope of the press radio T.V. award and these will be given to the Long Island Press The Herald Tribune and A.B.C. T.V. the tablet will show present these and how it is my hi ana ladies and gentleman to present to this distinguished audience in mind who will give the medal to the first medal when I got to Grayson Kirk president of Columbia University one of the greatest of lended societies and universities in the United States Dr. Mr Chairman Mr Grimm Dr I'm on ladies and gentlemen a medal that is awarded for outstanding civic service necessarily must be one that is awarded after great deliberation because of the great metropolitan community such as this there are and always will be we hope. Many many deserving men but tonight it seems to me that with a selection has been made with unusual care and with unusual appropriateness because the lives of all our of so many of the great cities of the world are intimately bound up with Bridges who can think of Paris without thinking about those bridges those lovely bridges that span the sun and who can think of Florence without thinking of going to Vecchio in the sun to train it to. Look and think of London without thinking of the bridges across the Thames. You can think of San Francisco without thinking of the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge and you can think of New York without thinking of those magnificent structures that connect this island to the mainland and to other US These are not merely arteries of traffic though they have that essential and utilitarian purpose. If properly and properly can see the next acute. Not only great engineering feats which indeed they are because their complexity is almost unimaginable there are also things of beauty and surprise tonight that our award be given to him. Who has done so much for this community in this respect the man who has given us the George Washington Bridge the Throgs Neck Bridge the new the new bridge of the narrows the Bronx Whitestone what would this city be without the. And this talented. Has been a citizen of this country for a long time he came to the United States. At the age of twenty five one thousand nine hundred four after he had had a magnificent technical education in his native Switzerland at the that famous Technical University in Zurich. And his career in this country is one that is so well known that it is unnecessary to comment upon it is a great citizen of the city of New York honored by his fellows in his profession throughout the world he is a great citizen of his adopted country we honor him tonight and in honoring him we honor our selves now. Citation which has been prepared reads as follows. Him on I'm a bridge designer extraordinary whose creativity and originality are found expression in such structures as the no narrows George Washington Triborough Bronx white stone throwing its neck and Bay on bridges in the New York City area the Golden Gate Bridge the Delaware Memorial Bridge among many others and other parts of the world Mount whose life's work has been the realisation of mountains conquest over his environment this tribute is intended to express the admiration the high esteem the respect and the gratitude which the citizens of New York hold for a man who has done so much to help build a civilized world in his in his lifetime Dr Ahmad I have very great pleasure on behalf of the citizens budget commission and presenting this medal to you and it is unusually appropriate quite a happy coincidence that this medal not designed especially for this purpose but the metal that has been given on many previous occasions has on all has as its principal feature the Brooklyn Bridge. If you are Mr Letterman. Or protecting the veterans on the bridge the middle offered by Dr Grayson Kirk of Columbia University. W one minus news broadcasting the thirty third annual dinner of the citizens budget commission. Who are charged with selection of other awards yeah Mr Jerome Walker executive editor and publisher with us. Richard Baker Lumba School of Journalism. And Professor John TEBBEL with us journalism in New York University it's my pleasure and on it your present professor at Temple will make the following awards Professor temple chairman Ward wonders thing which guess is my privilege to present the thirteenth annual press awards of the citizens budget commission it is the fifth occasion on which radio and television presentations were also eligible for consideration may I remind you of the scope of these awards as it is set forth on the nomination form the purpose of the citizens budget commission awards in journalism ready on television is to give recognition to extraordinary public service and to encourage and stimulate interest in the finance and management of the government of the city of New York the awards are given to those daily newspapers and radio or television stations or their staff members who have made the most noteworthy contributions to an understanding of the significance of good management in achieving a fission and economical administration of the government of the city of New York I speak tonight for my colleagues on the special panel of judges who are on the able to be present Richard G. Baker so shit dean of the Graduate School of Journalism Columbia University and Jerome H. Walker executive editor of Editor and Publisher. They join me in praising all of those newspapers and radio and television stations whose civic Enterprise made them eligible for awards and in congratulating the winners whose names and citations I shall now present to you in giving the annual Press Radio Television Award to W. C.B.S. T.V. or its broadcast and titled the money behind we have the panel have side of this broadcast as a vital contribution to public information on municipal finances and a high public service worthy of special recognition the text of the citation reads for high civic service in the presentation of a broadcast on December fifteenth one thousand nine hundred sixty four entitled The money behind one of the series on the program ion New York constituting an exceptional contribution to public understanding of municipal finances and management the medal will be excepted for C.B.S. T.V. by Mr Bernard W. bean producer and writer of the eye on New York series Mr B.. Will combine. The first of three special citations ghost of the Long Island Press for two public service series of articles one on the problems of the jury system in the courts of New York published on Feb twenty fourth twenty five twenty six twenty seven twenty eight twenty nine and March first one nine hundred sixty four and the other on the Long Island Railroad published on August ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen and fifteen thousand nine hundred sixty four the articles written by Edward Weiland and Austin H. Pearl. These articles were objective and thorough and their publication constitutes a high public service they contribute to better public understanding of civic and Governmental Affairs the citation will be accepted by Mr David star managing editor of The Long Island Press Mr Starr thank you. Mr Pearl all was unable to be here tonight but Mr Weiland is present with us at the far end of the room will he please rise and take a bow of will the second citation goes to the New York Herald Tribune for a series of articles on the operation of welfare programs in New York City published on November fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty two and twenty three thousand nine hundred sixty four these articles written by Pete Hamill and Francis Lee provided basic information to help New Yorkers appraise the complex problems of poverty and relief publication of the material constitutes a high public service that warrants public acknowledgement of the citation will be accepted by Murray M.Y.S. managing editor of The Herald Tribune Mr Weiss thank. The third citation goes to station W A B C T.V. for the broadcast entitled the school budget story on Wednesday December second one nine hundred sixty four the broadcasters repeated on Sunday December sixth one thousand nine hundred fifty four it was also made available by W. A.B.C. T.V. or telecast on Channel thirteen. This broadcast was an important step forward and presented information to the public on the financial problems of operating the world's largest municipal school system and its presentation was a high public service the citation will be accepted my best by Mr John old Gilbert vice president and general manager of A.B.C. T.V. Mr Gilbert. Our congratulations again to the winners and thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you Professor this is not an easy job that these three men have performed and it takes a great deal of attention and time and we're very grateful to you and hear so shits I have the. Privilege of resenting to you. A man who was a great international banker and a member of so many boards that there is not time to speak of them all but take to the business boards but he has so many other interests and this so greatly helpful to our country in our city that I want to mention a few of them is a member of the directors of the Columbia University School of International Affairs the board of The New York hospital United States Council of International Chamber of Commerce is also a man of great sympathy for the arts and I must tell you know that he's made an unusual sacrifice in being here tonight because this is the second and last appearance for this season of Maria callous. At the Metropolitan and. Mr George Moore is treasurer of that wonderful institution the greatest opera company in the world and he's doing there for the second act of Tosca So George I know you whatever you'll say less deeply as we appreciate it it won't be very long. It's my honor George always this visit due to our audience. Mr Dowling Mer Wagner honored guests ladies and gentleman and Mr Patterson I do we hope to see the last that toss Thank you Bob And for that reason I will stay on schedule but I am very glad to be here tonight too often it's said that New York City doesn't have any city spirit. I think tonight's dinner. Denies that allegation because I see here tonight I know they're here tonight the heart of the city spirit and while this is too pleasant in the cage and really to be serious. I think our city deserves one night a year that we really take a look at ourselves and and without apology I will give you a few thoughts I have myself about our city because I I am honored to be here and I do welcome the opportunity to express my appreciation of the work of the citizens budget commission every taxpayer of the city owes the commission a debt of gratitude more of the principal taxpayer should support it since its organization and one nine hundred thirty two under the guidance of civic leaders like Peter Graham and Nicholas Murray Butler Thomas Watson Robert Delling Carol Riggleman the commission has served the city well as a nonpartisan professional mentor. To successive city administrations in the vitally important fields of city management and fiscal policy private business corporations frequently employ management specialist to review policies and procedures and they pay substantial fees for other independent judgments this commission a nonprofit organization provides its expert opinions free of charge I'm sure there are times when the city administration wishes that this commission's criticisms were not so relentless but I'm sure it's only striving for good government really welcome the kind of expert advice even when it is critical the commission is outstanding among citizen organizations specializing in this bill government perhaps most remarkable is the continuity of its strong leadership it was also maintained a high level of professional excellence despite at the economy of size and its staff it is stayed out of politics a virtue essential to its continued useless The trustees are knowledgeable people who have participated actively rather than really lending their names to the organization and finally the commission studies and recommendations have been directed at the broad problems of the city rather than at operating details where you live in New York City must admit that there are plenty of problems perhaps the greatest of all is that New York City is so overwhelmingly big that it's too easy for the average citizen to shrug off his responsibility by saying what difference can one vote make or what can one man do about it and this is precisely the reason why this commission is so invaluable as a medium for a citizen participation in the major problems of its government. Because it's necessary to have a professional group like this with an image Tory of the information about civic and political history and the scope and machinery of the city's government to make intelligent judgments about the city and then to mount a campaign for its improvement there's nothing state or stodgy about our city its very name has an impact a challenge of excitement and vitality I've been in South America for a month and everyone there is eyes sparkle when you mention New York and they all wish they'd get here and most of them are on their way here we have the rich resources of here we have the rich resources of many nation national cultures and religions of great universities and research foundations excellent newspapers magazines television and radio the world's greatest concentration of commercial and investment banking capital know how the corporate management center of the nation an amazing variety of entertainment and unsurpassed shopping facilities Lincoln Center alone should make us the envy of the nation and yet with all this impressive building and improving we have failed to create a utopia either for a living or for doing business perhaps it was too much to hope that city planning could maintain a sense of direction a priority of values under such great pressures but perhaps we should have tried harder within the past fifty years the evolution of our social consciousness has greatly modified the freedom of private enterprise but we still want to preserve the individual initiative on which our prosperity is founded but today government has properly moved into the area of social betterment especially in the construction and operation of low rental housing and in the liberalization the welfare assistance to the underprivileged. But in our enthusiasm for these laudable purposes the entrepreneurs and especially the small in the pen of a businessman who create jobs and pay taxes have sometimes been forgotten New York City is not only a big business town the management center of the nation but is even more than this a community of small shopkeepers of service businesses of traders and specially manufacturers to these people operating on limited capital and that a tax burden is too often the difference between profit and failure the cost of a forced move or rent increases too often the marginal factor beyond their resources we sometimes forget what big business small business is in New York because here we have only a handful of large employers but two hundred thirteen thousand small businesses employing fewer than one hundred people and combined these small firms provides fifty three percent of the city's total employment and they're the real backbone of the local economy within the past six years in New York City is so over the net loss of ninety thousand manufacturing jobs reducing the total of such jobs by ten percent and this is especially tragic because we have here such a large workforce capable of learning manufacturing skills but not educated to the level of white collar job requirements the independent engineering firm of Arthur D. Little Incorporated has recently advised the New York City Planning Commission that unless the industrial environment in New York City is revitalized the city will face further loss of job opportunities in manufacturing and related activities most shocking of all these losses for the New York City have occurred during the greatest prosperity in girls this country has ever known and there are many reasons for this dismal record. Which the most inexcusable is our proper failure to appreciate the problems of the small businessman and to give them more weight in our city planning both physical and fiscal It is regrettably true that in the massive reconstruction of housing under federal state and local subsidies hundreds of small businessmen of almost literally been plowed under if they run force enough to be caught up in the redevelopment areas I applaud the initiative recently taken by the commerce an interest so she can of New York City towards the organization of a privately managed Industrial Development Corporation to enlist business leaders of the city and acting to stop the flight of small scale manufacturing from New York City our nation is full of examples of successful results that can be achieved when all elements in the community the city government business and labor work together for community improvement in St Louis a two billion dollars in major construction both public and private is currently underway are definitely planned this includes a five thousand acre industrial park with the sillies for both light and heavy manufacturing in Providence Rhode Island a similar organization provided three thousand jobs that would have otherwise been eliminated and created two thousand new ones over in Wilkes Barre the similar organization created four thousand jobs with twelve million dollars in salaries are earning power in lawyer bill and the apis doubtless Cincinnati and one where another business groups are joining hands with local governments and others in the community to bring new economic life to their cities New York the greatest city of all cannot afford to fall behind However I do not believe that New York City's industrial weakness can be cured by subsidizing industrial sites along there are deeper problems. Government business and labor must work together and make mutual concessions in order to create a climate encouraging to economic growth here in New York City today business bears heavy special tax burdens such as the tax on gross receipts and on commercial rentals in addition to the high rates of local sales tax and state income tax labor rates imposed by strong unions and liberal minimum wage laws are probably the highest in the country also they are the day little report concludes that our minister or government organization is too complex for the small businessman to cope with he is dismayed by the multiple and sometimes overlapping agencies governing building permits zoning changes tax procedures police regulations fire inspections and so forth there is nothing essentially wrong about all of this or any of it but the total impact is too much for the small businessman to bear especially when combined with all the other hand the caps which result from the sheer size of our city we're all acutely aware of the transportation problems both those of mass transit and those of the congested streets and the lack of off street parking unloading facilities here I feel we must view our city as merely the heart of a huge metropolitan region within which there will have to be a public subsidy for commuter rail road in order to encourage greater use of mass transport facilities always with us is the question of whether or subways saw essential to the city should be operated the last fare the city can possibly afford or on a strictly self-supporting level about two weeks ago I was calling on the president of Argentina. And I was giving lots of advice and I urged a reduction in the deficit of the state operator of arrows which account for nearly half of the Arjun tined budget deficit and our allies are responsible for the monetary problems there is suffering when I got back to the hotel I received the telegram reminding me. When I was preaching such a finance abroad that I had been appointed to a committee that was going to examine again for many times the problems of our own subway which are very similar to the problems there arose fortune in our case the subway deficit all its burdensome the tax payers is not affecting our national balance of payments when I got back hotel I got a copy in New York Times and I read. That one of our high public officials are recommending that we buy the Long Island Railroad which would further add to the problems. We can buy the Arjun I wrote if anybody wants to. Know that their present will be glad to sell them. Even more fundamental are the problems of law enforcement in a region of this size where tensions are rising and of the public schools where we have really had a population explosion both of these problems are such dimensions that I could not deal with them adequately in the short time we have tonight even a fire a qualified which I am not New York City has been extremely fortunate in having the aid of the Port of New York authority and of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority in the building of the city's airport six press ways and bridges although we have one of the world's finest natural harbors We are steadily losing our position relative to other seaports Greater New York's proportion though the nation's export import trade has dropped from thirty three percent of general cargo fifteen years ago to less than twenty percent last year. The Port of New York authority as lessee as develop the two regional airports as well as they want to nort but unfortunately up to that date no quite comparable cooperation has been over worked out for the reconstruction of our seaport facilities in other areas of the greater part however the Port Authority has constructed loading and shipping facilities of the most modern design the measures to maintain New York's competitiveness however has been supported by the trade development agencies and missions which the Port Authority has spread across the country and around the world perhaps the Port Authority is most single important achievement has been its part in the negotiation of freight rates preserving some of the original advantages held by New York as a shipping point all of these pressing problems of the world's greatest urban center are too much for any city administration to handle alone no matter how devoted or how capable it may be the state the federal government agencies business and labor organizations must all end their continuing interest and aid it must always be appreciated that it will not be possible do everything that we would like to do we simply cannot bear the cost of every desirable project for this reason our city government must continuously strive to improve the efficiency of miniscule operations through constant scrutiny of organization and functions rising costs of personal services and the constant goals of higher standards and improve social conditions will impose growing tax burdens no matter how efficient we are it is therefore essential that we establish priorities are ability to pay is not unlimited to havea tax burden will crush initiative the current budget proposals of the state administration revive our hopes the New York City will receive a more equitable share of state revenues. To the extent realized this increased income should be allocated so as to spare our local taxpayers from any added load of the special in posts which already impair ability to compete with other sections of the country and of course where we're also all that our federal government takes out of this city many billions more than are spent here and I think in retrospect that our city has its full share of the country's social problems of to be dealt with at the national level our goal is nothing less than the continued healthy growth of our city as a more attractive place to live and to do business this goal cannot be achieved through a limited campaign ours must be a steady effort fortunately and marihuana Agner we have a man who understands the prime requirement for sound growth is provide more productive jobs we are certain that we can look to him for a sympathetic appreciation of what we're trying to do and for action on those areas which are properly the responsibility of government we must not leave the future growth of New York City to unplanned chance we will all have to work at it and this effort the citizens budget commission can be of the greatest assistance by defining problems and suggesting lines of attack I'm sure we all promised the commission our continued appreciation and support thank you thank you. Thank you George and ladies and gentlemen if you permit me I want to give George Moore two commercials they have a little varying character the first is he's the president of the greatest bank in the world internationally and the best and. The place NASA Citibank That's number one. The other commercial is that he was formally the chairman of the Finance Committee of the New York World's Fair. Thank you Joy most warmly ladies and gentlemen since system again to our great pleasure control of the city New York a ram beam has returned from Montgomery Alabama and we have very led to see him back safe welcome a. The man that I have the privilege of in the decision now is a great attorney general of the army we call him Colonel and author a world traveler a founder of the budget commission a director these many years and the executive committee member and the general counsel and the moving. And the great man we're all proud to call friend all right all men. Thank you very much. Mr Mayor already president of the commission and the gracious character and the City Fathers. And I think as I look around the tables here I can say for us I love the speech that George Moore gave I think I would take only one exception and that is that his state was statement that the citizens budget commission is not political. I don't think that there is any issue we touch that isn't fundamentally basically an altogether political. There's a vast difference however between political and nonpartisan and I think George you are willing to accept the amendment it's important because what I'm going to talk about tonight would be impossible if we were a non political organization quite possible I think if we are a party nonpartisan organization although I'll admit that involves a little walking on eggs you see we're on the threshold of another merrily campaign despite the apparent on availability of Jack Javits and John Lindsay. Let me interrupt myself. Bob. Maybe you maybe you have a suggestion for a Republican candidate. That's. Why I do appreciate the compliment. I have a conviction. That every good citizen in this city should at least run once. For the merrily of the city I don't know of any experience that is more exhilarating rewarding. Exhausting and enjoyable particularly if you happen to run against a candidate like Bob Wagner but I don't think that the memory of that one experience should be tarnished by trying it again. See it's been twelve years since I ran last first and last and of those twelve years I think I have become. An elder statesman and this I like. And Bob It will take you another twenty years to compete with me on that level. Well as I was saying in spite of the apparent I'm availability of Jack Javits and John Lindsay and I must add myself now that this is a. Really particularly significant election. Whoever wins and this is due to the fact that first of all they transcend importance of the social and economic issues and secondly the fact that the voters of this city were never better informed than they are today and we're deeply indebted for this fact to the outstanding performance of the press radio and television and to the extraordinary a likeness of the Civic and trade associations for keeping their members apprised of city affairs this election will be held before and extraordinarily well informed electorate electorate that I think will be able to appreciate almost better than any in my memory the qualities of the political dialogue that is soon to take place and the sooner the better because there's as much ground to cover and quite regardless of the outcome the impact on the city will be enormous for good well the issues are grave and critical and what we do within the next four years may very well determine the future of this city even for decades to come we reached a turning point and I think that much that has to be said during the next few months. Will have a bearing on what we do for many years to come the issues are a transcendent importance George Morris touched on some of the public education we have not only the problem of integration in our public schools we also have the question of the standard of the sufficiency of the instruction a great hindrance of course to a solution that problem of public education is the de facto neighborhood segregation that exists along the lines of color poverty and lack of opportunity the electorate knows the difficulty but nevertheless it's insists I don't answer in the area of house we face continuous neighborhood deterioration a wide and broadening gap between the need in the supply of decent housing and the difficult problem of adequate measures to relocate families that have been displaced by new housing and by public improvements these matters are of great deep and very often agonizing concern to hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens I would say that progress and we have education and housing would be. If we had increased employment and there. By means of an effective and deft real development as was pointed out Phil effectively by George Moore and biodiversity of the exodus from the city of businesses which employ large numbers of blue collar workers a better business climate. Would ease the strain was upon our health welfare and corrections services and changes in the operational policy of those services would free funds that could be better spent on increased professional staff and the reduction of punishing workloads O. these deficiencies in those services and another commit Camilo services build up and aggravate the problem of law and order after all the security forces of the city deal with a relatively small fraction of law breaking that small fraction that explodes a palace in violence disorder and overt immorality until the deficiencies in the other services are corrected the police well trained well indoctrinated well behaved well disciplined well at face a Graham and losing fight against crime the transportation of people and goods to this city and within this city will loom very large in the coming debate it will be a major subject of that debate and in this area it will not do to denounce critics must offer something better underlying all of these problems is that great problem of administration budgets taxation and I can promise you that much will be said on both sides in relation to this problem or a Bill sector Well these my friends are the main issues. The city will be the gaining from this coming dialogue if the dialogue is clear comprehensive informed and creative the people don't want slogans they want facts they're not interested in plausible panaceas they want sound remedies the people need rational practical solutions for their difficult and complex problems the citizens budget commission this non partisan citizens budget commission stands ready to furnish the facts the data by which the public may make a fair evaluation of that dialogue after the election the citizens budget commission will continue to present First of all whatever it does it will be done with an acute understanding of the grave difficulties that will face the winner of the sausage and not to be underestimated and then it will continue to present with candor and honesty its proposals for a better time a better administration better budgeting that or taxation better operations but all of its proposals my friends will be in furtherance of our common up objective our common goal the continued greatness and the greater glory of this city we all love. Thank you. Thank you Crennel very greatly last time I had the privilege of presenting his honor at the budget commission dinner I made what I hope was a proper length. And Jews yes take and glowing introductory remarks it was thought that I might have been just slightly partisan in these remarks so I'm going in the. Zone is in NY then an Irish way with a single sentence who could say more now Robert F. way. Thank you very much my good friend Bob Dowling. Grayson Kirk Riggleman George Moore my colleagues in government I'm delighted that distinguished controller got back safely because I asked him to go down there I've been responsible if he didn't get back with glad that he's here and I know his wife is to. First thing for I make my remarks is to as usual make a present Taishan to the school career city employee who best exemplifies the ideals of the merit system and public service I'm very delighted to make this present Taishan to. It was when it tonight because I had the privilege of working with him out getting to be some years ago. When I was chairman of the city planning commission and since that time during that time and since that time I've been delighted to call him a friend and I have sought his advice and help as we struggle with many of the problems that confront the Planning Commission particularly in the area of capital budget and the citation adopted by the committee and is with his on the medal reads as follows two it was showmen director of the capital budget division of the department of city planning for exceptional service to the people of New York in the analysis of capital projects in the preparation of the city's capital budget and for maintaining a high level of service in the merit system which characterizes the work of the two hundred and ninety thousand employees of the city government and for a record of diligence intelligence devotion and creativity since entering and during the city service in one nine hundred twenty nine and you'll come forward to the light of. Well I. Know whether I broke the rules I asked to make a speech but he said he didn't want to use usual modest way because I thought it might relieve me because I'm one of those people in public life who have a serious problem right now my throat is just about to go with Laron giantess but the best I can. First of all let me say. To all the distinguished ladies and gentlemen here tonight that this is a very brilliant occasion as it always is I look forward to these annual appearances before they said it since budget commission with a certain sense of excitement this year I ran over in my mind the statements issued by the citizens budget commission during the year and Harold none of which I expect to quote in my campaign literature. And. Then I thought of the faces that would flank me on the days tonight and those that I would expect to see in the audience I thought these are not enemies some of my best friends are supporters and offices of the citizens budget commission and all of them in putting the citizens budget commission staff a very sincere and so I will speak to them as my friends that they really are I will share with them my perspective in the matters that concern as very deeply and they will understand as a matter of fact. This is the same thought I had before each of these annual citizens budget commission dinners yet I am not sure how often in the past I have convinced my good an old friend I will Riggleman or even John eleven's my hope is that I will have more success this year. But seriously I've always saluted the citizens budget commission as an unquestioned influence for good government and for sound fiscal policy and management practice there is no question of that we get tangled up on facts once in a while but not on essential facts and only sometimes on conclusions based on those facts but a dentist sponsored by the citizens budget commission actually wants to hear about the budget tell you to begin with it is not yet possible to make a constructive concrete present ation of the city's budgetary picture this is because the figures are far from fixed we started our annual budget retreat on Wednesday we will be at it for many days in previous weeks I have spent many hours in budget discussion with department heads with the budget director Bill say and with other others of my official family and unofficial advisers on budget and fiscal matters thus I have met on occasion with the members of the temporary commission on city finances headed by Mr Earle be squelched including my good an old friend Peter Grimm distinguished member for many years and a distinguished officer of the citizens budget commission the fact is that this year the city's fiscal situation contains a number of fact it was each of waste which is in the famous phrase of Winston Churchill a riddle surrounded by an egg and wrapped in mystery yet all these factors are into locking and interdependent. I'm referring above all to the interdependency between the state budget including its revenue raising programs which George mentioned briefly and the city's budget with its fiscal measures the hard fact is that in one nine hundred sixty five the range of choices is very narrow for those who have a governmental responsibility budgets must be balanced the bills must be paid essential services must be provided an expansion of governmental activity undertaken in the fields of education public safety housing and a broad range of measures for the improvement of the lives of the disadvantaged we must be competitive in wages and salaries we must meet the increased cost of welfare of hospital services of sanitation services for instance the overriding fact is that the cost of state and local government is going up new problems and old problems in vastly increased proportions surrounding us for years the state government and the federal government too but especially the former have been drawing off the cream of the city's revenue results says I make this statement in a totally non partisan spirit I must confess that with variations this process has taken place under Democratic and Republican administrations alike in both Albany and Washington today New York City faces urgent and insistent needs which cannot be denied. Those needs are much greater and more urgent because of the short changing to which New York City has been subjected all through the years yes through the decades in recent years that has been progressive improvement in this situation but none more mocked than in the pending state budget under the terms of that budget the city would receive an increase over the current D.M. three times as great as any we have received in any previous budget staler we must pay this year for past deficiencies in school aid in housing and in other categories finally we face the fact that increased revenues to meet on needs can only come from the state and from new high or local taxes there are no other substandard sources obviously our need for increased revenue from new Our increased local taxation will be reduced by precisely the amounts of increased state aid or other fiscal concessions from the state these are the variables and equally Asian these variables must be fixed before we can resolve the city's final fiscal equation of course we are in fact scheduled to received substantial substantially increased state aid in this next fiscal year the question is how much will be fine when we finally get from the state after the legislature has acted we do not know. But we strongly suspect that even with all of the increases that we can reasonably anticipate additional revenues will have to be raised by local measures that is the simple truth of the matter that no matter how politically dangerous dangerous it is in a miniscule election year to confront the voters with these facts the facts must be faced a similar framework of facts must be faced by those whose responsibility it is to enact a budget for the state of New York of course it can be said that a situation should be met by economies the answer is that we are making economies we have been all along last year we made ten million point ten million point six dollars worth of economies by audit control and count this year we are doing even more and we know we must for instance some months ago we close the Raymond Street Jail in Brooklyn which had an annual operating cost of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars that was a saving under the new charter we reorganized the Sewerage and Water pollution control functions for a projected annual saving of six hundred thousand dollars and there are many others and we will announce them all in detail in the annual budget message as a matter of fact I have told new city administrator John cannot news here tonight and the budget director. To make a careful to check list of all of the economy proposals made by the citizens budget commission and all other organizations including this waltz commission over the past two years. These proposals are to be analyzed and to be presented to me and those which upon analysis prove to be sound and practical will be implemented I do not minimize the need for additional economies I have directed the city administrator in the budget directed to work out some economies by consolidation which I hope can be reflected in the forthcoming budget the fact is that no matter how many savings we make through economies our city budget will not be balanced without additions to our revenues some proposals have been announced which would reduce the need for state revenues by reducing state payments to New York City those who make such proposals will I hope keep in mind the accounting to be made to the people of New York City we are aware of the state's fiscal situation and we are sympathetic but let no one think that the state's problems can safely be resolved at the city's further expense as far as the governor's revenue raising proposals are concerned I have no attachment or commitment to the sales tax I would gladly reduce or abolish I mean a simple sales tax too if we could find more than half a cent means of raising the revenue we need to cope with the problems of AA people so let all revenue proposals be considered and analyzed in the light of the facts and the need the cities need as well as the state's need and then let the decisions be made on the basis of facts and not of politics. I am sensitive to the need for a sound dynamic expanding economy and I city as well as in our state and nation equity demands that every group and element in our city bear a fair share of the burden of the heavy cost of city government fair according to their ability to sustain their share I firmly believe in the principle of taxation on the basis of ability to pay yet I also see that this principle as it relates to revenue raising from businesses in a city like New Yawk must include the criterion of capacity to pay without impairing economic vitality viability function I think we understand that even as we press ahead without efforts to resolve the problems of our citizens as individuals we must do the same with our business enterprises there are as George Moore mentioned some close to two hundred and twenty thousand businesses in New York City they constitute the bulk of US cities economic life they are the job make is and we need more jobs especially blue collar jobs in our city every effort must be made by businesses as a whole as well as by government to encourage businesses to induce new businesses to come here to encourage own businesses to expand and to persuade businesses considering flight to remain let me emphasize at this point that although I am referring to this problem in the framework of fiscal policy I do not think that this is primarily a tax problem. Of course it can be aggravated by indiscriminate tax measures and that is my point we are indeed keeping this vital fact very much in mind as we consider our fiscal problems we must be concerned with the economic impact of present and but pose tax measures we have asked the swells Commission to give us their economic judgment on all aspects of our entire existing tax structure and this is a long range study the challenge confronting us is how to encourage new enterprises which will provide employment especially blue collar employment how to induce them to locate in New York how to contact them how to welcome them how to assist them with space and information with access to transport with technical services and with access to the labor market now at this point I want to balance the mistaken picture that is often given of a city economy New York City is not in the economic dog rooms the very opposite is true that does not reduce on minimize our desire or need to increase our efforts to cultivate economic expansion and job development we have many problems but basically the cities economic picture is as bright as that of any major city in the nation actually it is brighter than most our economic indicators first of all show a thriving vitality they argue well for our continued growth and progress let me first cite the indicator which has troubled the present mess for the six year period between one nine hundred fifty eight and one nine hundred sixty three. We suffered substantial job losses primarily in manufacturing of course that is something to be concerned about and we are concerned as I said but as with all statistics the figures on total not net job losses need analysis economists in our own the pop and of Commerce and industrial development have performed such an analysis during the six year period which I cited and we have in fact created nine jobs in New York City for every eight jobs lost and that excludes government jobs during the past six years a quarter of a million new jobs that did not exist in one thousand nine hundred fifty eight have been created in New York City Of these forty five thousand were in manufacturing in one hundred fifty nine different categories the balance were in service occupations and office work for instance last year employment topped the one nine hundred sixty three MOT for every single month from January through November and that is the latest month for which data is available unemployment fell a half a percentage point local economy which has experienced a growth of a quarter of a million new jobs can scarcely be said to lack of vitality the job economy of New York City is very much alive and growing but we want to make it grow even more employment of course is only one economic indicator the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that department say store sales in the city last year registered a gain of nine percent over nine hundred sixty three levels last year sales totaled twelve point two billion dollars. Our wholesale house is marketed forty five billion dollars worth of goods we are incomparably the largest single manufacturing center in America we produced eleven percent of the national total last year we have over thirty three thousand manufacturers in New York City today with a payroll of five point three billion dollars the Savings Bank Association of New York state reports that deposits in the city's savings banks were up last year by more than ten percent the total deposits of all banks and savings and loan associations in the city are almost sixty eight billion dollars Let me turn to another economic indicator in one nine hundred sixty four the value of new building construction declined from one nine hundred sixty three but the estimated construction cost of building plans fired last year which is the real indicator for the future was up from five hundred and ninety eight point two million dollars to six hundred and ninety three million dollars an increase of more than sixteen percent ten major new office buildings completed in Manhattan last year by themselves constitute ten percent of all of the office space built in the city since one thousand nine hundred forty seven in the past ten years we have built fifteen hundred new factory buildings as the nation's major center of culture and entertainment we drew some fourteen million visit is here last year who spent well over a billion dollars three million businessmen attended more than a thousand conventions here demonstrating a rising position as the convention headquarters of the world. Garment Center is still the biggest in the world producing seventy percent of all women's and children's clothing New York is crowded but we still have room to expand we have sixty five million square feet of land ready and available for industrial development with a job potential of roughly forty thousand more and more of the nation's major corporations are moving their headquarters here right now over twenty seven percent of the nation's top five hundred firms I sent it here one out of every seven persons employed in real estate and insurance in the whole country working in works in New York City ten of the fifty largest commercial banks with assets of fifty one and I have billion dollars headquartered in New York City these banks hold daily a quarter of all of the commercial and industrial loans outstanding in the United States I could go on there are more facts and figures pointing in the same direction I do not care to look at our problems through rose colored glasses we have been losing manufacturing jobs we want to see that trend reversed today the city government is actively working on that problem harder than ever before we are working on it through a new and resurgent Department of Commerce and industrial development we are working at it through a new coordinator of Housing and Development using the housing and redevelopment board in the department of relocation we are utilizing the resources of the city planning commission and even the cities and he poverty operations Boyd has a business promotion function in regard to small business opportunities in minority neighborhoods. All these government agencies are acting under my instructions to give economic development a top priority for the immediate future and I am following the progress on the day to day basis we are already bringing new businesses into New York and through our industrial loan program alone we have enabled ten businesses to start in New York in the past few months we hope and expect shortly to complete Lesa rangelands for one and a half million square feet of industrial space in the flatlands industrial park we are moving ahead with our other industrial parks in Brooklyn Queens and Staten Island this is a prime field for action and there is going to be much more action but in the meantime we are prepared to cooperate to the maximum with undertakings by all groups in the business community which are ready to take the initiative to promote economic development in New York City as one major group did last week Moreover we are willing and they get to examine and consider any ideas or proposals that are made by any group in the community this includes of course the citizens budget commission the efforts of government will be primarily directed at providing the facilities supplying the services and making the commitments that only government can make but which cannot substitute for the efforts which private enterprise can exert if it is properly motivated and mobilized we must be grateful for the efforts of all of the private business groups and associations who enlist in this effort that too includes of course the citizens budget commission but now let me finally put some of the things I've said in some perspective. I don't want to give the impression that I have changed my basic economic or social viewpoint I am not ready to say with Calvin Coolidge that the chief business of government is the promotion of business I do say however that the business of government is also the interests of business provided that businesses includes its perspective not only profits but the welfare of the community and of the people who make up the community the city government I hope as pro-business as it is probably labor and. Above all a city government is pro people we must keep on the move to meet all the city's problems and all the cities need. To achieve progress we do not need to achieve perfection I trust and hope that such organizations as this distinguished one will help give the impetus for a forward movement because we know we must get ahead with it there is no time to lose thank you very much. To the city of New York if you like. There are people in the city looking to make. The bridges people worry me Robert of my dear George were president of the first national so that he. And Colonel how. This special broadcast billiards that he station was aired in the public interest rumble search room of the Waldorf Astoria want to turn you know toward studios in the municipal building.