New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-24
LEGISLATIVE VENALITY.

LEGLSLATIVE VENALITY
The Aubmn NewS makes the following state
ment and requisition
"The NewYork TRIBUNE warns the rural districts In
regard TO renominang the rascas Of the late Legsa
ture Won't THE TRIBUNE inform It's readers who those
rascas aro It's charges too general and vague Give
us the names OF the vanal members There are oandi
dates up this way who connected with the last
Legislature Can THE TRIBUNE bring any specific charge
against hemi Please enlighen tho Rural Districts on
this point and something practical will be accomplished
1t is unjust TO the who anxious for pro
notion that they should remain under vague and uncer
tain suspicious created by the broad statement OF THE
TRIBUNE. Specify and designate the rascals"
Answer BY The Tribune.
We are engaged in no personal warfare, and
are determined not to be dragged into any.
Some of the persons most deeply implicated IN
the disgraceful dongs in our late Legislature
have professed to be our friends, and we do not
know that they were insincere. But this busl-
ness of buying and selling legislation must be
stopped at whatever personal cost.
The Specific charge" we make is that after
the Senate had very carefully and thoroughly
scrutinized the applications by the Aldermen
and Supervisors of our City for the annual
City and County Tax-Levies respectively-had
voted every item that the Republicans i'll that
body deemed just and honest, the Assembly
was induced to add Sir Millions of Dollars
thereto on the motion Of Mr.. A. b. Hodges of
Brooklyn, acting under instructions, We be-
leve, from n majority of the Committee on
Cities and Villages, of which majority he was
part. That proposition was carried through
! the Assembly by an Affirmative vote of all the
| Democrats present but Messrs. Tilden of Co
lumbia and Pearsall of Queens, aided and
| abetted by twenty chosen as Republicans
namely, Messrs.
Akin, Clark, Geo, Hegeman, stewart, D.,
Bemus. Conger Hodges, stuart, W. II,
| Calkins. Ferris, j., Rich. Thornton,
Carpenter, Harris, sehOOnmaker, whitmarsh.
Now this matter was one of the utmost pub
| LEFTY and notoriety-lt had been elucidated in
pamphlet by the Citizens Association, dis
cussed in the journals, debated in the Legis-
lature, and agitated in every form. The
! iniquities of the Hodges proposition were very
thoroughly dissected and exposed; and no effort
spared to fix attention upon them. 1t was well
known that we had such a Tax-Levy year
ago. and an enormous fraudulent vote polled
| in the ensuing Presidential Election, and it
was charged and fully believed here that the
| Tax-Levies had supplied the means of fabri-
eating the Naturalization papers and hiring the
"repeaters' whereby Grant and Colfax were
swindled out of the vote of this State. and
two or three Republicans foully excluded from
seats in Congress.
| We believe the Republican votes whereby
the Hodges Levies were rushed through the
House were bought and paid FOREMOST of
them with cash stolen from our tax payers by
means of those Levies; one or two, possibly
by corrupt understandings with regard to
other bills. Substantially and generally, we
firmly believe that no Republican voted for
these Hodges Levies except for pay.
Now we might specify other bills as heinous
as these-the Railroad Directors BILL for
instance, whereby five men who had got pos
session of Railroad by election rs Directors
for single year were legislated into the con-
troll of that road for two or three years there
after, no matter how unanimously and earnestly
the stockholders might desire to GUST them.
We can conceive no honest impulse that would
lead a Legislator to vote for such bill. Still,
that bill was not discussed and denounced as
the Hodges Levies were, and some doubtless
voted for it out of complaisance and without
due consideration. But for any man who sus-
tanned the Hodges Tax Levies, we could not
vote, and we exhort others to let them severe
ly alone.