New-York tribune., 1871-11-17
ouB LosT COMMERCE..
TAMMANY RULE COMMERCIAL Ri

anO oxecuteo Dy lHeeu, uAlts anu connolly. ibis
policy was to extend and enlarge the political power
of the party Of which they were the leaders, 10y any
and every means, and through it, secure their own
personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. To this end they nsti
tinted the system Of "ropeaters" and committed
other frauds upon the ballot and robbed the honesA
citizens Of their voting franchise they filled every
Office In the city with their seryile tools: imposed
yenal judges upon the courts; corrupted the Locia
lature, and, through means Of bribes aud throa,a
partially fettered the press They SUCCESSFULLY
opposed every improvement Of the commercial
facilities of the city by private enterprise and made
the urgent demand for such improvements the mean.
of plumber and robbery.
The wharves Of the city, the gateways Of its com
merce were made the means to rob and plumber her
trade while they were so neglected that Committee
Of the Legislature, in 1867 stated that tho condi
ton of the piers, wharves, bukheads and slips of
the harbor of New-York were most deplorable, and
disgrace to such commercial emporium as the City
of New York" Gov. Hoffman, then Mayor stated
to the same Committee that the wharves were IN
disgraceful and dlapidated condition; that com
merce was seeking other ports Of entry, and ships
were compelled to 60 to other and neighbOrng cities
to find proper facilities and dock-room." This
dition of the wharves by Of tho exposure Of
goods to the weather and thieves, and tho un-
necessary cost of carting, imposed a bur
den Of more than $5 per tun upon all tho
goods shipped over them, creating q loss
in the aggregate Of more than S5O,OOO,OOO
annually The loss thus caused has been ten fold moro
Injurious to the prosperity of the city than the steal
ing of an equai in money raised by direct taxa
ton. Money stolen would have only changed from
the pockets of the Taxpayers to that Of the thieves
and would have again been distributed, but in tho
case alluded to it absolute waste and benefited
no one while IL was driving from port that trade
which Is the basis Of all our wealth. In pursuance
of their policy Of self-sggrandizement their leader
became large owner In oil lines Of street rail
ways and stages and 1t became their interest to OPP
pose all means of rapid transit between the upper
and lower portions of the city. Thus they crowded
the poor into pesiential tenementhOuses and drove
the population into the adjacent States, where they
paid all their personal taxes and made their private
expenditures
In the opening of streets, the Ring became tho
owners of the property to be taken and assessed ten
times its value upon the city and adjacent owners
The sums thus stolen from the city and her citizens
far exceed the amount plundered by means OF Ouid-
ing the New Court House.
Not content with rObbing the public, they pro-
ceeded to plunder private corporations, and they
seized upon the Erie Railroad, and, aided by the
courts created by themselves stole all tS revenues,
and made New York justice by-word OF repToaoh
in every financial center Of the world. The injury
resulting from this fraud alone can never be meas
ured. No one can tell how many enterprises for tho
development Of the resources Of the country have
failed because Of the destruction Of our credit BY
the Erie frauds. To increase their political power.
the Ring encouraged the minor crimes and pro
tected the criminals pandeTed to the passions ef
mobs and called it diplomacy" )" and even thOse
who were considered among tho best Of citizens
.,Io AhafH arinnf
through fear of being robbed of their property in the
form of taxation. The moral sense Of tho public
had become blunted, 80 that those who sold them
selves to the Ring were enVied instead Of being
despised.
These causes have arrested the growth Of tho
city, diverted it's trade to Baltimore Philadelphia,
Boston, and other cities driven away its population
deprecated the value of it's real estate and property
and created decline rapid that, unless the causes
be removed, commercial ruin must DO the result
All these facts The TRIBUNE has, from time TO
time, brought to the knowledge Of the public. That
the city was being robbed and plundeIed by tho
Ring every intelligent citizen has known for years.
The publication of the specific acts Of theft perpo
trated in the COurt-House accounts was the OCCASION
Of the recent grand uprising of the people-mot AS
cause This was the last straw. The final report Of
the Committee Of Citizens show the theft Of about
S2O,OOO,OOO in two years, All knew that the Tam
many Ring, since it has been in power, has stolen
and squandered Of the peoples money moro than
800 O0000 It's leaders all rich more than two
years ago. and they robbed the city Of that wealth.
But the money stolen, even ct S2O00O0,000, Is but
trifs when compared with the loss Of trade
and population, with the depreciation Of
property, destruction Of life and health
which the Tsmmany rule has inflicted and although
the people by the performance Of their duty at tho
last election have prevented the Ring from tho
continuance of their acts Of direct robbery and
plunder, the evil effects Of their banefu policy still
continue. The injuries to our trade and commerce
still exist; the power of the Ring is not destroyed
only broken, and now that the people have opened
their eyes to the fact that the Ring have robbed and
plundered them of their money fact which 50 long
they seemed to doubt they win examine into ths
other and moro important fact that policy has
been instituted by these very plunderers which
still remains, and has already driven away very
large part Of the trade and population of the city.
and II suffered to continue viii result in the ruin
Of her prosperity. It is the duty of every honest
citizen TO do all he can to enable us to regain our
lost trade and population to brighten our honor
tarnished by the acts Of those whom We have
basely suffered 20 rule over US, and in tho
name Of q whole city perpetrate acts Of plunder.
theft, and robbery. We must not forget that our
courts are presided over by the men appointed by
the Tammany Ring; that one Of our great lines Of
internal communication is still under the control of
the members Of that Ring; that its foreign and do
nestle stockholders are still robbed and plundered
Of their property; that our commerce is still bur-
dened by its exactions and our population rapidly
tfanEerdng themselves and their personal wealth
to other Staten It mast not bo forgotten that the
adherents Of the Ring ara legion In number, and
have only hidden away Ia their holes during tho
continuance of the storm; that the came vicious