New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-10-02
WAKE THE PJN1 DLSGORGE.

than they have yet been painted ln' tDe enor-
nous frauds of the Tammany I" Ring" There
certainly never were more barefaeed or holder
robbcrics perpctrated under any government
than have been committed under " Ring" rule in
this City. Over sixteen millions of dollars have
been paid in two years and half on
City and County accounts to seven firms.
Two of these, Ingersoll g. Co. and A. j.
Garvcy, who have least work to show for what
money they got, received nearly twO-thirds OF
this extravagant expenditure. InGersoll q Co.
alone obtained fully one-third of the whole for
furniture and decorations which to-day cannot
be found-at least not in the public offices.
Over ten millions of dollars has been paid in
two years and half simply for decorating and
furnishing the County Court House, VIM. M.
Tweed,s new Office on Broadway, and the
MAYORS Office. There is not included in this
vast sum the cost of the granite and marble
buildings thcmselves-the items are those of the
painter and glazier, the upholSterer plasteror,
and carponter-even tho candlestck makers
bill for chandeliers and gas brackets is omitted
from this total. Other figures reveal the cost
of maintaining few public offices ct some
thing enormous, and still others convey the
astounding information that the cleaning of
the streets for year and half past has cost
81 800, OOO-or double what the people have
been accustomed to believe and to denounce
rs UNANIMOUSLY cxtravagant. And this estimate
is too low. Not less than a million OF dollars
annually is expended in this City for street.
cleaning, and how Intellectually few New-York
residents reed to be told.
But acytY all that has been said and done,
what do these figures which We have pub
lished provei They are accepted unreseryedly
as full evidence Of the frauds Of the Ring.
But they are nothing of the kind; and if we
are to fight the Ring successfully to its igno-
minous death, and the punishment of its
guilty leaders, we must have moro tangible
evidence of crime than these figures represent.
No court can admit them az they have been
presented in the public prints "a proof of In
gcrsoll's rascality, or Tweed's villainy. They
are nothing more than unanswerabe evidences
of extravaganza. They do not show tho Grim
inality clearly, and standing alone they will
send 10 rogue to State Prison. Their publ
cation has killed the party in this City which
perpetrated the frauds. Tammany may retain
some importance hereafter as local political
organization, but to all intents and purposes
this exposition has reduced it to the insignif-
canoe of Mozart Hall.
But the figures and facts now in possession
of the people are inadequate to convict the
men who perpetratcd the frauds which havo
undeniably been committed, or to drive them
Immediately from the positions which enable
them to continue their robberies, and recover
from the contractors leagued with the Ring the
money they have stolen in the past. This sec
ond part of the programme of the prosecution
of the Ring is the one which should now be
vigorously undertaken. The political part
of the movement is ended in complete sue
cess; for Tammany Hall is rejected even
by the Democratic party, of which it was
once the oracle and the strength. In
order that full justice may now be
melted out to the Ring, it seems i'm
perative that the investigation should go
deeper than the mere analysis and publication
of the accounts. No one doubts that there has
been fraud as well as extravaganza, but who
has the proof of itf No one doubts for a mo-
ment that the contracts were given at extIav-
agant rates to favored firms, and that the Off
cias who gave them were substantially, if not
technically, members of the contracting firms.
sharing their profits and consequently their
criminality. But in order to get back from
these men the millions they have stolen and
to punish them for the thefts, we must
obtain other proofs than we have at
this time; and, as we have before urged, in
order to secure these proofs, the representa-
tives of the people must have power to send
for persons and papers, and to submit both to
the most searching inquiry. This must be
done both in open court and by the Commit
tee, which at the invitation of the Ring itself
has undertaken the investigation OF its affairs.
The lawyers retained by the Committee of
Seventy are able and jealous advocates en-
ulous of the great reputation which success in
this cause must give them; they will get out
of the witnesses whom they may succeed In
catching as much as possible under the an
ticipated adverse rulings Of corrupt State
judges, who in the past have been faithful serv-
itors of the Ring. The Committee of Fifteen is
body of upright citizens in whom the public
has every confidence. 1t is headed by Mr..
VIM. A. Booth, whose zeal in the investigation
which he lie now making is admirably supple
mented by the ardent labors Of the men who
act az accountants. But still, zeal and industry
will make nothing out of the Controllers lists
of warrants and bills and vouchers unless some
one committee ia authorized to send for con-
tractors and officials and compel them to point
out the work done and paid for. This power
over persons and papers was promised the Com
mittee of Fifteen before 1t began work. 1t
was condition of their acceptance Of the
trust. The authority is unquesionably vested in
the Supervisors, and they can delegate 1t to any
Committee of their own Board. The law is
explicit on this point. The Supervisors have
been repeatedly urged" to do H. as the only,
way To make this investigation complete and