The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-10-27

" Asden Tor the first practical
movement toward asolutiou OF the intricate
problem OF our municipal troubles since the
issue OF the Foley Injunction which virtually
displaced Comptroh.- Connolly aud put
Auurew n. Green In charge of the city
finances. These clear-headea LAWYERS have
set to work in sensible bushes. manner to
trace the large sums Of money fra,.lulently
drawn from the public treasury from the
moment they passed out Of the possession .f
| the city up to the time of their eventual dis
trbu'ion among those who shared in the plum
der. 1t is true that they have not yet
fully accomplished their work. or perhaps
| for some good reasons satisfactory to them
| selves they are not just now prepared to
make entire disclosure Of the information they
have obtained, and hence only one of the
receivers Of the stolen money is at present
pointed out to the community and subjected
to legal proceedings. But enough has been
| shown to prove that more than one prominent
official, entrusted with large public interests
has been receiving heavy percentage of the
amounts paid to contractors for work done and
supplies furnished on account of the city; and
that In some instances wholly fraudulent
claims, based no doubt, upon duplicate bills
obtained from contractors, have been passed
through the Auditors office, the money drawn
upon forged receipts aud divided among the
conspirators. The plan Of operations appears
now to have been simple enough, and it is
matter OF surprise that men engaged in such
nefarious transactions should have been so
neglectful Of all necessary precaution, and
should have left their tracks 80 plain and open
behind them. The agent between the dis
honest contractors and their official friends
seems to have been the Deputy Clerk of the
Board of Supervisors Ebert A. Woodward,
who Is now reported to have sought ga tety In
fight. When deposits Of warrants were made
by Ingersoll or A. J. Carney checks were on
the same day paid by them to Woodward, who
deposited the same to his own account in the
| National Broadway Bank. Then a check for
portion of the amount would be drawn by
Woodward, paid to Tweed and deposited by
him to his private account. Take, for
instance, the transactions OF May Z On that
day Ingersoll Il Co. endorsed and deposited in
the bank, warrants to the amount of one hun
dred and ifty-two thousand dollars. They
paid to E. A. Woodward their checks to the
amount of seventy-four thousand dollars, or.
as 1t will be Observed nearly one-half of the
amount. These were deposited by Wood
ward, who drew against them his own checks |
for twenty-seven thous,.fd dollars, which were |
deposited to Tweed's account. Ii does not |
yet appear to whom the balance was paid, |
but as Woodward's checks must have been
given in like manner 10 the other sharers of
the plumber they can be as readily traced as
those paid to Tweed, and the people will not
be satisfied that the Investigation should halt
at this point.
! 1t is q noteworthy fact that these corrupt
traiisac tionS neelly oil t"o hln IN that
stupendous job, the new Court House. The con-
tractors who were in league with the munich
pal ofiicc-holders are mainly the men who
have been engaged on that work, and that APP
pears to have been the great demoralizng
agent in the whole disgraceful business
Years ago, When these plans for the robbery
Of the people were being cOncocted-and mil
lions of dollars have been stolen in the past as
in the present-the HERALD time and again
exposed and denounced the very frauds that
now show so glarngly, and demanded such
reform of the municipal government as would
have rendered this bold plumber of the Urea
sury impossible But the politicians and
their organs of both parties, either sharing or
hoping to share in the spoils, helped to cover
up the tracks of the corruptioniss and to
shield them from the consequences of cir
dishonesty. When Tammany was in danger
from the HERALD's exposures, repubicanism
came to her aid and kept her in power.
Republican State Legislatures and republi-
can Governors, instead Of helping us
to purify the municipal government,
sought to perpetuate the corruption
for the sake Of sharing in its unholy gains
The losses incurred by the city and the dis
grace which has fallen upon us are due to the
political harpies who even now are striving to
make the honest indignation of the people
available fgy their own selfish ends,
There may be technical and legal difficulties
in the way Of bringing these great crimes
homo to the guilty parties, or of obtaining !,
restitution from the persons implicated
in them. But the people are satisfied
that they have been shamefuly robbed,
and they should not be required to
continue even for an hour TO trust those who
are clearly proved to have betrayed them.
The disclosures made through Messrs. OConor |
and Tden seem to bring the charge Of a cor
rupt connection with public contractors,
through the agency Of Woodward. home to the
head Of the Department OF Public Works. He |
may plead that he has loaned money TO the |
parties who appear to have paid him these
large sums, but the people will not believe the |
story. The question Is, how can this suspected |