The sun., 1873-12-08

W lllt iJ'lIlONIHlS III li' lNElTih'u' "' '''
right lie was compelled, however, to pay
pretty large sums now ana then to rcirac-
tory members of that party, while he
bought Republican Senators ana Assem-
| '>y'ncn in sufficient numbers to carry
| '"l"'-" "'- nlans th, latter class OF raS-
| '"'S '"N'li| nun lat amounts some. lmcs,
h''aus" th'y had 4" ST." "ot only their
souls but their politics.
OF course in running SO large and com
! plcltcd a macluc during four or ave sos-
sions, TWEED could not always pay cash in
hand, and therefore part of the wages of
corruption were liquidatcd by offices, por-
tions rested for a time on promises. and in
the end some of thc little scalnps were left
out i'm the cold. From facts which have
COME tQ light it is beyond question
that u lihnru utic,lttd-., OF u.c money
which TWEEN and his accompliccs
robbed through the oil Board Of super
visors. rs well as of tlat pile of false and
fraudulent bills subsequently passed undcr
color of the Board of Audit, was used in
brihug existing Legislatures and settling
old bribery scores. And 80 il happened
that the plastcrin" Of GARvrN spread itself
MI over the state, the plumbing of
krYsER ran through tiers of counties
where Democratic mnjor.ties had been
long unknown, while tho awnings Of SMITH
beat back the rays of the summer sun from
the country seats of many Republican
Senators, and the chairs of ISGERsoII and
the carpets OF Dollar adorned the rural
homcstead> of scores of Asscmblymcu who
were sound 10 the core on the Fifteenth
Amendment.
TWEED dii not originate corruption
either in the state Capitol or the CI;y Hall.
He did not even organize il IN the one OF
the other. He found il in each when he
entered, aud in good running order. BY
| lis hulduess and cOarscncss he merely car
ricd Il to au unprecedented pitch. Indeed,
while he douAtcss never had peer in this
city, We are not quite SO certain that he
! did not have predecessors 1t the capital
who far surpassed him in tho art of an
a.tutc lobbyist. He did not s,ducy lis vic
| tins 10y the wilcs OF diplomacy. Il hou-h:
| them with the vulEarity OF Il horse jockey.
A. TWEED did not originate corruption
! in the Legislature or in cur municipal
! government, So the tide Of vouunty
/ did not cease to cDb aud fow in either after
( he left their halls. Two years and more
| ago the exposures Of the Tammauy frauds
/ forc,hadowed the downfall Of TWEED and
/ hs Infamous Ring. In the following No
/ vcmhcr Senate aud Assembly were elect
I II in the name of reform. But hardly had
tho Legislature OF 1872 got wei in husi-
ness when il became apparent that it was
tyely more pure than any of lis dozen
or fifteen predecessors. and that though
the great Tammauy saChcm was not pres
Cut To dispense his tens Of thousands as in
! previous sessions, the usual number OF
Senators and Asseml lymcn were in tle
market lut nj greatly reduced llIc, :.
There appeared IN tL.s so-callod reform
Leg stature ci-ht or ten Democratic and
Republican Senators who had been tlc
purchased scrvitors Of Tlmmauys chief.
There was a liberal sprinklin- in the As
| seWllN # tile same class Oc prot Eat .-.
Not SO ui. II for lack of monty-fur q. 5
sold dog chclp-hu, because of tine ul--I! 20
oi TWEED, who had controlled an lrgi.la-
tion relating to this city ana pretty much
al Tor Brooklyn during four years, the
Legislature of le52 in regard 10 the pas -c
a. new charters and other laws for New
York ana it, u,,-hlor over the river
nuWdtcl around all wut r like % slip
tt.0i +ts+-4+tisAa l.s "a w
board.
The senate Of 1,.2 hc'5 over aud So COM
posed part Of the Legislature of this pre-
ent year. Though the Head Centre Of tAc
! c1iraptiuni-ts had not dared to take the
scat to which he had been elected in the
tcoth Of the f.Gmttec Of Seventy, his
! eisht or ten taintei senatorial vas,als re-
appeared in the chamber whose walls are
adorned with the fun itngth portrait of
the honest old waIrior-stato sman GEORGE
| CLINTON. Though great changes had taken
place in the membership of the Assembly,
that body exhibited num,rou, blotchcs of
the ioathsomc disease which used 10 break
out all over it in the hcyday of Tweedi-n.
The consequence was that the legislation
OF last winter in respect to our city char
ter was as Infamous in many particulars
a, that IL $50 In the latter year the heads
Of departments were not named in the
charter. Their selection was left to the
"'vor. In the present charter the heads Of
- a.. ..--... '.-'>""'"'' '-.,or,m.uts
many ol the "+vrt li..t t.--.-'-.s "'l 'l''' ''i'"
were saved by the bill, or IN other words,
were l,gislated into Office ia pursuance 81
bargain, ol the old sort.
! In illustrating lhe recent tNllult 'p'' IL
of the Legislature We have selected our
examples mainly frUm this city for th'
twoloid reason that they are ggauti. u
their dimensions ana dce!lv affect ..c in
tcre-ts OF tue people of the metropolis,
Bat il would be great error to suppos,
,uat pronigate legislation for New Iorh
city has furnished all the garbage upon
which the Senate and Assembly haye fec
for the last fifteen years. 1t has not CON
= stitutod ouc-hali of il.
= For a long time there have been i'm th
e Lcgislature and the lobby set OF greed,
I leochcs known rs the Canal Ring, The.
p, have tapped every rod of the one thou
a sand miles of our noble water channels
= causing AN enormous proportion Of thcl
income to annually drip, drip, drip int
I the pool owned in common 10y TIA
o Ring. Composed of leaders of both par
= ties, this Ring has been one Of the mos
2 plausible, active, rascally, successful
G combinations for pluuderlng under colo
q Of law ana departmental regulation
MI f,I t. Ia