New-York tribune., 1873-06-26

carrying out any order OF The Board Is inge-
niously transferred to tho Board or Clty
Works.
Iii. AS illustrations OF the way in which
these changes of authority are managed, look
at the following: In one tito IL ID saiu
distinctly that authority for all expenses IL
vested in the Board of Aldermen (whlch Is Che
Common Council of Brooklyn), except for seDe'S'
This exception gives room for such swlnuies
ms that of the Third-ave. sewer, just cohiirhicu
in court, by which A. C. Keeney and his part
ner. w. C. Kingsley, received $l2I2OO 10 more
than the contract price. But not content WIN
this curtailment of the powers OF the CouncIl,
a subsequent title says that the COuhcli Sn1n
have no control of expenditures ana contracts
for salaries. water-wOrks maintenance OF
sewers and repairing of streets; and hnally IL
is proyided that contracts may DO awarded 10
other than the lowest bidders on the recon-
mendation of the Board of City Works. Inc
extent to which these several clauses may Dc
used by the slillful Commissioner Fowler ana
his willing clerks, Palmer and Whiting, Is
hardly conceivable.
w. Tho number and compensation of all
clerks and subordnates of the several depart
ments are not fixed. Only the salaries OF the
heads of departments are settled; they may
have "a many sinecures rs they please, ana
nav what they will. This applies to the
Assessors Department as to ali others; and
under the loose wording of the act a whole
army of roughs can be retained and quarLered
on the city.
Y. The Committee Of One Hundred provided
in its charter that any citizen might know
what his agents were doing, anJ to this end
the Common Council, upon the presentation
of charges against any department, board,
officer or agent of the city, were required to
investigate the public acts of such depart
ment, board or person, and examine pa
pers, books, and witnesses under oath. The
Ring Senators struck out every word
of thi, proposition. To leave it intact
would have been the ruin of the Ring.
With such clause in the present
charter tie citizens of Brooklyn would long
since have forced the reform in the Bridge
affairs which TRIBUNE exposures have lately
compelled Without it officials may violate
law, injure the city and enrich them
selves without fear of detection or punishment
until the people at the polls dismiss them from
Office. Without such clause to compel pub
licity a Committee of the Aldermen recently
went through a pretended investigation of the
East River Bridge, at which only interested
witnesses appeared, and nothing world have
been heard of the inquiry had not Alderman
Wylie, in offering minority report told very
plainly the frauds which had been con-
ccaled rather than the few minor
irregularities which had been discovered. The
Hampstead Reservoir was given to the Rlng
Contractors, Kingsley and Keeney, at about
S5OO,OOO more than William Beard, an
old contractor, offered to build it for. Inves-
tgation of this great fraud has been asked
repeatedly; the only answer of the Board of
City Works is, "We have the right to give
"the contract to whom we choose" The
pending charter reiterates the authority for
this course and permits innumerablo similar
frauds