The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-05-27

Enforce the Centrnwas-
NotwithstAnding h seems impossible 70
escape the conclusion that the Police Board,
and the Street Cleaning Bureau especially
possibly even the Board - Health, have been
in connivance and cooperation With ihe con-
tractors for filing in the Harlem hais and
have been asserting 20 and sasisiirg n ne
violation OF the contrac.s for that work. we
insist that these contracts shall bs fulhiled 20
the letter Neither the Police Bard nor ths
Board Of Health hns authority - violate tho
law or 10 consent 70 its violation. AMI what
ever may have been the action - these boiies
Mr. McQuaid and the other contractors must
be held to the full performance q their uuder-
takings.
Mr.. McQuaid's contract provided that NJ
grouni for embankments should he carciully
prepared BY grubbing and clearing a. that All
muck or improper material should H. removed
and that the embankments should ~ formed q
good loan, gravel or sand. Coal ashes per-
fectly free from garbage Or other Impurities
were allowed 70 he used, and Il vas further
provided that where the trenches 40 hot sup-
ply sufficient material o. the proper quality
the contractor should supply such ds-
ficiency at his own expense. The other con-
tracts were similar in terms 10 this one, and
show conclusively that garbage was no. con-
templated to be used ~ filing whcn they
were made and that the contractors can IA
forced to remove the stuff they have been sup
plying in violation oftheir agreements ~ their
own expense This is the only proper course
to be pursued, because this Is the only way IN
which they can be punished for the wrong
they have done 70 the community. IL greed
induces men to violate every principle ~ right
and justice, even 70 the extent Of endAngcr-
ing the health Of great city, the suresi rem
edy will be found in the punishment
which strikes at their pockets. McQuaid and
the others must be made to suffer loss on &C.
count Of the wrong they have done in this
matter. Such course seems the only one
that will prevent like wrongs in tho future and
make contractors feel that honesty is required
in the fulflment Of their contracts The
completely of the Police Board and the Street
Cleaning Bureau is no excuse for the con-
tractors, for they knew that the character q
the work they had undertaken and the terms
upon which they undertook il would preclude
the use Of garbage in executing their con-
tracts. It is no justification for them now 70
say that they had official authority for and
official participation in the violation OF their
agreements, and they must be required 70 re-
move, at their own cost, all the noxious mat
ter with which they have been poisoning
whole neighborhood.
At the same time we wish to say that the
completely Of the Police Board with this great
wrong seems oily too plain. In every way
have these officials aud their friends sought TO
conceal the truth about all this business,
though the person charged with the filing in
process, as it is conducted by the Street Clean
ing Bureau, was willing enough TO agree 10
violate the law when HERALD representative
approached him in the assumed character of
a Harlem property owner Even the tes-
timony taken at the Fifth Avenue Hotel last
winter by the Assembly Committee on Cities
in regard to the Street Cleaning Department
has been suppressed, though required to be
printed By resolution Of the Assembly. This
testimony must be made public, because, like
the revelations which we print this morning,
it throws much light upon the whole subject
Of street cleaning. II may even afford Us some
information in regard to the operations Of
Mr. Disbecker, whose great discoveries, II
seems, are already honored by the workmen Of
the bureau who have named the largest heap
Of garbage in the city Camp Disbecker."
Disbecker always was ambitious, but nobody
viii seek to deprive him Of the distinction he
has succeeded in earning for himself but most
people will rejoice when the men who bought
dirt from him with which 70 poison a whole
city are compelled to cart il away again at
their own expense