The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-11-07

7
upon anything save the merest guesswork Tor know
that not an ota Of our proceedings has been impaired
70 any outsider. No papers or afidavits have been
sent either 10 the Governor the Attorney General,
and l do not think that any such will be
sent to them to-day believe they VIII be for.
warded TO the Governor and Attorney General before
the end OF the coming week Counsel have been en-
poyed In taking testimony against the Ring for some
time and have no doubt that 1t Is nearly in shape for
use When il is forwarded 1t may be published but IL
had my way about t-and all the other gentlemen Of
the committee who, feel quite certain, are not any
more leaky than am ofthe same way Of thinking
the public would be obliged TO wait till the FIRST blow
has been struck in defence Of law and right"
| In reply TO the question: "Have hessrs. 0Conor
4 and Peckham been consulted by your Law Commttee2
1 it is so reported" Mr. Backhouse said, "They have
I not far / know Indeed, may say this
/ TO you-our committee has not retained lawyers with
4 high-sounding names and regulations. They have
engaged IN preference to these number OF attorneys
accustomed and willing TO work hard IN digging out and
arranging evidence against the indicators from whose
I grip we want TO release ourselves / do not think
there is any truth in the statement that either OF the
I gentlemen named have been retained by our Law Com
mttee" Mr.. Backhouse then refused to be explicit
with regard to the charges which the afidavs
to be based, the persons specifically alluded to in
them He was positive on this point however
that the charges were prepared and sworn to and that
they would be legally preferred next week He said
the Law Committee consisted Of five members whose
names he declined to give and he further asserted that
IT was the exed intention of the association and all
connected with it to get ready to fight before they
/ struck single blow at the Ring. Much could
be effected by udicous silence than by the bodest out
cry.
HARVEY HARRINGTON
i
resident OF Brooklyn, who has been regarded
active member of the Taxpayers Association, was
visited yesterday, but was equally reticent He adj
mtted the truth Of the charges published against the
Ring and was himself convinced that immediate rene
dial measures were imperative. Still he not will
ing TO admit that any such might be anticipated He
did say, however that steps being taken bring
the denquents to book, and, If possible, squeeze
OF their iii gotten wealth out OF them According to
Mr.. Harrington the associations efforts although
vigorous, by far advanced tow
ard completion as Mr.. Backhouse indicated Mr.. Far
ha pfoFu
certainly not of Messrs. 0'Conor and Peckham An
davits he was CONFIDENT had not been the Gov
ernor or Attorney General; that is He him
self did not know of the existence Of aidavs other
than those published last spring In short Mr. Far
rngton. while denying the amplitude of the Citizens
Commuters preparations to assault the Ring and IA
voring every measure TO do anxious give
no information touching his colleagues work He
thought, however, that the newspapers would find
plenty OF record of the outrages the people of Brook
lyn if they would only seek them among the property
holders and the Court records of suits against the Ring
and its members for unjust taxation, &c Further
more he hoped the press would assa the rogues and
thus aid the reformers very materially.
BARNES
furnished the HERALD reporter with considerable infor
nation concerning the Ring and its doings He said -
Few people have any adequate conception OF the
wrongs perpetrated the citizens of Brooklyn within
the past ten years They have been robbed it true
on smaller scale that the people OF New York, but in
proportion to wealth and population they have been
robbed of vastly The corruption is so wide
spread ana involves 80 many schemes Of plumber that
published columns OF figures against the Ring and
the only paper in Brooklyn that exposed
the Walabout extension job which had to
be abandoned We differently situated
from the way the people OF New York when
Tweed was in power The pundering with us is scat
| tered about in this and that direction Tweed and a
few had 1t all to themselves and the people knew
the fact Here it harder 10 lay your hand ON the
whole gang, though Of course some Of them sig
naly conspicuous. The best people in Brooklyn
listed in the present movement to bring the robbers to
justice They aroused at last, though it taken
long time to stir them up They not like most of
the men on your Committee Of Seventy in New York,
who sought Office under the cry of reform These peo
pie want no Office They have come TO realize the fact
that adding the borrowed money to the levy makes
yearly expenditure oov six the total val
uation of property Unless something done punish
and drive out the pecuators, property will decline
value so far as TO become wholly Improbable We are
astonished in Brooklyn at the transformation of some
of the New York papers the corruption this city
There hardly honest department in the entire city
government and If the truth ever becomes known the
number of persons implicated will astound the country;
persons, too who carry their heads high and are
deemed respectable members of the community Won
have comparatively honest voting now in New York
Here voting is the verest farce, and the ballot has
come to be looked upon as instrument of evil Bal
lot boxes are stuffed and Ring candidates counted in in
the nest sh. neless manner But there is much ia
hope for Tne association is in earnest and will its
utmost for good government"
Ex-MAYoR
disposed to be reticent to what going on
toward prosecuting the Ring He aware that il
intended to institute proceedings to funds
lost to the city in surrepous ways, but he could not
say by what method this to be effected. He thought
the results of the late election showed that the people
in no humor to be any longer tri1ed with, and
that their pockets had been touched at last Real
estate had deprecated and all who had a stake in
Brooklyn felt that it question OF life or death
whether the present state OF affairs should continue
not
Mr.. W. c. KINGSLEY
said TO reporter that the only information he had on
the subject of the proposed suits what he
the press, and that of vague nature that he
hardly knew what the ground Of complaint He
said however, that he conscious of having treated
Brooklyn he had treated every other corporation
person that had employed him. and was therefore in
no fear OF the Taxpayers Association the Reform AS
ISOLATION or any other association
In answer a question concerning the bridge and
the reservoir Mr. Kingsley SAID -'eThe bridge has
been investigated twice by Mr. Hewet and Mr. Schroe-
der and by the Common Council Both Investigations
terminated in exposure of the baseess character of
the charges made The reservoir investigated by
the new Board of Commissioners appointed by Fred
erck A. Schroeder who in turn obtained the services
of experts to assist them In the technical part of their
inquiry The result was report expressing the belief
that the prices paid for the work reasonable and
that the work done right
Mr.. Kingsley added that the attacks made upon him
the product of personal malice and political hos
py. He feels perfectly competent to vndicate him
self either in court or out Of 1t
WHEELER II. PEcKHAM.
Singularly enough Mr. Wheeler H. Peckham seemed
TO know less about his connection with the Brook
Ign anti-Rng association than most of its members
who had been spoken to during the week He did not
know what the papers had SAID Of him. and very justly
no doubt declined to talk any matter by him
sdered professional His exact language in reply to
the query 'Mr. Peckham have you been consulted by
the Law Committee of the Brooklyn Taxpayers Asso-
cation about their proposed action against the Ring 2
was II decline to talk with you about that subject
all sir. 1t is professional He might have been fol
lowing out the silent policy in this matter
WHAT Ex.ATToRSEY GENERAL SAYS.
1t seems that many OF the taxpayers, particularly the
more prominent members OF the Committee of One
Hundred when weeks ago they began lay their plans
looking TO the prosecution OF the Brooklyn Ring, called
upon several Of the leading lawyers OF this city their
advice to the best of proceeding against the
alleged thieves Among others they conferred with ex-
Attorney General Barlow who they believed, because
OF his former official position when the Tweed Ring
first proceeded against would be able give them
] A
called upon the General to learn If he
had been lawyer retained by
the gentlemen who credited with being
the engineers OF tho against the Ring and TO
ascertain what proceedings the Taxpayers Law Com
mittee had already taken. General Barlow said that
he aware that the taxpayers had a special Law
Committee, who had been, II presumed, actively
engaged in getting together all the facts and figures
! upon which they 10 base whatever action they
intended to adopt As for himself he had been
4 any way connected with the committee; but he said
that he had been called upon by several gentlemen,