New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-07-10
THE WASHINGTON RING.

..,o,, rur uR;uI AZ CORRESPONDENT or TRIBUNE.
WASHINGTON June I'M. Alexander Z. Shep-
herd Ex-Governor of the District OF columbia,
stinatos that he has been injured in his character
sanitation and credit TO the amount OF one hundred
bou>and dollars" by the publication in ThE TRIBUNE,
N lnrjl 1878 of the letter from volunteer cor
.,sno,dent. who incidentally remarked that q" If
,nstics III the District was not a mockcry and law
,nlrty. the Vice-Presidcnt of the Board of Public
Works who while extricatinG himself from financial
sie,cnltiee has brought bankruptcy upon the Dis
t,ict voull he lmonptly arrested and punished for
his crimes" &c. This sentence, IT Is asserted by
Mr. shophcrl and hi, friends, means that he has
.tolen the money Of the District and converted it to
his own
Now this is a strained construction of the PASSAGE
Aimee il is known that he probably brought bank
,uptey upon the District moi 80 much 10y directly
stealing the money as Tweed and his gang did IN
New-York MS by extraIa gance and disregard OF law
and That he "extricatcd himself from financial diff
entities" by spending great sums Of money IN public
improvements around property owned by himself
md other members of the RIM. thus rapidly en-
HANGING lis value And yet il may not DO very diff
emit ~ prove if the Boss gives tho editor of
rur TRIBUNE an opportunity to meet him IN court,
that Mr. Shepherd did convert the money OF the DIS
irci To his use or, what Is the same thing. that
having absolute control of affairs in the District he
managed by ticAcry to escape the payment of inter
Ast on assessments his property, for special I'M
provc,nents. although these assessments were not
paid IL some cases for thaa year after they
became due while interest at per cent per annum
was earg d TO his ncighbors on their assessments
for work done on the streets at the same time
if pavmcnt was delayed single month.
On the last day of the last session of Congress the
District Board of Audit in response to resolution
passed by Tire onse Of Representatives in the pre-
vious December sent 70 the Speaker letter cover
Inc certain reports relating To street improvements
i'm the District of Collmba.' Among these is
table of assessments for which certificates of in
dchtedness were issued under Act of Aug 10, 1871.
lot the District Iecis lturel. and collections made
by the Board of Public Works." The Third Section
of IA. Act Of Auc. 10, 1871. provides that if any
person prop ry informed should neglect refuse 70
nay his assessment for so Gays after notice. for
which provision was made the Board Of Pu"Ic
Works shout Immediately thereafter Issue ceitif-
sstcs If Indebtedness against the property assessed.
with interest AZ per cent. which were TO hr and
remain a lien upon such property until pdi and
If such assessments SHOULD not be paid in one year,
the Board upon request Of the holder OF thc ceti-
Gaze were 10 sell tie property to pay the tax.
Turning now 10 the table of assessments for
which certificates of indebtedness were lssned"
find that Nnth-st. from Pcnnsylvana-ave. to MIST.
north was assessed in October 1870. According TO
law the owners of property would have ono month,
UT until some time in November to pay these assess
nentS and prevent the Issue of certificates. About
onc-fouuh OF the assessments were pad durlng
Novcmbcr, - aud the first days of December,
and ia these cases no certificates were issued. In
a'ont half a dozen ether no certificates have
been issued 10 this day although the assessment has
ncvcr been paid. The reason for this neglect 10
eo,nnly with the law do rot know. for its terms
Il. ~, ylta ri tn
Issue certificates immcdia'dg ofier the 50 days
no;lcc With those exceptions. certificates were
issued Nov Q 1872 AGAINST all the property on this
street except that owned by Alexander H. Shepherd.
he was At thai tim the VIcc-Prsidcn OF The Board
sf Pahlc Works-he was, in fact, the auto"rat of
tt-and. although his assessment was not paid until
thu 26th of September. 1873. no interest was accru
ing against him during all those 10 months and n
DAYS. To show that this was clear swindic, II u
only necessary 10 look down the PAGE Of the record
few lines FROM VII 70 Mr.. SHEPHERDS name appears
until we tinl the name % Milo Mason, who oWncl a
lot in the same square with NJ. Shepherd, whose
propartywas assessed on the sane day, and who
pal his assessment sept. -, 1873, ole day before
Mr. Shepherd did. he charged and paid S37 81
interest. while Mr. Shepherd paid no interest.
Turning over one page Of the table furnished by
the Board Of Audit hnd page 76' the assessment
sheet for est, whi~h was assessed Nov. :, 1872
About 80 of the pToperty-owner- on This street paid
their special taxes before the 10Th of December
1872, and certificates were, of course, issued
against THEN property. IL all other cases. except in
those % four lots owned by Sen. O. l.. Bahcock on
which the special tax vas paid by Alexander r.
Shepherd. sept. 26. 1873, certificates issued
Nov. >, 1872, and began 20 draw interest from that
date. This particularly interesting one.
In the Spring OF 1873 Congress had made large
appropriations for street improyen ents. and the
money could only be obtained by the Board
after the work had been examined and
measured hy Gen. Babcock. What the character of
the made under Babcock's supervision
during that Summer was has been shown in the last
investigation. Is it not little singular that just
after those measurements were completed We find
Mr.. Shepherd paying more than $1,000 special as
easements for Gen. Babcockl Bat surprising this
payment 10 have been a part of legitimate busi-
hers transaction il may have been the fact still
remains that by trick Shepherd Tor BabcoclD
cheated the District Government out of more than
10 months interest at 10 per cent per anuIn on the
whole amount Of the assessment, 81 ,610 80. Take,
for the sake of comparison, the case of Samuel V.
Niles who owned property on tlia same street, which
was assessed at the same time and who paid his AS
sessment Sept. 10, 1873, seven days before Mr..
Shepherd paid Gen. Babeocks; hc WAS charged
end paid $3.50 SO interest %452 %. while
Ba.,cock was charged nothing On Sl,6i0 -,
which not paid until seven days later
] might go OF and show that in nearly every case
the Law requiring the issue Of certificates imme
Gia;,lg after the 30 days notice of assessment
violated where Mr. Shepherd was the owner of the
property affected and that he was thus saved from
the payment Of interest. While lis neghbors ia the
same squares were paying interest at the rate OF 10
per cent. This WAS tic case with his property in
Isl on Connecticutaye. Oh OliSc-st., Georgetown,
Oh Green and Gay-sts., Georgetown, and on tie