The New York herald., 1875-10-30
One of John KeIIy's Candidates.

objections are urged.
One OF John KeIly's Candidates.
Mr.. John Kelly has professed desire to
reform the character of our public officers in
the nominations he forces upon the Tam
many democracy. The insincerity of this
claim is exposed in letter which we publish
to-day from Mr.. John Morrissey, the indie
pendent democratic candidate for Senator in
the Fourth district The Honorable John
enthusiastically strikes straight out and hits
his opponent damaging blow without any
dodging or fencing. He declares that John
kelly's candidate, John Fox, while member
of Tweeds Board of Supervisors. voted in
favor of paying to the worst of the ring
accomplices, Garvey, Ingersoll, Keyser and
four or five others, dishonest claims to the
amount of two million five hundred and
seventy-six thousand dollars. This amount,
says the Honorable John, upon the recon-
mendation of John Fox, his official as
surance of the fair and equitable nature
of the claims and with his sanction, was
stolen from the public treasury" and he
places in contrast with such record the
fact that he himself has never sought office
in his life and has never received from the
public treasury one dollar, save and except
his proper salary as member of Congress.
We may fairly regard it as little political
exaggeration to charge that the whole
amount paid to Garvey, Ingersoll, Keyser
and the rest by John Fox's vote as Super
vic sct 1in
1t is, however, fair to conclude that a large
percentage of the bills of such men was
fraudulent, and that in paying them two
million five hundred thousand dollars at
least one and half millions were dishon-
estly taken from the public treasury. There
are many things in Fox's career as Super
visor which John Kelly-having forced that
candidate down the throats of an unwilling
constituency-might consistently be called
upon to explain. Everybody knows that
the bulk of the plumber Of twenty
millions secured by the ring robbers
was obtained through the new Court House
job. In February, 1866, Supervisor Smith
Ely, Jr., charged the Court House committee
with extravaganza and fraud, and demanded
a committee of inquiry. If that committee
had been raised and honestly composed it
would have stopped the whole Court House
plunder. The investigation was defeated by
one vote those combining against it being
Tweed, Hank Smith, Hayes, Roach, Stewart
and John Fox. Three of these-Tweed,
Smith and Fox-were the majority Of the
impeached Court House committee. John
Fox afterward moved an investigation,
which was ordered and as chairman of the
Investigating committee, from which Smith
Ely, Jr., was excluded, he made report in
the following June declaring the contracts to
be honestly and economically made, and in
dorsing the manner in which the building of
the Court House was conducted. There is
no question that this shameful report
blinded the eyes of the people and prepared
the way for the twenty millions of plunder
afterward secured by the Ring
Supervisor Fox was member of the Com
mittee on Stationery, in connection with
Tweed, Hank Smith and Orison Blunt In
1865, when Fox first became member of the
Board, the amount expended in stationery
was under thirty thousand dollars. In 1863
there were paid to two ring firms, for
stationery alone, over three hundred and
eighty-three thousand dollars, for all of
which John Fox voted, both in the committee
and in the Board. The character of this
transaction may be gathered from the fact
that the estimate for the whole expenses of
advertising printing and stationery in the
provisional estimate for next year, now
under consideration, is one hundred and
seventy-two thousand dollars. AS John
Kelly has forced Fox on the people of the
Fourth Senatorial district perhaps he will
let the constituency know what he thinks Of
this much Of his candidates record as
Tweed Supervisor /?