The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-04-19
THE, TWEED RING.


The robberies committed by the Tweed
ring and all its outlying ministers are es-
timated by the Tammany aldermen. in that
report in which they petitiOned the Attorney
General for Tweed's release, at $5o,0ooC1o
A brief statement ia herewith given of the
manner In which this robbery was done Inc
''ring" as it's name denotes combination
OF men OF both parties began In the Board
1867 by an act providing that twelve super
should vote for more than six. This insured
a "half and half" board six Republicans
and six Democrats. Then began first the
divisions of the commoner spells OF
politics. fat city offices and fat CON
tracts. In return for Republican support at
ALBANY country Republicans were given
.-leces and jobs in the city. and for thirteen
years, with Republican Legislatures every
year but one, that harmony continued. In
5ise7 Dick Connolly became controller: in
Il the same year Tweed was sent to the State
Senate to survey the ground, and in 1862
when Mr.. Hall became Mayor the ring came
into full power. The chief outward symptoms
of It's influences wore the orders of Barnard
Tweed's Judge, enjoining and mandamusing
everything that Fisk and Gould in Erie or in
the Pacific Railway litigations wished en-
Joined or mandamused, and the patent frauds
on the ballot engineered by Tammany. Next
year under the charter of 1870, passed, as
Tweed testified. by wholesale bribery. and the
special audit bill attached to it giving the
board Of audit untrammced authority over
all claims. the ring reached the top Of
mated several millions were stolen under
Tweeds old Board of Supervisors, which
passed almost rs body claims and bills IT.
regular and fraudulent on their face. But
under the adjusted claims act of 1868, which
gave the Controller supreme and irrespon-
sible power to pay all claims In litigation.
undreamed-of claims were "litigated' and
paid, being first increased by 65 per cent Of
their fictitious amount. This was clear steal
ing. The claims were q steal s5 per cent.
The increase OF them -65 per cent-was d.
vided between Tweed, Connolly, Sweeny
Woodward and Hall Tweed, according to
his own confession, taking % per cent be
cause he had 50 many expenses" His ex-
penses were legislators and their friends
and all the swarm of place-hunters, lob
byists and ballot-box suffers. The ring
contractors, Carney, Ingersoll. Keyser and
twenty others, were assessed also to make
up the price which the lobbyist, A. D. Barber
disbursed at Albany and Tweed disbursed in
the city. Eleven Senators -Wnsow, Wood
in, Miner Bowen Wood. Caldwell, Cream
were, according to Tweed, bribed with money
or otherwise to pass the tax levy bill Of 1870
which contained the special audit clause
drawn. Tweed thought. by Mayor Hail. be-
slowing the power to determine on all claims
upon Tweed, Connolly and Hall-or, in other
words, upon the Commissioner of Public
Works, the Controller and the Mayor. On
almost every claim and bill thencefOrward
presented to the city 65 per cent went into the
pockets of the ring. If a contractor would
not add that amount to the face of his
bill he whistled for his money. If he
did add 1t he was apt to add some
thing for himself The new courthouse was
one Of the many sources Of plumber. Bills
for carpeting by the 100 miles, mountains of
plastering, pyramids of stone work and
forests Of chairs were paid wherever they
were made large enough. For money Eric
bought what legislation and what law it
liked, and other railroads and corporations
were not behind Tweed hobnobbed with
Fisk and Gould, built himself a palace at
Greenwich, wore diamond like planet in
his shirt front, and when, at last, some slow
public suspicion arose that possibly while
$50,000,000 had been stolen all was not right,
fnsolently asked of creation In general,
What are you going to do about it2"
The gallant fight of the Young Democracy
against the Tweed charter of 1870 had been
wholly defeat 1t stimulated suspicion and |
inquiry, and first the ring was betrayed by |
one Of it's allies. The city was frightened |
and then indignant but struck harmless |
blows at first, till Mr. O'Conor and Mr. Til |
den, and afterwards the expert Taintor made |
the proofs against the public robbers ire
fragable. Some of the ring men ran away;
some brazened 1t out. Tweed did both But |
Of the $50, OOO, 600 stolen money. whose bur
dens rest upon the city yet IN its enormous
debt, only about 81, 100000 in gross, at an ex-
pense OF 100000. was recovered by compro-
misses with the smaller members of the ring.
Not cent was ever got back from Tweed.