New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-09
MILLIONS LOST TO THE CITY.

The neople of New York have had abundant
reason TO lose confidence In their city govern
ment. Proof has been piled upon proof OF late
that extravaganza and corruption run riot Ill
the departments. And yet with all the discioS-
ures of thievery which nave been MADE re-
Gently, the taxpayers cannot fan to De aihazcu
and alarmed by the revelations which appear ia
TIE TRIBUNE to-day. These show the exist
ence of ring of contractors in this city similar
70 the old Canal Ring and working through
similar methods. Their operations have led 10
losses from the city Treasury since 1876
amounting to the appalling total of nearly SIR
millions Of dollars.
The Canal Ring, which dcfrauded the people
of the State out Of enormous sums, was exposed
in THE TRIBUNE eight years ago and was
thoroughly broken up. But the crushing OF
that corrupt combination seems to nave had
only slight effect on the city government. In
the Department of Public Works the awarding
of contracts on unbalanced bids was checked
for n time, it is true. But under Commissioner
Thompson the system fOurishcs as 1t never
fourshed before. Contracts let on honest
STRAIGHTFORWARD bids seem the exception. Inc
estimates prepared by the department. on
which contracts are made, are wholly mlslead-
ing Contractors in some way procure lnlor-
nation which shows just how far these est-
mates are erroneous, and are thus enabled to
secure contracts which result in enormous
losses TO the city through the vacation ana re-
duction of assessments. The method Is aDSo-
lutely simple. A street opening or sewer
for example, will require excavation, so inuch
in rock so much in earth. The engineer states
approximately the amount of each, and bids are
invited. The outside contractor makes
straightforward bid, allowing him falr
profit on each. The inside contractor makes
bid considerably higher on one, and very much
lower on the other-resulting in lower aver
age. He thus gets the contract Then 1t mys-
teriously turns ont that, of the work on which
he has made very low bid, there is far less
than the engineer estimated; of that on which
he made an unreasonably high bid, far more.
The engineers deceptive estimate and the con-
tractors secret knowledge of the real facts
work together; and the Unbalanced Bid be-
comes as thorough a piece Of burglary as If the
city Treasury had been pried open with jimmy,
yet is so scrupulously inside the forms of law
| that Mr.. Hubert o. Thompson looks on with
| serene content.
Honest contractors are driven out of the
business through these methods The system
has not been confined to the Public Works De-
partment. 1t has existed to deplorable ex-
tent also in the Park Department, although
there is evidence Of an improvement in the
recent contracts let in that branch Of the
city government while in the Public Works
| Department the progress is downward.
! A glance at some of the contracts analysed in
| to-day's TRIBUNE, and the prices paid under
| them, will show at once how the city is de-
frauded. For instance, $50 a cubic yard has
been paid for excavating rock, while fair re-
compense for the work is less than 50. On the
face of such bid it must have been apparent
to any city official that there was something
| seriously wrong. In this, as in other cases, it
turned out that the estimates prepared by city
employe were wildly misleading. Only corrupt
collision or gross incOmpetency could be the
! cause of this. If such q state of affairs were
| found in a single case it might readily be at
! tributed to incOmpetency But when these
/ false estimates continue to appear in contracts
week after week and year after year, causing
| the loss of six millions of dollars TO the city
| through the vacation and reduction of assess
| ments, it must be attributed to something else
than incompetency.
| What shall be said of such an officer as Mr.
| Thompson, under whose administration such
abuses are possible7 He cannot plead ignO-
rance, for his attention has been called to the
matter again and again. While there are de-
fects in the law relating to the letting of con-
tracts, he has made no effort to have them
changed. He is not obliged to let a contract on
these unbalanced bids. But, above all, if the
estimates on which he lets contract were
anywhere near right, the door to the fraud
would be closed. The fourishing condition In
his department Of such arotten and costly system
of letting contracts ought at once to engage the
attention of the Grand Jury. No contractor
who relies on the estimates prepared by the
Department of Public Works can honestly COM
pete for work. under such circumstances with
any show Of success. Hence the public will
not be surprised to learn that men who grew
| rich under Tweed are to-day enjoying equal
prosperity under Thompson.
| The whole system of managing the trust funds
of the city is outrageously bad. Mr. Thompson
expended in his department last year $6,17l,-
e65. Of that amount $3,467.621 was raised