New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-09-25
THE FRAUDS IN WATER RENTS
COMMISSIONER THoMPsoNs REPORT.
ACCOMPANYING SCHEDULES NOT GIVEN OUT
AIKEN AxRAIGNED AND BAIIEp.

y.x,,. .h. asnarture of Commissioner Thompson
scr Rufaio. Yesterday. he sent to the Mayor re-
Of the sSa Wafsr n Bureaus Of the Chief
Encineer of the Department OF Public Works h ne
- amer In which the frauds were perpetrated tne
The length of time consumed in the Investigation.
and the sums taken by the persons implicated were
given at length In The TRIBUNE OF yesterday Inc
following Is Mr.. Thompsons report;
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
NEw.YoRK. September ~, 1888.
Ha a. m1 70 yoa q the 18th u. and in
seqaent with you stated ts sat rreg
iartes in the accounts Of water rents have ust re-
ceved Mr.. John H. Chambers the wafer isesister
report showing the result OF the investigation "n'''
The present system of keeping accounts Of water
The collections Of revenue from the water service now
amount to over per apnpm IN sS bsye
come my notice occurred Ia the accounts OF wa nta
furnished tnsO1ga water ser S c date hsr. ' are
79I0 water meters IN use In order to ascertain tne
state Of affairs It was 70 e kep
% SGGh' the n w cash books in the Water Reggie
r mSds rese casboofs exactly correspond with
the daily deposits made with the Wy a y, ab,tv
pages per day. and ON some days ever 200 pages The
Comparison OF the books therefore required m1co me
md labor outside of Office hours when the DOCKS Mere
not being used in the transaction OF the daily business
Of sne Water REGISTERS Office While tne nrs.ss WIN
all vgor which the time and az aae
the department could anord, tne ~ inaI
still being continued although there Is notang
cate any additional rregulaIites Ine iaets
"PSrsA statement of all the accounts for water fur.
pished through meters In which pay mems nave oeon
spending credit the cash books OF the water REGISTERS
office ,u.,., ,o,,s hs.,
maid upon notices sent since the commencemept u tho
investigation. ,,,,on ,ot,.
scation from the Department have been admitted oy
the parties liable for the same and payment u "noh
Tosrta-A statement of the accounts and names OF
parties III reference 70 which she ie9s5edness
FYlt-A statement OF the accounts In reference 10
hs there Sce credited on
the meter account books without entry on '"o o'A
From these schedules it viii found that the total
amount OF the discrepancy between the meter
is SsS47s IS Of which 800 SO has been paid since
the commencement Of the investigation Tue @ d
80 az O3 remains accounted for when the parties
liable for the same can be communicates w d, sd
S23l3 90 apparently been collected ana diVerteo
AS above stated tine present system of keeping the &C
counts of waterrents has been in use for more tnan
rty years II was established shortly after the Croton
Aqueduct Department came into exstence u1uer 'n1
Water commissioners. In 1879, when was Deputy
OF Public Works consulted with MT ar a.
r. McCienachan, chief bookkeeper and MI. Jonn n.
%so Rs eSse o 70
reglaries In The collection aud returns OF wafer
comUiee set of duplicate books which have been
IN use since the recent discoveries other additional
checks have been devised and some new DOCKS nave
pee" P'f HUBERT o. THOMPSON,
Commissioner OF Public WORKS
Mayor Edison was asked by a reporter OF The
TRIBUNE whether he would make public the sched-
III have been advised by the District Attorney
that would he the best interests of the city not
10 make public the contents OF the schedules Ihey
contain the names of those persons who have paid
their water rents since TINS investlgatlon peg ~,
are suspected of being implicated In the rauds.
- Are all the names of the suspected parties
ayes, including those who are supposed to be
responsible for the actual theft OF about ~, 500
"The report says that this is really all that the
II agree with it in that particular. The water
taxes are lien on the property, and therefore the
city cannot lose anything except the amount that
DO YOU think the Department of Public Works
was dereiict or to blame in this natter
IL do not. Apparently proper safeguards were
thrown around the collection and receipt of the
water taxes The same thing might happen 10 any
department where dishonest clerks were acting III
collusou. The small amount that the city Will lose
is evidence that proper vigilance is displayed by
the officials Of the department" ,,,,
"When will the schedules be made publcI'
''Not until am advised by the Dlstrct-Attorney
that the interests of the city will lot suffer by
" will the parties who have been guilty of actual
defalcation in the department be brought to JUS
II tnink 50, although it may be difficult to reach
one or two OF them."
spector was arraigned in the morning in the Court
Of General Sessions before Judge Cowing charged
with forgery in the third degree. The indictment
against him was read by Clerk Hall. who asked the
prisoner what he had to say to the charge.
Not guilty." he replied.
had been entered, moved to have g low rate of bail
fixed, adding: la my opinion 81 900 is ample
is not gully, and ask that his bail be made rea,
sonabe. He is almost ireadiess and also pennies"
ssosS MsssO at s sstSS thas tine tine
offence was violation of duty as public officer
MIR. McKeon referred TO the conduct which had
City Government in the last year, without spec,
flying any department. and added that there should
be stop put 10 IL. The prisoners counsel quickly
rose and assured the court that there was abso
luteiy no danger of his clients trying to csc ape
trial and said that they would be ready for trlal
on two days notice whenever the case should DO
put down for trial Answering the Distrct-Attor-
ney's reference to improper conduct IN some
branches of the City Government Mr.. Stewart
said "If this prisoner the only public official
guilty of malfeasance there might be some reason
III this effort to make him victim. He is charged
with altering figures, This was done with figures
Judge Cowing fixed the bail at S. 900. and with.
out leaving the building the bond was drawn and
signed The two bondsmen, each of whom quail.
fed in $4,000. were Lyman Benson OF No. 161 East
Slxty-second-st. real-estate broker. having his
Office at No. 1877 Greenwch-st., and DR.. James
Bathgate, the owner of the house in Frank
liu.aye. where. Aiken lives; AS soon as the
bail-bond was signed Mr.. Aiken was Joined 10y
his wife and the couple started for home. MIR.
Aiken is tall man, of dark complexion. wearing
brown moustache, the rest of his face being clean
shaver. To TRIBUNE reporter who spoke to him
after his release from custody, Mr. Aiken said that
he was ready for trial whenever he was needed.
and that he had nothing to conceal he did not
wish to make any further statement at present Mr..
Stewart, turning 10 the reporter, said: =" BIZ.
Aiken is as innocent of these charges as you or ].
He Is simply being used by Others ~ hide their mis-
doings"
PRAYER MEETING ANNIVERSARY.
A laroe aud,enca pathered nj mon veeterdav in