Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-10
HOW THE MONEY GOES

Ring IN New York Equal to the Canal
Ring Who are Fleeing the Taxpayers
The Modus Operandi.
New YORK, Dec. 9.-The Tribune says:
Careful investigation of the department
records by Tribune reporters reveal the
existence in the city of a ring of contract
ors, whose methods are similar to those of
the canal ring, which was broken up eight
years ago, but 10 effort has yet been made
to break up the corrupt combination
which is defrauding the taxpayers Of New
York. The system of unbalanced
bids by which the public treasury
suffers heavily his grown to startling pro-
portions in the department of public
works under the eye of Commissioner
Thompson. Misleading estimates of the
work to be done are the rule rather than
the exception in that department, and
certain favored contractors succeeded in
OBJ tanning secret information as to the real
nature of the work which these misleading
estimates cover. They are thus enabled
to put in unbalanced bids at figures which
losses to the city. The extraordinary
h0tulO VI sAOoC Oln5 AldJ U0 WucA
it is known the department of public
works is now paying on contracts still in
force all the way from one cent to eight
dollars per cubic yard for exactly the same
kind of excavating. Honest contractors
are driven out of the field by a ring of men
who put in unbalanced bids. These out
rageous street contracts of which the pub
lie works departments is full, result in va
cation assessments On an extensive scale,
throwing the whole burden of the expendi-
tare on the city. By tee vacation asses
ments resulting from these abuses,
the municipal treasury has saf-
fered to the extent of
millions of dollars in the last few years.
The method is absolutely simple. A street
opening, or sewer for example, will re-
quire an excavation of so much in rock. so
much in earth. The engineer states ap-
proximately the amount Of each, and bids
are invited. An outside contractor makes
straightforward bid, allowing him fair
profit on each. The inside contractor
makes bid considerably higher on one
and very much lower on the other, result
ing in lower average. He thus gets the
contract. Then it mysteriously turns out
that of the work on which he
made the unreasonably high bid
is for more than the engineers decep-
tive estimate and contractors in
the secret knowledge of the
real facts work together, and the
unbalanced bid becomes as thorough a
piece of burglary as if the city treasury
had been pried open with jimmy. The
Tribune gives details of several contracts,
IN which the city is swindled, the following
beng fair illustration: Bids were in
vited for regulating and grading Ninsty-
Fifth street from Tenth avenue to River
side drive and setting eurbstones
and tagging the sidewalks thereon.
The department. called for a
bid on 1880 cubic yards, earth excavation,
and 21,540 cubic yards of rock excavation.
J. Brady bid So per cubic yard for earth
excavation and one quarter Of cent per
cubic yard for rock excavation, his aggre-
gate being S15,676, and being the lowest
he received the contract. The amount Of
rock is so small and the earth excavation
so great that it is estimated he will receive
SIP 900.