New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-05-13
THE GRAND JURY ON Mr.. THOMPSON.

THE GRAND JURY ON Mr.. THOMPSON
Commissioner Thompson and his apologists
will find some extremely unpleasant reading in
the presentment of the Grand Jury which is
printed in full in our columns this morning.
When abuses in any department of the City
| Government are exposed there is never any
| lack of excuses and explanations. Dir. Thomp-
| sons position as the head of powerful DEM
| ocratic faction and his control of patronage
| have secured him many allies in newspaper
| offices and elsewhere who have been tireless in
| perverting the truth to shield him and mis-
representing the motives of those who have
only sought to purify the City Government.
| They have filed the air with false
| hoods about the work of the Senate Committee.
Never having paid attention to the sessions of
| the committee while ID was taking testimony,
and never having examined the evidence, they
have INDUCED day after day In the most reck-
| less and shameless misstatementS concerning
the nature Of the evidence and concerning the
report proposed by the counsel for thu commit
tee 1t will be of interest to see what
| they will do with this presentment. Judging
| from their course in the past, We may expect
that they will not even take the trouble to read
it, but will accept the gloss put upon it by MIR.
Thompson or the ingenious promoters OF fiction
whom he has in his service, and go on with
their defense of mismanagement, extravaganza
and disregard of law.
This presentment carries the moro weight be-
cause of its studied moderation. 1t is extreme
ly courteous and conservative in tone. This Is
| not surprising when it is considered that it is
! the utterance Of body Of citizens, many OF
them of advanced years and ripe experience,
| all whose work has been marked by ex-
IRENE elaboration. And these gentle
men have sat daily under the ad-
monitions Of Mr.. ThOmpson's political associate
and familiar, our present District Attorney.
Under these circumstances it is certain that
their presentment does not err in the direction
of excessive severity. Therefore every word
of criticism which they utter concerning the
loose and wasteful methods Of the department
will carry great weight. With such a District
Attorney to direct the investigation and exam
inc the witnesses, the results could not be more
unfavorable to Mr.. Thompson than the nature
of the case absolutely demanded.
The preSentment takes up first the subject of
unbalanced bids and recites some of the now
well-known facts, such as the payment of
SIS so per yard for removing loose earth and
rubbish from the surface of street, and Of IS
per yard for ordinary earth excavation. 1t
points out that Mr.. Thompson never called at
tention to the need of protecting the city's in
terests against designing contractors. The evil
was known, and it was the duty Of the Commits
sioner to suggest remedy.
The system Of giving orders in the depart
ment is next reviewed, and the presentment de-
clares that the Law has been disregarded In
many important classes of expenditure, and no
little neglect Of ordinary business methods
has been shown in certain transactions.
Many Of the operations and purchases,
the Grand Jury say, have been con-
Quoted In an extravagant and unsatis
factory manner. Favoritism to certain
tractors has been shown and In consequence
the department has paid more than the market
prices for certain classes Of work and materials.
The excessive cost Of coal, the extravagant
outlay for painting the County Court House,
and the unreasonable expenditure for cleaning
public buildings, are among the matters speci-
fed.
In the Bureau Of Streets and Roads the Grand
Jury find an extraordinary lack of business
system and method. Orders they say. have
been kept in the hands of one or two favored
parties, while the checks on the operations Of
the peculiar class Of dealers selected in this and
other bureaus of the department have been In
adequate. 1t is the opinion of the Grand Jury
that the fact that so large proportion OF these
dealers keep no such books and records as
business men ordinarily use, reflects severely
on the business judgment of the depart
ment, land makes it difficult to place conf
"dence in the trustworthiness Of Its manage
"ment."
The charges to citizens for the restoration of
pavements over sewer openings and CrotOn
water connections are found to be excessive.
The supervision by the department of the
work done by contractors on orders for sewer
repairs is declared to be loose. Leading and
reputable houses have become convinced that
competition with favored contractor is useless !
and no little detriment to the interests of the !
city results. The department has, to q large |
extent depended upon the records of the con-
tractors as to the hours Of labor for which the |
city has been charged, and it does not appear to |
the Grand Jury that these records have been kept |
in such manner as to form trustworthy vouch- |
ers for such charges. In considering the manner |
III which orders have been given out and favor
itism to contractors has been shown. the Grand |
jury say emphatically that the law has been
brought into contempt by the department
After insisting that the work Of the Bureau |