New-York tribune., 1884-01-15
THE DEPARTMENT FRAUDS.
ACTION OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE.
RESOLUTIONS OF INVESTIGATION INTRODUCED IN
BOTH HOUSES.
IBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.l

comprehensive resolution in the Assembly,
S;,oo.;nc such investigation and Mr.. Gibbs intro
dnced somewhat similar resolution IN the Senate
tbough confined exclusively to the Public works
Denartment The Democrats of course promptly
nlaced themselves record against the lnVestlga-
+iop Jimmy" Oliver, one of Commissioner
Tbompson's representatives in the Assembly,
strained his ears the minute he caught the
name of Thompson in Mr.. Houses resolution, and
was Immediately demanding recognition. he asked
that the resolution he laid over for debate, which
nnder the Honse rules had to be done. The res0lu"
ton was as follows:
Whereas The official reports of the transactions OF the
Departments of Public Works or New hSLH, % ni, boV @
management OF Commissioner Haoert ~ 'reS
an increase of 65 cent It's annual e seSP9d vcar Of
which amounted 10 S4.9s2,31o II TOT 'no Seoo"" ' "
n TGt~en II has been charged by the Union League
1nb and nv the public press OF NewHOrR tat there mas
been gross neglect OF duty and apparent VloSIons VI i
law on the part Of the said COMMISSIONER ID hWuiIs
contracts on misleading estimates ana uhpadnCe u W..
and i'm giving ont work and purchasing supplies uhdeI ne
system orders for 1899 ana less anu tnaV ~ f,o
the CrotOn water fund. and that there has oeem an m
SIMPLY of water through the Bronx RIVER, su s tna ~ s
said Commissioner in other ways has peeh Vi
hSrDn The levy of the city Of NewYork for the
e,r tss1 has been increased S33693so over tiat IOr
the year isS3 anu d ,a and @ defacatons in the Public
Works Finance Law and DOCK departments anu IN rn n
Office OF the Commissioner OF Jurors ana serious % @
nave been made affecting the administration oi 'ho lax
and other departments and , - .1,oro,,,b In
Wbere0s Public sentiment demands a thoiougn III
yesgaton of the local government r nId G ma" E
be speedily corrected, but that their repeuuoh u"S '
prevented; therefore ~ e,,,.oo =, diroctod m
make such an investigation and that such connltteep pe
cpoweTed to send for books, papers ana persons anu
and that for the further purpose OF faclathg saIu III
vestigaton the speaker be authorize 10 ero for
the use of that committee during this investigation
Whereas II is of vital Importance TO AZ the taxpyeFs
of
should be beyond reprOach, therefore De II .b rt,.
Rcsolred That the sanding committee on the aniIs
of cities OF this be and II hereby Is drecte1 ana
empowered to investigate the Department OF d ppT f
Works in the city of New York, with power TO se dOI
persons ana papers, and said committee IS hereby au
thored to employ stenographer ana Saeh rUSe 9 % h
thorough discharge of the dntes hereby hnpOseui
sTcb Investigation and its recCmmendatons concern
ing the same the Senate ON or before March To-
DEMOCRATS OPPOSED TO INVESTIGATION.
In order to test the Democracy, MIR. House after
ward moved that the matter be made special or
der for the morning Isaac Dayton, Republican
from New-York city, who has difficulty in under
standing anything in which he is not personally
interested supported the Democrats in their oppo-
81 ion to Mr.. Houses motion. Mr.. Haggerty, Mr.
Rice and few other Democrats pretended TO be III
favor of an investigation of Commissioner Ihomp-
sons peculiar transactions, but they wanted delay
Mr. Dayton was the sole and only Republican VINO
voted with the Democrats. Otherwise the vote on
Mr. Houses motion was strictly party one, and 1t
was necessarily lost for want ola two tmrds-Vote'
MR. THOMPsON's REPRESENTATIVE.
While Mr. Houses resolution allowed abuses III
all the departments to be investigated, that OF Mr.
Gibbs was confined exclusively to the Department
of Public Works Mr.. Gibbs's resolution at once
aroused the fierce hostility OF Mr.. Daily,
who represents Mr. Thompson in the
Senate. On the other hand Senator Murphy,
Of Irving Hail, while opposing the Investigation as
ncalled for said that he would vote for the reso-
luton In the course of his speech in defence OF
Mr. Thompson. Senator DAILY brought mp the tact
that the Democratic Committee of the last Senate
acquitted Mr.. Thompson. This aroused senator
Lansing, a Republican member of that committee,
and in forcible manner he told OF the methods
used by the Democrats in Smotherng that lnvesti-
cation and of its sudden and uaccountable ending.
Mir. Lansing's speech made it clear to some of
the Democrats that they could not afford TO
oppose this investigation. All OF the Republicans
voted for il except Senator Daggett, who was
paired with Mr.. Keenan, II took several roll calls
however, to get Mr. Bowen on record.
TIE RESOLUTIONS IN The SENATE.
Senator Gibbs, of New-York early in the session
Of the Senate, introduced his investigation resou-
ton 1t is as follows:
Whcreas charges Of fraud and irregularities have
made from time by the public press, and recently
by the Union League Club, of the city OF NewI Iork
WoiEs' in the city Of Ncw-York; and,
Whereas These charges have, In the opinion OF many
pcrsOUs been satisfactorily explained or larry lc-
tuted; and,
DEMOCRATS URGING DELAY.
Senator Gibbs moved that the resolution should F.,
he laid on the table Every one supposed that he |
would not call il up until tomorrow, but latein the
session he called it from the table and announced
his intention of attempting TO pass it that night
Instantly there came opposition from some of the
Democratic Senators and debate of an hour fol-
lowed. Senator DAILY of Ncw-YOrk, led OFF IN
opposition He argued that investigation
of tho Department of Public Works by the |
Legislature wonld be premature as the Grand Jury
of New-York was now engaged upon the same task, /
and il was not vet PLAIN that their inquiry would
be without result If the Grand Jurors should make |
failure II would then be time Tor the Legislature
10 take action.
Moreover it was his belief that these Legislative !
investigating committees were merely instituted to
aware of the serious charges that had been made |
against Commissioner thompson and would surely |
demand vigorous investigation of the Department /
OtPubhc Works. This evident from the fact that
the Board of Estimate and Apportionment had |
lately appropriated $50 600 To pay experts who
were engaged in examining the account. of the de-
partment. He did not defend Mr.. Thompson nor
had MIR. Thompson asked a defence nor did he op-
pose the investigation but he did think the Grand
Jury the best instrument TO make an Investigation.
SERIOUS NATURE OF THE CHARGES
Senator VI. c. Murphy, another Democratic Scna-
tor favored the investigations He said with a
smile that his relations with the Department of /
Public Works was not quite close Mr. /
Days nor he quite rs well acquainted /
with the intricate operations of that department
Still he thought that if Mr.. Ihompsons reply to |
the charges made by HE NEw-l DIRK TRIBUNE, /
Othe. new spapcrs aud the Union League were cor
rect that he should court an investigation. If The
1RIBUNE's charges were correct Mr. Thompson ought /
10 be punished. Ii was true that tine investigation |
would probably be made from partisan motives.
The charges were of too serious nature. The soon
er the investigation was made the better lie pro-
posed 10 have the Department of Pnbc Works and
other departments OF NewYOTk thoroughly investl-
gated In order that the Senate might surely act
upon the matter lie moved that the committee
should report the result of its investigation