New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-26
THE BROADWAY PAVEMENT.
IT ALREADY NEEDS REPAIRING.
THE TAMMANY POLITICS IN IT-NEEDLEss DE;
LAYS AND POOR WORK.

pracIcal loss Oh llS one great tnorOugnIare Wnllc
Tammany Hall and the Broadway Railway people
have held the street tight in their clutches. The
outrage has not been endured in silence. but the
protests and plants that have gone up in the pub
lilo press and in private have passed unheeded
over the heads of the brazen and shameless Tam
many officials who hold the fortunes Of this great
metropolis in the palms of their hands, until to-
day those same officials openly Haunting the
results Of their nefarious practices in the faces Of
the very people whom they are despoiling.
With Broadway torn up from one end TO the other,
emitting foul odors and causing untold annoyance
and loss to thousands Of merchants with millions
Of dollars of capital invested in their business
the great artery of traffic, the 1ammany con-
tractor and the Tammany Commissioner Of Public
Works went calmly on their way keeping few
men at work here and there and offering specious
excuses for the delay. Meanwhile business waited
and the outraged public, with the good-nature
Characteristic of the American people, failed to
rise up and put their demands in form that even
Tammany could not disregard.
John ID. Crimmins the contractor, repeated daily
his woeful tale of delays lin getting the ironwork,
varied occasionally by virtuous remarks about the
necessity of doing the work thoroughly and get
ting all the sewer and gas and steam and subway
pipes into good condition so that the finest pave
up soon as it was laid.
CONTRACTOR AND COMMISSIONER IN HARMONY
Thomas F. Gilroy. the Commissioner of Public
Works. when appealed to. corroborated all that
his Tammany friend. Mr.. Crimmins, said and the
condition of the town went from bad to worse
When occasion demanded. Mr.. Gilroy offered
plausible arguments for the delay, and in turn
appealed to Mr.. Crimmins to back him up The
delightful spectacle Of a Tammany contractor
and a Tammany official working so harmoniously
together against the interests of the community
and for the advantage of their common master.
Tammany Hail. attracted the attention even Of
the Democratic press. and The Times" aud
THE World uttered their little notes of warn
ing that this mutual admiration and support
must give way to less flimsy pretexts.
OF course none were so blind as not to see
that one thing. and one only was causing all
the delay namely. the intention To have every
thing in readiness so that Just before election
thousands of workmen could be put on. and an
opportunity be afforded TO the' patronage-mongers
of Tammany Hall to distribute great slices of fat
patronage among their followers. But no one
was prepared for the frank avOwal Of that pur-
pose which followed No sooner was everything
arranged and the campaign that Tammany is wag-
ing against good government and common decency
well under way, han Commissioner Giroy rushed
into print with an assumption of virtuous indig-
nation. and gave the lie to all his former excuses
and arguments by declaring that the delays had
been unnecessary
Il shall tolerate no more unnecessary delay"
he declared II am not going TO let up on them
(meaning his friend and co-worker. Crimmins) for
a moment They must keep it up and finish the
work as quickly as men and money can do 1t.
THOUSANDS OF MEN AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
Men have now been put on the work by
thousands. and the money has begun to flow.
All the machinery of the Department Of Public
Works has been put In operation TO manufacture
votes for the Tammany candidates. On every
available spot where man can work or pretend
70 work there a man has been placed. Even the
casual passerby. who watches the men that have
been crowded on to the upturned streets, can see
what the Tammany leaders are up to. that they
are using the power in their hands
for their own selfish ends. With them
the fact that they are wasting the peoples
money, inconveniencing the public and dlsgrac-
ing the town. has no weight All summer long it
has been in their pcwer to hasten the work, do
it on business principles and make it credit to
New-York Instead of that, they have turned
the streets Of the city over TO the contractors ana
allowed them to do just as they pleased; proVid-
of voters could be employed Just before election
How faithfully the contractors have carried OUT
the understanding. the condition OF the s'reeoS
shows
RIGHT THIS WRONG AT THE BALLOT-BOA'
New. Workers. however, are so used TO Tam
many methods and Tammany oppression that they
have come to look on them necessary evils and
do not seem to remember that the remedy lies in
their own hands The one consolation they have
had all summer was the hope that when Broad
way was at last redeemed from the hands of the
yandals' it would be the best paved street in the
CITY, Tammany Hall went TO the extent of proms-
ing that il would be the best paved street In the
world. How has the promise been redeemed
Here and there along the length OF the great
thOroughfare sections of three and four bocKs are
finished and open to trailc, ahor1lng an oppor-
uny to ndse to That te w sentens are
however TO cause even the warmest supporter oi
Tammany TO blush. Poorer work has never Deen
done, even in this misgoyerned town dhat Is a
strong assertion, but not too strong. 10 prove
IT, il is only necessary to go and look at the snort
section of Broadway from Bowling Green 70
JOhn-st.
SAD RESULTS OF TWO WEEKS WEAR
This section has goep opcr TO traffic barely two
weeks. With Broadway still blocked north and
south Of the new work, there has been no oppor-
tunty for heavy traffic to pass over it, and yet II
already n,eds rcIaninS
Think or IL, voters! n secIon vi ohc vi oiio
three greatest streets III the world that sectlon'
too, which passes right by the great once ouild-
ings of the city and through the heart Oh INC
financial centre of the United States, after being
months in the hands of the contractors ana only
two weeks in use, already shows signs OF wear
| Two weeks a.-o II was thrown open with nurrah
| and Tammany pointed 10 it with pride" To-
Cav 1t is full of holes and ready to be torn up
| again. - ,.o.o, ,.o,;,n
| IL is simply plain statement OF facts winch any
one can verify who will take the trouble TO walk
| from Bowling Green TO John-st WIN MS eyes
even. 1t was never properly graded, and the
nayement rises and falls with the appearance OF .
| gentle heaving swell. Along the cutters no enort
| anna arcntIv was made to cause the water TO run
! "a and when il rains the water is thrown from