New-York tribune., 1894-04-20
TAMMANY'S DOCK BOARD.
HOW IT HAS WIPED OUT THE CITY's
PROFITS.
ERNEST HARvIER QUOTES OFFICIAL FIGURES ~
INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS OF THE
I'M ASSEMBLY DISTRICT.

INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS VT ''H
lid ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
A largely attended meeting OF Anti-Tammany
Democrats composing the Independent county VT
aanization OF the lid Assembly District was heiu
last evening at odd Fellows Hall, No. % Forsyth
At II WAS presided over by Philip j. Hoeierer
There were several good speeches. In which Tam
many Hall was pitessly arraisned' ana 'he co"''
ton OF degradation into which the city mas pee"
sinking ever since Tammany secured cohtroi VI t'e
municipal government was portrayed III sc"'h'"e
periods The main address OF the evening was
,nada nv Ernest Haryicr who gave a carefuiy
nrenared and seemingly unanswerabe exposition
OF Tanmany methods In the ccnduct Oh the Do'N
Department His facts and figures coilateu from
official sources we're listened to with the keehest
interest. while the telling points which ne Haue
against Tammsny msmanagement corrup''o" anu
robbery were heartily applauded'
Mr Harvier began by asking II any man present
or elsewhere could tell how much II cost year 10
run the Dock Department HIS audiehce saNe "
I'D The speaker then referred 10 the Dohs"h
charter secured from the King of England SVo years
ago which provided that not only the Waterfront
of Manhattan Island should remain IN perpetuty inc
property Of It's citizens but that the legal boundaries
of New-York should forever extend to low-water
mark on the opposite shore. II was this priceless
heritage which had helped to make New-1orK the
mercantile capital of the New World NO o'het
great city," he said. lis encircled with piers ana
which
MANAGED might almost free the city from local
taxation Yet In the hands OF Tammony this I'M
mense income is squandered on Tammanys camp
followers" He went on
The Dock Departments receipts amount, uhuer @
Ha s 50 s year an 10 Collect this sum
1t is as II one Of you mechanics earned sio IN
Iect it for YOU on pay day. He would come back
ana give You S. 'Where is the other ST. ysou
would ask. II charged that for collecting the 90
he would
The docks Of Ncw-York are valued at &NGoCW
They would bring more than that at auction; nat
do you think they yield the people IN year .; 40,
the other 100000 goes for repairs. The city gets
nothing. Don't you think that SSSG0yG OF prop tbo
use of it? 1t don't! Perhaps we are lucky that
they leave the docks.
MORE WORK FOR TIID UNEMPLOYED.
The Dock Department makes its own collections;
the city issues its bonds for the expenses. Iherc
are now sll.0cOOc) of these bonds outstanding, ana
$4,000 more 1t is computed. will be issued in 1894
Theodore W. Myers. when Controller. set his race
against the proposed expenditure Of S.oOocO addi-
tona for docks TO be built by Tamnany up IN IN our our
why he was not renominated by Tammany Hall.
Since then Tammany has put the scheme through, g
OF New-York said recently TO committee or the
Legislature investigating the dock abuses Inat
city for alleged improvements was wasted and:
meanwhile. one Of the greatest local industries OF
Ward busy boat.buIding and dock building. is
languishng in consequence DO you think 1a that o II
eral there and elsewhere In New-1ork there
would be here tonight as many men out Of en-
Two OF the three Dock Commissioners are in the
dredging business. They dredgers The treas
urer OF the board was a Tammany Hall police judge
posItion TO become Dock Commissioner for six
Years at $500 a year. That's not like Tammany.
The dredgers are pretty busy, They. get out 900;
cubic OF mud and 10000 cubic rect OF SAND
in year and as long the mud and sand lasts
Whatever happens to the rest OF you. a man asked
how many men Tammany kept to work in the he Dock
on the payroll but the man don; live who knows
how many or how few we've got at work
THE LOST PROFIT.
Between the years 1877 and 1Seo-before In fact.
Tammany Hall got control OF the Dock Board-the
profit to the city from It's operation tthe receipts
over the expenses) was SiSS3.i27 Nearly four and
half millions were earned profit during that time.
How has 1t been since? A loss to the city, under
Tammany. of $77S22l up to the date OF the last re-
quarter OF a million dollars year on the docks.
The revenue from wharfage is over 100000. and NJ
age from Of the docks without paying either the
city the lessee for the privilege. What becomes
the receipts for the last quarter were 100000 less
than the expenses. Where will i stop?
There has been no increase In the pay OF working
mechanics. No. indeed. Shp-caulkers and carpen-
ters get Ss cents an hour stonecutters 90 engineers
high up in office under Tammany doing better.
They have had their salaries raised. Commissioners
now get 5000 instead of 5000, the secretary $3.50
instead OF s. coo. Dockmasters get $500 instead OF
81 500: the superintendent OF machinery who useu
to get .500 gets 1850 and on-but there
has been raise for the divers who imper their
lives, for the backsmiths who use their strength.
The latter lucky to get 35 cents an hour.
The Dock Board is going to eXpend. ard has In
fact. already started cXpend. SO0.0O for alleged
improvements in the Ninth Ward between Eleventh
and GansevOort SITS. You might naturally think
that colossal public work OF this sort was going
to give employment a great many idle mechanics
and benefit perhaps. the whole neighborhood.
| have here the report Of the engineer of the Con-
trollers office. and the figures he submitted to the
Sinking Fund show that OF the s5.0l0Q00 TO be ex-
pended. 100000 will go to individual propertyown-
ers on friendly terms with Tammany Hall They
have arranged to pay $500 a foot for bulkhead
rights also to private property-owners which will
course. there is be dredging. to be given out
to favored Tammany contractors. and that Will
5000 600 more. that the actual disbursement
for labor and materials will be E32o 900. The ma
terials will be furnished by favored Tammany
Hall contractors. in the Dock combine" and
the labor will be furnished by men in Tam
manys service in the Dock Department. Not
dollar will outside OF the Tammany circle to help
any mechanic, TO give extra days work to
any man employed By Tammany by Tam
many contractor cloud applause)
Other speakers were William 4. Ellis. William
Russell, Julius Hamburger ex-Justice Steckler and
Louis Levene