New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-16

,,rWyORK NAVY YARD FRAUDS.
.r,.rer Any HERBERT MrcH IN EARNEST IN HIS
EFFORTS TO FIND THE GUILTY Fh"''H'
AND PUNISH THEM
,.,,.a., Nav 7, ,SpcciaD Recent frauds ana
-, ,,,,, r.c,lailons At the New-York
So. y,-l are receiving the earnest attention Oh
,h socrotary Of the Navy. II Is among th' pro"a-
,,,i,tas TIA, ore or more court-martals may come
ahou, a, tho result Of information on ME a' ."e
navy Department. 1t is pracuca"y ce'ta'' va
,,,e ~ the civil employees OF the yard VIII oe us
charged unless as now seems possible thes ea''
loar their records Of what appears 10 be deliberate
,,..h,oa and deceit In official matters secretary
tIa,nar, g. u,uch in earnest and the documents on
h,s desk go - show that there has peen ssS'e""''.
| fraud IN SON cases at the New-forN var" anu
,,,n ,re,ncencv in others TIE Secretary Is
r.rs,adeJ that the rules for the employment Va
| navy Yard worlmen established By secretary
| roc,. GRO bore,ical 10 the public service ana ne
Intends tina, they shall be faithfully carried out
| and that 81 persons having to do with the'r eN-
ecu,n shar be held 10 strict accountability III al
| cases Of intentional failure. A.,
| rho Information now before the Secretary - the
,cs,,t OF the recent investigation at the Newt or"
| 81, ward q Lieutenant j. J. Knapp When the
,o,,r, or tins officer was made some months ago
| c,rrcsronlencs ensued between the Navy Depart
man, and tho authorities Of the Navy Yard. Many
,s,,ers have bAen exchanged and the matter mas
no. nDi
hor,tiyc of Lieutenant Knapp's charges - peihs
| oh,otrea Within the last few days officers at the
,,rd have been directed to answer certain ques-
| ,ions and 10 have their head work'nen supply IN
| formation demanded. which Is likely TO FORM a
| basis ~ further proceedings
| Details OF just what has been done nj the New
| York Yard and what has been left undone would
make a long story. In time II Is understood secre-
| ,orv Herbert will make public statement en-
braclng trlcf Of the violation or the civil
service regulations which have taken place IL APP
pears that Irregularities Of various Kinds nave been
practiscd Generally speaking. these TOOK piace
some time ago In several instances commissioned
officers were to blame In other cases the officers
wore hoodwinked by their quartermen. foremen and
lending men and the frauds were perpetrated By
these subordnates. The most common irregularity
has been to rate a laborer IA "A painter. Tor ex-
ample and employ him In some other service.
Frequently the man. being unfit for his actual
rating hrt tho nay being higher in the other grade
wos advanced as favor. for political reasons. 1t
IL learned that IN the course OF the last eighteen
months there have been less than 400 cases
where men were carried on the payroi!s at high
ratings, but actually performed the work OF lower
grades Such n practice operated Of course to the
detrinenf OF efficient and deserving men, who un-
der the regulations ought to have been advanced
Quartermen, foremen and leading men are mainly
responsible Tor the results. Upon them the heads
of departments must rely to a large extent as to
the QuallficatiOnS OF 'Ulployrs uhuei mis- IL
not altogether true however. and upon this point
Il Is said Secretary Herbert has about concluded
that stricter rules must be drawn up and enforced
Many other Irregularities have been discovered
Perhaps the most serious is what has been referred
to having dead men OF the rolls. The i'm
preston has got out that the men paid were
actually dead. Such Is not the case The men
were alive. but they were not at work In the Navy
who we're not in the yard and had been a"s ss
workmen were carried the payros One in
NJ fhA rtla
J cent occasion man applied to the Labor Board
| for employment. His name WAS recognized by the
recorder Of the Board and ho was told that he wa
already on the rolls or course the man said this
was wrong. Investigation showed that the re-
corder was right, so far as the name was con-
that more than year previously he had been certi-
tanned higher wages outside he did not accent the
Government place. and that he had been inside
The records showed however. that man under tie
same name had been on the rolls from the dav the
dead" man was certified 70 be a. person to en-
| light. OF coufse the Navy Department SAs In ia
dies the names Of al men 30 improperly borne on