The Topeka state journal., 1897-08-25
BEATS kLUNUIkE.
Spoils Of Office in Greater New
York City
VIII Exceed in Richness the
Alaskan Gold Fields.
MAYOR AN AUTOCRAT.
viii Oversee the Spending OF
$3OO,OOO,OOO.
And Have the Distribution of
5000 Offices.

new York, Aug. 2o.--The ''Spo1lS or war
in Greater New York are the richest ever
held up to tempt crowd of hungry poll
ticians in any city on this continent.
The charter of the greater city is a
regular Klondike river, with nuggets scat
tered all along the banks. These nuggets
range in size from $500 to $40, 600, and as
the political argonauts examine the var
ious sections they find new pay dirt at
every turn.
No can tell accurately how great
the patronage is which will fall into the
hands of the victors at the next election.
Probably $4,000, 600.
The number of positions in the city gov
ernment is also somewhat indefinite, be-
cause the experience alone can show how
many hands will be needed to move all
the departmental machinery of the sew
eral municipalities when they are brought
into one. Probably 25, 900.
The mayor of the city will be chosen
for four years, and during his period of
office the amounts to be raised by tax
alton and expended in maintenance and
improvements have been estimated in
round numbers at $500, 900, 600. This is
conservative figure, because the best es-
Inmates put the annual budget at from
SIS, 900 600 to $50, 600 900.
The whole number of officeholders of all
sorts, from the mayor to the janitors,
estimated at not far from 1000, is rather
under than over the number, according
to the experts. Inasmuch as the first ad-
ministration is for four years the party
which is victorious at the November
election will be spending money and con-
trolling offices over two state and one
national campaign, and it is this fact
which will put energy into every politi-
clan in the coming fight. Tammany
wants present benefits. A national cam
paign or election is a secondary matter
in the Tigers estimation, but it is life or
death now. If it allows itself to be beat
en- this year there is nothing but four
years more of starvation. The Republi-
cans believe that there is national politics
in winning this year. for it would cause
more than three years shock if the
world were told that the first election in
the greater city had been carried by the
party which flies the Bryan banner.
So, beginning about the first or second
week in September, there will be cam
paign the like of which is not seen in
presidential years in this city.
Greater New York has sixty assembly
districts, and will send that number to
the lower house of the state legislature,
which numbers $50 for the whole state. It
has twenty-one senate districts out of
the fifty in the state. It has fourteen of
the thirty-four congress districts. There
are a mayor. a president of the council,
clerk, presidents of each of the 5 boroughs,
members of two city legislative bodies,
the aldermen and the councilmen to
be chosen.
The mayor is going to be an autocrat.
He will have the appointing of about $50
men who will draw salaries of 5000 or
more. He will have power to remove
about $50 of these at his own pleasure
during the first six months of his term;
after that he may remove them only for
cause. Some OF the fat places are cutting
a figure in the political trading thus
early. These nuggets are the coin of the
political camp. Some of the officers the
mayor will appoint are these:
Salary,