Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-22
Iammany Preparing to Reap Fruits
of Its Recent Victory.
JUICY CONTRACTS IN CONTEMPLATION
P'ckngs of The Tweed Regime Not
Comparable to the Present.
CROKER ANDSHEEH AN AGREE
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
NEW YORK, November II. 1897.
Already the disposition of Tammany Hall
10 combine private gain with public plumber
Is apparent. The biggest thing in sight is the
rapid transit project. This. il may be said.
is scheme which has always been in
oorsed by the people of the city as an abb
stract proposition whenever given a chance
10 express opinion upon it,
The rapid transit commission has been
at work several years collecting statistics
anc gathering data, but up to the present
time, although over a third of a million
dollars fas been expended. not a shovel
ful OF dirt has been turned not a pound
OF iron nor a stick of timber has been or
dereo, not a contract has been signed,
Inc wasting of a third OF a million dol
lars OF the public money in a city Of the
secoha-ciass without the accomplishment Of
results would Undoubtedly bring abo,It a
CT ange in administration, even though n
Clio not cause a public scandal or !; public
riot But here hundreds of thousands of
dollars dissipated by public officials attract
little or TO attention.
The Tammany men are all in favor of the
construction of the underground road-the
rapid transit commissions pet scheme 1t
Is apparently too big and too Juicy a plum
TO be overlooked 1t will involve the ex-
the city peTilously near the limit to which
1t can be bonded for public improvements
Towns All Heavily Bonded.
For ii should be remembered that Brook
Ign and most of the Staten Island and
Queens county towns bring to the greater
city municipalities already settled with
debts practically up to the constitutional
limit. So the burden for the payment of
the bonds for the rapid transit scheme
must fan upon Manhattan Island alone
Compared with the old sl3.oooooo city hall
steal OF Boss" Tweed, this newest and
latest scheme, it is said will he as an
l.Sn-volt arc light compared with The
rudest tallow dip ever fashioned by a
housewife.
view announcing that the contracting
flrm which he represents will make bids
for the new underground railroad The
significance of this statement is apparent
Mayor Gleason of Long Island City I'M
earthed gigantic frauds in city work in
which John c. Sheehan is interested, and
TO this cause is due the bitter feud exist
ing to This CAV between Mayor Gleason
and The bosses of Tammany Hall. Be-
sides the underground railroad there are
East river bridges to build. there are
school houses to construct. there are
streets to pave, there are sewers TO dig
there are parks to lay out. and il is safe
to say that by hook or by crook Tammany
Hal! men will get the contracts. Already
in this metropolitan sea the waters are
teeming with municipal sharks and an
occasional nm or two can be seen upon
the surface. 1t will be a sorry day for
Greater New York when the opportunity
comes for partition of a body polite
among them.
Croker Not Taken Seriously.
Richard Cookers announcement to The
effect that he does not deem it wise to ex-
tend the jurisdiction of Tammany Hall
over Brooklyn or Long Island City or
Staten Island is rot taken seriously. He
has declared that the existing organiza-
lions in Brooklyn ana the other sections
have performed their work wisely and
we'll during past years. and he can see
no reason for arranging for the merging
of these bodies in Tammany Hall This
announcement, in all probability was
highly pleasing to the Messrs Mclaughlin
and YORK, the democratic leaders at the
eastern end of the big bridge. Ever since
election they nave lived in mortal terror.
fearing that the Tammany tiger would take
advantage of the situation to swallow
them up However, ii is an open question
whether this promise of Croker to allow
the Brooklyn democrats home rule is
not mere technicGlity. For already a call
has gone forth for a conference of Tam
many Hall and the allied organizations for
the purpose Of cutting the pie"
The executive committees of Tammany
Hall. tie Kings County Democracy the
Queens County Democracy and the Rich
mord County Democracy will at meetings
TO pe held early in December, make up
their lists of recommendation. co-operat-
ing together on the matter of appoint
ments. as well as in the personnel of the
candidates to be named in accordance with
the views of Mayof-elect Van Wyck This
movement is said to have originated with
the district leaders of Tammany Hall and
it is understood to have met with the
ready sanction of Mayor-elect Van Wyck
on account of the
give him of satisfying the demands of the
organization without conflicting with allies
OF Tammany in the adjoining boroughs
Van Wyck Has the Patronage,
IrasInuch the distribution of the Of
fees will naturally remain in the hands of
Mayor Van Wyck. who is Tammany
Hall man. 1t is difficult to see how this
plan can be carried into execution with
out building up Tammany Hall and the
democratic organization on Manhattan Is
landau organization which really controls
city conventions For instance, the demo-
Gratis of Long Island City attempted to
hold a conference the other evening to
plan for the future. The meeting broke
up in a row, but the dispute was finally
settled by an agreement to appoint a COM
mittee to interview John c. Sheehan to
determine who Tammany Hall would rather
have as reader of the democratic party
So far as Nick Muller, the car of Staten
Island, is concerned. he is really pledged
to Tammany Hall. Were Brooklyn more
porulous than the old city OF New York.
1t would be impossible for the Brooklyn
democrats under existing conditions to
defeat Tammany Hall, owing to the fact
that Tamn.any is thoroughly organized,
while the Brooklynites are 6isorganized
and decentralized. At critical moments the
local bosses" In Quenns county towns
and the borough of the Bronx and on
Staten Island could be relied upon to sup
port Tamnany Hall instead of the Brook
Ign organization. On this account there
is apparently little hope for the cause OF
good government by reason Of the probable
future growth and development of Brook
Ign so far as the democratic party is con-
cerned.
Notwithstanding Richard Croker's pro-
testations that he has not talked with
Van Wyck concerning appoint
ments, men who want positions under the
next administration continue to seek audi
ence with him. Mr.. Croker is at his Of
fee for several hours daily. At the same
; fx,,o No ole A.. lr y -.