Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-10
OLD HEADS FALLING
Tammany Guillotine WorkingSteadily
in Greater New York.
AQUEDUCF COMMISSION 4 VICTIM
This, Too, in Spite Of a Clause in
the Charter.
CROKER'S MANY SCHEMES

| Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star
NEW YORK, January s. 1898.
The immense municipal machine over
| which Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck nomi-
| nally presides has operated during the first
| weeks trial without serious friction or rub
| bling of parts. So perfectly is the ma
| chinery under control that it could not do
otherwise. If this first weeks operation of
| Tammany rule in Greater New York has
| developed anything 1t is the desire the
part of Richard Croker and his nominal
ruler to deliver the goods.
| During the past week there has been a
| carnival of spoilsmen in all the depart
| ments of the new city. The mayors AK
has swung with persistent regularity and
| at each fall of the blade reform head has
| rolled in the dust and one of Cookers faith
full been made happy. 1t is impossible to
| mention all the changes-one or two will
suffice to show the trend Of Cookers mind
regarding removals. The mayor has re-
| moved the aqueduct commission, although
| the trainers of the charter inserted a clause
| exempting that board from the mayor s
power of removal He appointed instead of
the two republicans removed two machine
| republicans and friends of Louis L. Payn.
| The dock board has summarily removed
| George S. Greene, the chief engineer, after
| n service of twenty-five years. No reason
| can be found except that he was a witness
| before the commissioner of accounts in
| 1895, when he testified that in order to re-
| tain his position some years before he had
| sent certain checks to Richard Croker, then
| chairman of the finance committee of Tam
| many Hall. Mr.. Croker apparently has a
| good memory. And SO on, wherever there
| is a chance to work private ends; to
| strengthen Tammany's position or to
| avenge old hurts, the ak falls without re-
gard to fitness or other consideration.
Some Plums Falling.
There are some plums falling, too. For
instance, Andy Freedman, Crokers base
| ball friend, and the manager of Balti-
| more security company, with offices here,
is having his cup of reward filled. He has
already bonded Patrick keenan,, city cham
| berlain, for 100000 in his company. He
has also given assurance for 100000 that
| John ]. Scannell will be an upright fire
commissioner, and his company has guar
anteed the twelve deputies to Sheriff Dunn
| at 500 600 each.
The rapid transit underground scheme is
! squelched, and Croker makes another de-
\ livery of goods, as predicted in this cor
| reSpondence. The mayor in his first mes
! sage does exactly what might have been
expected of him. He pronounces strongly
| in favor of rapid transit between the lower
portions of Manhattan Island and Harlem
no matter has the verdict of the people of
New York city been Enthusiastically enun-
ciated. He declares that the Manhattan
elevated roads ought to be compelled to
equip their lines with electricity.
Russell Sage himself could not have writ
| ten this section of the mayors message
more to his liking. Sage and the magnates
| Of the elevated railroad have always de-
clared their intention of equipping the road
with electricity or compressed air soon
as their experiments indicated which is to
be preferred. Their experiments are near
| ly completed, and the mayors message in
Spired by Croker, who was in turn inspired
| by Sage, may be taken as a tip in favor of
| electricity.
Goes Beyond Sage's Dreams.
But Russell Sage in his widest dreams
and the dreams of Sage are generally never
wild 1t is worth ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS imagin-
cd for one moment that the new mayor
would be in favor of giving up additional
streets to the Manhattan. Mayor Van Wyck
| is in favor, however, of inducing or, as he
puts it, compelling the Manhattan to build
to the various ferries. The one hope OF
the peoples elevated road in this city is
along the water front, since it is a matter
of physical impossiblity to utilize north
and south streets for a road of this char
acter. Mayor Van Wyck. with one fell
swoop, gives the Manhattan people all that
it asks in this direction, and at the same
time he kills all possible future popular
elevated roads which might be constructed
in connection with the reconstructed and
reorSaniZed dock systems of the city.
Mayor Van Wyck also favors allowing the
Manhattan to build across the main streets
of the borough of Manhattan from east to
west. 1t is safe to say, however, that the
railroad people will never again get across
Broadway or 9Th avenue with their noisy
II aims without fierce fight.
Of course there is a cCmpenSating pro-
vision in the mayors message put in to
fool the people" He declares that the
Manhattan people ought to be compelled
to extend Its structures to the sections of
the city, even where the receipts will not
warrant it. Mayor Van Wyck has been on
the New York city bench and he ought
to know that there is 10 law which can
compel a corporation to construct it's lines
in section and direction where loss
seems inevitable. 1t is doubtful Whethe
any measure of this character would not
be branded as confscation and pronounced
as unconstitutional by any court in the
country True, there may be beating OF
tom-tomS and lot of dust thrown into the
eyes of the people, but it is safe to wager
that the Manhattan elevated people will
never build any extension in any section of
the city where they cannot see a possible
profit. This portion of the message may be
set down as pure buncombe and an at
tempt to Jolly the rapid transit fellows"
If the message means anything 1t means
that the Manhattan will get what 1t wants
from the city administration-no more, no
less
Cookers Club Booming.
Cookers national Democratic Club is
booming along merrily. 1.-The Boss" spends
hours there talking over the wonderful
boom he has started and experimenting
the furnishing of the rooms he has already
begun to occupy. 1t is purely Cookers club
and he will; be the court Of last resort in
passing up applications for membership.
All the members are expected to be active
membership honorary list at present con-
tains one name, that of Grover Cleveland.
The Tamrany boss designs to make his
pet club the headquarters of the party in
the state and in the nation.
1t was a shrewd move of Croker's to pro-
pose Harry Payne Whitney, son of Presi-
dent Cleveland's Secretary of the Navy,
as a member of the organization. To those
who think of the strained relations in other
years between the present leader of Tam
many Hall and the representative of the
Cleveland wing of the party in New York
this means a great deal. Some political ex-
perts profess to see that the father will
follow the son into a place under the ban
ner Of Croker, Just the son followed
the father into the democracy. Around the
49,