The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-06
WILL TUNNEL MEN RESIGNf
xEyER, sATs 4 TAMMANK LEADER
TUo THINKS THET OUGHT TO.

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r,u,m CHEN Declare That q raraaany
comm,,.lop woula Have nee Rapid Trnn-
ait Jeus Age and wsuid Net Have wsstea
. Day or = Dollar on the noie In the Greupa.
The revelations Of the Commissioner Of 40
,ounts concerning the waste of e400,O 600 Of the
IT'S money by the Rapid Transit Commission
cav, the Tammany Hall politicians something
70 talk about yesterday, and what they said
,ould not be twisted Into compliments to tho
commission. Leaders OF the organization be-
Have that.the present Commissioners should get
ont. 80 that mon who are in sympathy with the
administration can take their places.
In the wasted years Of tho commIssion's life.
che Tammany men say, the margin OF the bond
A Indebtedness of the city has been growing
smaller and smaller, although the assessed val
ratio.s. By which the debt limit IL fixed. have
crown larger and larger, until now, according
IN the figures of the present administration,
New York, the second city Of tho world, with
its magnificent resources and fabulous wealth.
cannot spend a dollar for improvements for fear
that its credit might be ruined. The Tam
many Hall leaders say that II a Rapid Transit
Commission, composed Of live. active, practi-
cal men, responsible to some organization for the
proper performance of their duty, had been in
Office the past five years, the rapid transit
problem would have boon solved long before
this. and the city's credit, instead Of being in
sorht, would rival that OF any municipality in
the world. They say that such o commission
would instantly have rejected 80 visionary o
scheme as the hole in tho ground, and applied
Itself 10 tho bringing. about. on fair terms for
both sides, tho extension OF the elevated roads.
, They hold that II these lines had beon extended
y 70 the city limits on the east side and. up through
Washington Heights on the west side, as they
81; ;ssui city hS would Pee Se s liz .eoo, 600 s vr,%aT0n now W
than 1t is and the margin for debt broadened
"Ihe total failure Of tho Rapid Transit Com.
mission to provide rapid transit, together
with its %sliIshod methods Of doing business,
: has slmpIy S,Fe 1sadsrs Sa we OF oS the Spi cro%d WHAT tbaa
dominated the city government under Col.
E Strong. wigwam leaders say that whilo Col.
merchant, his methods Of running the city gov.
: eminent were halting and uncertain, and hat
he was dominated by a coterie of dreamers, to
! more than an experiment in sociology and kid
glove socialism. They say, that Col. Strong
: either BY men whose heads were in the clouds.
or by those who had. gold bricks to sell. The
P P %iafse' OF a sGld NOT St'c th eot ieast s ifasE saS ii THIS
crowd were the Rapid Transit COMMISSIONER.
Col. Strong, the Tanimany men declare, knew
mission was frittering away tho peoples
money on Il scheme that no practical man could
indo5se blu but hess sat int IN me g Board Soar ,S Of kStim ,stth and
wv ''HS ASe
THAT part Of the report of the Commission.
Rapid Transit Commission, LOWS L. Delaield.
and its chief engineer. William Barclay Par
,Snsl although fS1 tb brief 1, %aas mighty ssss interesting ting
seId are very iisht,' he made no protest
S ~hieh fh asS sommiss don voted voted TO OF pay sy'i him. : year
MI. De!aiield was one OF tho many members
o OF the , o0n .hnribS in OF the IsTs @nod T sbi0r we're Ss,5 nSs
around by Col; Strong or his understudiee. Mr..
Delafeld is a lawyer. It is possible. the Tam:
. his Ris" tine never every we Week ito to the he dn.iss n Of the he" once CO
Of Secretary Of the Rapid TransitlCommission.
Viii M1u1 sa n1es h PsI psg el9 sss e eo S1o sn aosr;
Of Accounts say, receives $40. 900 a year sal.
,ry, and deTotes only a small portion of his
Mr.. Parsons is an enthusiastic advocate Of tho
hole In the ground. In his case. the Tam.
ina that Ifa Ss seS Say: e tsn haasn a pS weak A Al tSs
business OF the Rapid Transit Commission, and
AL who are familiar with the subject say that
tho rate Of sie.2s an hour. There is no other
engineer In the service of the city govern
&c Mh1 Rsti leaders, %dsMhs ssy, n sishG rs nn many ya q
them are eminent n their profession and all
Are, are Obliged 3 to give their Ttr entire time 70 tho d.
H ~ha has OF as see Sa'P %sn9 years q, % " &. sqlG fe Z
1900 ' q ysss. on ~ 1hs 70 o sSens :y1 month ss ITO but Ss
got, but 5000 a year, yet no 10 considered tho
highest authority on all work pertaining to the
water supply department, 60 much 20 that he II
retained year after year, no matter what
party is IN power. Tho chief engineers Of the
public works get even less than Mr.. Birdsall,
yet, they. all seem to DO content to devote their
mcnt.
viii the Rapid Transit Commission srs re-
eigni asked a Sun reporter Of one of the most
powerful leaders OF Tammany Hall.
The leader shook his head mournfully. Hard
~ he said: 1T is almost too much 10 ask Of
2 ~retoriner to give up Office. 1t can be said of
them-l mean reformers more truly than of
any crowd that I know: Few die and none re-
sign. No matter where you turn, it's the same
on crowd of mugwumps who have put this
city back, 100 years in the last three. They
brought the city to the verge of bankruptcy.
and stu they talked, glihly, about building an
ht commissioners reSignl NeYer.n