Evening star., 1899-02-09
GOSSIP FROM GOTHAM
The City's Streets Are Again Block
AIDED by Snow.
TAMMANY'S PATRONAGE IN DANGER
Proposed Civil Service Law Stirs
Up the Wigwam.
MRS. WHITNEY IMPROVING
FAMMANY'S PATRONAGE IN DANGER
MRS. WHITNEY IMPROVING
pecia1 Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
NEW YORK, February 8. 1899.
The gentleman who pinned his faith to
the activities of the ground hog last week
rather than to the predictions of the wealth
er bureau is in a position just now to say
Il told you So" The city streets are again
blockaded with snow. Surface cars crawl
along with tedious delays, and trucks,
whose horses slip and fall frequently, are
practically stalled. On the Belt line the
car drivers merely wrap the reins around
the brake handles and spend most of their
time possessing their souls in patience. Fires
to melt the snow have again made their APP
pearance and have dotted all the down.
town sidewalks where business houses re-
quired clear spaces for trucks and carts
to maneuver in. The elevated railroad
trains are overcrowded tremendously as a
result of all the conditions in the streets
below, and this great city is again at the
mercy of what has been demonstrated to be
an inefficient STRENGTHENING system
But the snow isn't the only thing to worry
Tammany these days. There are the new
police and civil service bills. which, if
they pass. will furnish Instructions to some
of Tammany's methods beyond the power
of removal The former, which practically
takes the police and the bureau of elections
out of the hands of Tammany, created con-
sternation in the wigwam. 1t would rather
lOSe CbUlTOl Ol any Two departments Ol lllt
city government than to have the police and
the bureau of elections put beyond the reach
OF the district leaders 1t is understood
that the organization will at once make
every effort to arouse alleged popular
outcry against state interference with local
affairs.
Tammany's Civil Service.
In regard to civil service Tammany, with
its own civil service board not amenable to
any one but the mayor appointing It, did
what it pleased. 1t put hundreds of places
on the exempt list and in all other cases
made the examinations fit the men designed
to fill them. 1t was this intolerable condi-
ton in New York city which impelled Gov
ernor Roosevelt and the Civil Service Re-
form Association to frame the measure just
introduced, and, in meeting the situation in
New York, il was deemed oppOrtune to
place the entire civil list of the state as
far above the reach of the merely profess
sional oficeholder as possible. Even con-
fidential positions are not protected. They
are made subject to competitive examina
ton. They are included because if they
were not it still would be within the right
of local boards to call many places CON
fidentiaP' and to that extent evade the law.
The right to exempt "confidentfaf' places
from competitive examinations will reside
exclusively in the state board. For the pro-
lection of oficeholders the bill provides that
10 person appointed from the eligible list
shall be removed without written state
ment of charges being submitted to the
state board and an opportunity given to the
accused to submit a statement in self-de
fense. The provisions protecting civil serv
ice employees from political assessments are
made more rigid under this bill, and all
other provisions to protect the employees
from political influences are strengthened
by the insertion of a few words of safe
guard
Internal Revenue Question.
Several recent rulings of the internal rev.
enue department have caused a great deal
of debate in the Wall street district, be-
cause it is alleged, they mean increased
taxation upon moneyed interests. Perhaps
the most important of these on account of
the amount of the taxes involved is that
bonds given with mortgages on real estate
require stamps at the rate of cents per
SlUJ. The great loan and trust companies,
savings banks and other mortgagors. have
been putting a JO-cent stamp on each such
bond, supposing this to be a full compli-
ance with the law. The United States At
toTney General, however, has decided
otherwise, and now the great money lend
ers have been called upon by Collector
Treats deputies to pay back taxes all
such loans since July /. During the past
two weeks many meetings have been held
on the part of those interested and a COM
mittee of corporation attorneys, who regard
the ruling as a mistaken one, has been
appointed to go to Washington to reason
with the authorities there The argument
of the loan companies Is that mortgages
are heavily taxed, aside from this tax on
the bond, and that the bond is not live
document. but a mere formality. 1t is
thought probable that the objectors will
have to appeal to the courts for relief
Another ruling of the department of in
terest to the banking world is that retired
bankers, private bankers and managers of
estates. who neither receive deposits nor
open credits subject to draft or check are
still liable to the bankers tax if they loan
money "on stocks. bonds. bullion, bills of
exchange or promissory notes." or receive
stocks, bonds, bullion, bills of exchange
or promssory notes" for discount or sale.
1t is believed here in financial circles that
this ruling will be reversed
The Adams Inquest.
The inquest into Mrs. Kate J. Adams
death. which occurred December 2S will
be the most notable criminal investigation
ever held in New York city. Never before
in this country, ii is freely asserted, were