Arizona republican., 1899-08-11
CQuntiImaniG Bond Issue Muddle
 Grows Worse.
THE HISTORY OF THE CASE
Politics Responsible for fhe Begin- hing of TFoubIe-LawYer Moss Defends the Municipal LegiSIa- fure-PoiiCe and Small Crimes. Governor RoOSeVeifS Opinions Unchanged.

New York, Aug. 10.-The compIca-
 tt-n of politics and finance in the mu-
 nicipuI bond controversy may meyer
 be straightened out The reason IS
 that all hands have been fighting to sit upon each other. The municipal legislature is jealous of the city of fic.als. The board of estimate does not want to confer with the legislature in the spending Of money, and the city
 officials do not want to cOnsul5 them either By way of vaIiety all hands occasionally fall to and abuse the new charter for being at fault. Lawyers say that the courts have interfered and directed the legislature to do the bid ding Of the officials. Justice Fitzger- ald is the only member Of the supreme court who has been asked to act and he even has refused to pass upon the merits of the whole TOW. Mayor Van Wyck cut shors his summer vacation in order to be on hand to assist the ether city officials in assaiHng alder men and counciImen. The warfare goes On inside of the Tammany or ganizacion as well. Ther is no prob ability that the fight will be ended be- fore the end of the Tammany admins traton
 The history of the whole quarrel can, however, be easily .-r3ced. The supreme court through Justice Fitz- gerald ordered the common council, the upper branch of the legislature, 70 vote through 9 bond issue to cover the entire cost of the new hail Of rec ords, namely, $2,100,OO0. A bond issue for cnly $34,225, the amount sued for by the contractor having the work was voted by the council Fourteen councilmen were adjudged in con- temp5 and Justice Fitzgerald is con s-dering what to do in ..heir case. The aldermen are not supposed to be 1n- volved, but in reality they stand both with and againe.s the council They gre with the council in standing off from voting the entire issue as long as possible. bu, they are against the council in voting only the smaller sum after the aldarmanic body had hUmiliated itself by voting for the en- tire amOur.. necessary. The aldermen a: e with the council in fighting all other bond issues requested by the board, of estimate, but are fiercely quarreIsCme if the council dares to take any action on the same bonds before the aldermen have set the pace.
 To the jealousy Of the two houses of each other the history of the hall of records building adds it's complied lions. The hall was planned and the appropriation of S2,100,0OO decided upon by the board of estimuee under Mayor William L. Strong. The ap- propriaticn was voted in the last hours of the old board of estimate under the ! old charter. On consolidation, a Tam many mayor and board of estimate came into control and a. once began to | undermine the contractor. John Pierce. | The contractor was first invited to de- | clare himself member of the organi- zation and to pay the usual dues. He ! refused, and was then asked to enter | into an arrangement with the leading contractors of the organization MT. | Pierce placed the whole case in the | hands of his lawyers, with instruc- | t3Ons to make up deals, but to insist | upon his right to do the work. Seeing ! thar the whole job could not be get | into Tammany control, it was decided i to hold up .5he appropriation for the | hall altogether, but Corporation Coun- 1 sel Wh3len discovered that this could not be done. The action of the former beard of estimate was binding and there were no charges of fraud or cor rup,ion on which it could be over thrown.
 While the corporation counsel was looking up the law, Contractor Pierce secured credit and began work with cut waiting for any money Nothing could be done to step him and he is sa.u at work The board of estimate finally decided to recognize the ap- prOpriation, but the aldermen and council cbstinateIy held i,, up. Con tractor Pierce sued fer the money due for the work already done. but later to compel the council to pass the whole appropriation. Justice Fitzgerald de- oded offhand, but without going into the merits of the question, that the authority of the board of estimate was supreme The municipal legislature he thought, had nothing to do under the charter. but to ratify the boards action and to pass the bond issue. Many Of the Tammany members de-