The sun., 1901-10-20
4" Graft"

The result Of an examination Of the
city payroll during the present Tammany
administration published this morning
proves couclu-vcly that tho taXpay-
ers have been buuc1cd To the amount
of si5pOoO in salary incrcascs for
men whose most important duty is,
q quote "A certain Tammany office
holder 70 keep the chairs from blowing
out of the window We hespcak for
these facts the thoughtful attention of
every man who j. actually taxed, and
Of every other New York voter The
record reveals that exclusive Of tho
increase in the pay of schoJlteachcrs
and other charges governed 10y mandn-
tory lcgislat ION. the Van Wvck admins
tration has increased salaries until a 500
600 has already been taken out uf the cit"
treasury ia that manner.
The total Increase Of salaries during
the past three and ouc-half years of
the Tammany administration. which is
chargeable To- tho bond and budget
account. has been SSH .5S3, of which
5000 .OOO was made mandatory 10y
legislation raising tho pay of school
teachers, iiremcn and policemen. The
remainder 81 this amount was distributed
voluntarily by the Van Wyck admin
istration among tho ofcCholders in
Greater New York. where It would do
the most good to Tammany Hall In
other words. IL was gift or tribute
o. the faithful, and In order that the pub
lie might not readily know Of il, n pri-
vate ledger was kept on which appeared
separate account for the purpose
Of fooling the official examiner when
he came around to look at the books.
according 10 this statement. A bond
account was opened out 81 which en-
pioyees were paid and which did not
appear in tho regular salary account
In the Comptroller's books.
During the year 1900 there were $3.50
persons on the payroll who were paid
from bond issues, and the total Of such
payments was s3.IlOolG. When the
newspapers published estimates about
a year ago that the salary increase
amounted 70 $500 600 n year. Mayor
VAN WYCF, with much virtuous indig-
nation, denied it and promised to pub
lish the exact figures. This was never
done. Until the figures taken from the
records in the Finance Department were
made public Yesterday. the amount Of
these increases in salary was a matter
Of conjecture.
They show that the widest gucsscs
ut Tammany's extravaganrc have not
overshot the mark The salary grabbing
began at once when Mayor NAS WICK
took Office. Salaries have been raised and
paid through this bond money. without
regard TO tho work done by tho men
who received them The number Of !
the city's employees has been arbi- !
trarily and needlcssly increased until |
to-day the official figures show that |
Tammany has a paid army OF A,O4i
employees.
Even II Mr.. SHEPARD were un-
pledged and as independent as he would /
have the glIilelcss believe. his hands
will he tied II he Is elected with CRoKER's
county ticket. The composition Of
the next Board of Estimate and Appor-
tionmcnt will consist Of tho Mayor, the
Comptroller. tho President Of the Board
OF Aldermen and the FIVE Borough
Presidents. the Mayor. the Comptroller
and the President of tho Board Of
Aldermen will have three votes each in
the Board, the Borough Presidents Of
Brooklyn and Manhattan two votes
each, and the other Borough Presidents
only one vote each. With tho Comp
trollcr and tho President of the Board
Of Aldermen, two Idmmany men with
three votes each, ard the President Of
the Borough O.! Manhattan. with two
votes and tho Borough President Of
The Bronx with one vote, Mr. SHEPARD
would find against him majority Of
the Board Of Estimate
II does not require the eve Of preju-
dice to read in those facts their true
They speak for themselves,
and II the majority of tho voters in this
cdty 81 New York want To resent such
robbery, sn effective remedy Is in their
hsuds. They must defeat CRoKERs
entire county ticket
The Navy I.stlmatcS