New-York tribune., 1902-06-13
'TAMMANY'S LOOSE WAYS
lie DOCK DEPARTMENT PAID oCI
S24fs224 81 UNDER 'TREASURERS
ORDERS"

According to report made 10y Charles =
HeTvey, an expert accountant in the FINANCE
Department yesterday s2.41S.22l Si was ex-
pended on ''treasurer's orders in the DOCK de-
pavtsnent under the recent Tammany admins
tration Mr Hervey's report was handed to
Controller Grout yesterday William Hepburn
Russell Commissioner of Accounts, made Al N
vestigation of the accounts Of the Dock Depart
r,ent about three weeks ago. This report has
been in the hands OF Mayor Low ever since and
tends to show exceedingly loose methoo Oh
transacting business under the last admlnis1ra-
ton Mr Hervey finds that the money ex-
pended on treasurer's orders was distributed
for work done and material furnished without
compensation
Two of the new Tammany triumVirate are
prominently mentioned in the report OF MI
Hervey Charles f Murphy was Dock Com
missioner in the period covered by the report
and Darrell F. McMahon prominent Tam
many contractor The six concerns doing the
largest business under the treasurer's order sys-
tenn were the Uvalde Asphalt Paving Company
S7O7, ,5I4 9S; the Morris & Cummings Dredging
Company, S425,2S5 10; Naughton & Co, $40
235 40: John NJ Sheehan S263, ,604 16; Murray
& Co., S14S 913 "a, and Brown & Fleming, s121'-
66T 90 Among those who received smaller
amounts were George w Plunkitt John P
Kane Bart Dunn and Edward F. Keating. Ihe
report. in part, follows
Among the orders considered herein. upon
which payment was made during 1888 are a few
issued in 1897. These amounts are nuch more
than balanced by the orders issued IN l9oi anu
not paid December 81 of that year tsome sun
awaiting payment at the date of TINS report,
the whole approximating closely to the actuaI
disbursements on The treasurer oioeA III '
four years under examination
The said treasurer's orders appear 10 nave
hee- Of two kinds: First. treaSurerS order lor
work of construction under new pian' each
of these receiving the unanimous vote OF 'Ile
commission before being issued; second a l ,Ieas
urer's order for repairs, the latter pei'ls issue9
after majority vote Of approval by the sdl9
commission. Attached TO this report alld
marked Schedule a is a recapltulatlon- SlloN!iS
all essurers orders issued by said commission
during the four years under examination upon
which nayunent was made by the Department
of Finance Said recapitulation shows thal pay
ment made through said Depart1nent pL
Finance on account Of said orders durinS tlle
interval to the total amount Of S2.4lS-ZZf 81 A
cornparatively small number of individuals or
firms were the recipients of these treasurer
orders.
ing work the price per cubic yard steadily IN
creased under the treasurers order system. me
absence of competition apparently having the
usual effect in this particular
aIr Hervey then quotes from two opinions OF
the Corporation Counsel regarding the legal
status of both kinds of treasurer's orders and
the right of review by the Department OF
Finance of prices fixed by such treasurer s
orders for work done and supplies furnished
He then says:
If will be observed from the above quotations.
that il is the opinion of the Corporation CouhSel
that treasurer's orders of the former DOCK Coli-
mission both for construction under new
plans and for repairs. were a legaI form oi
ordering such work be done, under the laws
governing the administration OF the FORMER
Dock Commission, and that the Department Oh
Finance has no authority to question the raCe
fixed by said commission for the payment 1or
supplies or work 50 ordered
STATEN ISLANDERS WANT MORE SL1lfe-
Dock Commissioner Hawkes. yesterday gave
hearing the application of the Comrlu1lIaW
cf 4 ferry from Whiteh&ll-st. to CommunipaW,
Jersey City The company has been operating a
ferry to Conmunipaw for the Central Railroad OF
New Jersey. They seek to lease the franchise
for a term Of twenty-five years. A number OF
members of the Staten Island Chamber OF COM
rnerce opposed the granting OF the franchise so
long as ii gave the company the of the ferry
slip they using alongside the staten Isl
and ferry slip at Whitehall-st-
David Tyson, jr-, spokesman for the staten ISL
anders, insisted that the growing needs OF staten
Island required that better transportation faclI-
ties be accorded il. and that more than one ferry
slip should be used. 1t finally agreed TO amend
the application for the franchise to read the slip
IN New-York to be at Whitehall-st-, or at some
point near same Commissioner Hawkes. said he
was much interested in transit facilities for Staten
Island, and would that its interests were pro-
tecteC.
un on n