The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-15
TURNING STATES EVIDENCE.

There are men who believe that Dick" Croker is honest. Then there are others who are solicitous to know how. and where he made so much money. One of his former associates in the business of running New York, politically and mu- uicipaliy. is John c. Shechan, who, as is well known to all who have read up on New York politics for years was one of the strong men in the Croker-Tammany organization. Another member of the combination was one Dan McMahon. and thereby hangs a tale. Five years aga Dan was hard up. He was member of the contracting firm of Naughton & O., but from some cause or other, he was on his uppers, so to speak. Either the firm was not prospering, or Dan didn't get his share.
 About this time, according to Sheehan, the Metropolitan Street Railway Con- pany was spending great deal of money and he. Sheehan. induced the com- pany to give some fat contracts to be benefited. MT. Sheehan has for some cause turned States evidence, and here is part of it:
 When Mir. Croker returned to this country in 1897, Mir McMahon told Cro- ker. so Mir. Sheehan said, that $1 ,50o, 900 was to be made out of the Metropolitan Street Railway contracts, and that if Croker would regain the leadership of |'Tammany Hall and join Naughton & Co.,, they could have all this money. "Cro- ker needed the money, and he joined the partnership" said MT. Sheehan. II was in favor of nominating Hugh J. Grant, who made McMahon, for mayor, but Me- Mahon said to Croker. No, nominate man whom you can trust And Van Wyck was nominated. to my great re- gret l was buncoed into this deal. Mo Mahon got the contracts, and I am told he divided the profits with Croker, be- tween a million and a million and a half of dollars. Later. the Metropolitan road got wise. and would have nothing more to do with McMahon. and then Croker thought that McMahon was holding out on him. This is one of the Vantage echoes that rules Tammany today This Is all interesting if 1t is true and 1t is probably true. When rascals fall out and get to telling on each other the truth is apt to come out. Not all of it, pernapS, put enough to enable observers to guess pretty closely at what is hidden. "Croker needed the money and he joined the partnership" says Sheehan. It is probable that Sheehan was not member of the partnership and got none of the loot. The railway company was evidently getting some valuable conces- sions from the city or 1t would not have turned over a million and half to Cro- ker and McMahon.
 As we remarked, this is interesting reading. and the disclosures made by Sheehan indicate the means by which Croker became a rich man, able to buy an estate in England, and also to buy numerous henchmen in New York to do his bidding. Such disclosures will not turn a hair of his head or cause any feeling of shame or mortification, or any other emotion except resentment. He will probably deny the story or pass 1t by with contempt. It may be that Shee- han can prove all that he says. but whether he does or not there will be plenty to believe it, because it is not at all inconsistent with New York politics, or with the political methods and prac- tices of that city.