New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-08-26
NEGLECT IN QUEENS.
Charges Against Cassidy Held To
Be True.
ONLY A POLITICAL MOVE, HE SAYS.

ONLY A POLITICAL MOVE, HE SAYS.
The Commissioners Of Accounts yesterday sent
a report to the Mayor regarding the charges re-
Gently made against Borough President Cassidy
Of Queens by some taxpayers, and 1t was made
public by James B. Reynolds Mayor Lows
secretary 1t says that Of forty-one specific
cases Of alleged negligence the taxpayers who
brought the charges dropped ten Of the allega-
tons made against Cassidy, that seven were
not sustained. but that twenty-four OF them
were sustained.
The allegations reported sustained are that
President Cassidy employed men who did no
work for the remuneration they received from
the city, and that many Of those men received
compensation for work which they either did
not perform or performed in some other capacity
than their names the department payroll
indicated, and which netted them an income OF
from So to So day. The report shows that one
Of the men so employed was otherwise engaged
in the pressroom OF a newspaper during the
day instead Of being engaged in the duties OF
the position assigned to him under the borough
president and that in other instances men
were scheduled on the payrolls as operators of
elevators in buildings in Queens Borough where
there are alleged to be no elevators.
Another instance presented in the report OF
the Commissioners Of Accounts is the employ
ment OF Antonio ParadleS as an Inspector VI
masonry, who lives at No. los Broadway, in
Queens. and who is said TO conduct a saloon
in Long Island City. He IS mentioned IN the
report as among those who are on the payroll
of the city but not performing the duties as
signed to him. The report. 1t was said by Mr..
Reynolds would not be submitted until Mayor
Low returned from his vacation, next week.
POLITICAL. MOVE. SAYS CASSIDY.
At his home last night Mr. Cassidy did not
seem to be greatly worried over the charges.
at is purely a political move he said, brought
on by the same men who opposed me at
the primaries last year The fact that it was
made public by Mr. Reynolds and not by the
Commissioners of Accounts still further proves
that it was done for political reasons. I have
already been before the men of my borough on
those charges, and came out pretty Well
Now about these charges that have been sus-
tanned. The greater part of them relate 70 men
who said TO be paid for doing WORK they 90
not do. One of the charges Is that L employ snip
carpenters, altF - have nothing 10 40 win
boats. Now. it we'll known that bricklayers,
rnasons and CS~ra~teIs are needed to care for
the bridges alHG cI'"rts in the borough; EN-
ploy ship carpenters instead Of the regular car
penters because the regular men do not as
rule want to do the heavy work needed around
the bridges. And it seems to me that us up TO
me to say what men l want to do the work LOT
me. That's one charge.
Then there are charges that l nave sklIled
men doing the work Of common Iaoorers Inc
trouble is that the men don't know the az
ference between a hOrticulturist and q gar
dener. The former is a man who has TO learn
trade and commands high wages, while the
gardener is simply a man who has .e1rnei 10 GO
a certain kind Of work, and who does the cut
ting and general work along the roads ana in
the parks. He Is a sort of skilled laborer, but
is the kind of a who applies for that kind
of a job on the Civil Service lists This whole
matter of skilled men at common jobs was held
up by the Civil Service Commission, ana my
report was turned over by them to the Commits
sioners of Accounts without comment, while
they ordered the bills audited About the same
y han ed i ha ont O1 9
But, as I said before, this whole matter Is a
political move 1t has the backing of Croker
and of the Tammany organization across the
river. / am not worried about 1t. A thing like
that Is easily seen through"