New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-20
BUILDING GAME OF GRAFT
Hor Tt rs Worked in Philadelphia
to Disgust of Property O5cners.

.,,... 49,, ,seh 70 study the great Ameri-
can game Of graft at close range arc 80,
rnended by the real estate owners archite0l0 an"
builder. of Philadelphia to visit that city puy
-. =. ,.,d and begin the erection OF building.
According TO tie aggrieved owners of structure"
n-one-ty In philadelphia, the student OF ii'e s"4
~ graft VIII End himself confronted WIN i"o
,,,+.+ion. =, contribute to the personal and DO
,oestte expenses of various city ofi1c'als IMAM A
sny other town of its size in the country inele
VIII always be disgrunted property holders anu
counnlainins taxpayers, and such minor co"Ip4"'''
as that one maa is forced 20 put hre ESCAPE V
his house while another is permitted TO ignore inc
absence of a similar safeguard on his, are not
soSar,-tnr Of much attention when extensive
q r,roperty owner as Mrs. Ann NJ Nelghtrndl
Walker who was recently exploited ITO her eIea.
disgust as TIE richest woman in the world
5e,sheratelv declares that she has been forced 10
the conclusion that it has become nuisance "
own real estate in the Quaker City and that, there
fore she will dispose of her holdings as soon as
nossible II would seem there must be more 'iltl
minor cause for complaint
a tour OF some of the largest real estate ohl0eS
and a talk with some of the prominent architects
a., rbu.d.l,,,ia dscloses a state of things that is
startling TO say the least II is declared 'hat SO
utterly Impossible is II to obtain fair play una
She only question considered by PROSPECTIVE ""
or, is With little outlay can we Id! tiio
graft" shost? So near 70 reign OF terror eAiS'
among architects in the Quaker CITY mat " was
oniv after promise OF secrecy so far as names
were concerned that any Of the aggrieVed ones
were induced to talk
-'Wha. would happen TO me If 1t got out mat
h.s lodged a complaint with the newspapers?
- -. ,,c,i,o ~ this variety Of graft" ut IS
,,,..-v usesss to buck against the City Hail. Inc
machine is impresnable The men appointed kho"
shat nothing short of political upheaval can move
them They have the game so completely IN thelr
hands that they play II almost without conceal
mon. I will tell you some of my experiences dis-
-,,is,r- ths incidents little that the criminals
VIM gather in the spoils may not trace the stories
"a ne for / frankly admit / am afraid OF what
thew can do If they make a dead set against me-
... .n.chc incident that Will relate is one OF IN
Dpn,srahle others OF a like nature. Almost any
,,.sc. 4, the Town could tell you scores or SIM
uar stories ] was instructed to prepare plans lot
3 large and expensive building. In oluei l''e
,here should be no complaint from Inc bu'e"" -
building Inspection after the estimates We're MAJ
7 ,,sssnted the plans and specifications TO tAe ou
-, ana asked that they be looked over ana aP-
rroyed They did SO. and handed them Oacn' 90
ing that there positively no'hhlg 10 iir &c
vtth in any of the drawings or specihc1l'oi''
course ills was not an official approval OF inc
plans but Il gave me the reaSoHa"i'
r., should not be getting estimates on worn
mat would not be sanctioned by the inspectors
.Tmarine my disgust when, after contrdo'o o',
had estimated on the work, and everything ""S "o'
under way ] found that the bureau pos''.'o-' -.
fusad 10 sanction part Of the plans decl'liiie Ia
-,af-, ,a5ts Of the building must De done III al
entirely different and much more eNpehs'Is -
ner in order to conform with the law Anu LIS
decision. mind you. given by the some mo-
who had told that my plans were oe' '''1
preach. .,.;,o t,,t the
what had happened in the mean WINE! rut ' tl
question to any architect in Philadelphla anu e
Tiu answer unhestatingly. as VIII 'haI "NH'
happened was this: MD r,else
.sTb. greedy contractor knew that ne coulu mani
,,..,a s,tra money by having the plans changed
so that a more expensive structure "oulo De NJ
essary. A generous tip to the 'grafters u lie
,,itv Hall did the trick and the victim was NY
client who had Of course. 10 1901 the p'll. .
tnfortunate architect in this case Is regarded py
hix client as prize jackass for not knowing, before
the estimates were submitted that the plans would
nut prove satisfactory to 1he Bureau of BulIdlhg
inspection What more could he done than did
in submitting the plans and obtaining semi
orlciaI approval Of them from the bureau? But
II awaited M nothing against the contractors gift
70 the domestic expenses OF some one in the bureau