Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-25
BOSSES ACTED AS
ARNOLD'S AGENTS
POWER OF MONEY LENDER RE-
VEALED AT INVESTIGATION
LIGHT SHED ON PECULIAR FlNAN-
cIAL METHODS
Result May Be Adoption of Paymaster
Plan So Street Laborers Need
Not Go to City Hall
for Wages

That George Arnold, the city hall
money lender, has been the city pay
master for years and that he has eX-
erted the power to discharge men in
! the street department who displeased
him. through the bosses he controlled
is a startling fact brought out by the
streets and boulevards committee al
its session last night.
The testimony of employees and for
mer employees of the street department
especially in the ward gangs, showed
the foremen of these gangs have acted
as agents for Arnold and paid the
street laborers every Saturday morn
ing for their weeks work. Arnold held
the salary assignments Of all these
laborers, or their powers of attorney
to collect the money due them from
the city and at the end of the month
he collected from the city treasurer.
For this service of paying the men
weekly and paying them for Saturday
in advance, he charged each man "a
cents a week.
Practice Is Discontinued
w. M. Humphreys, chief inspector OF
public works, said last night that he
learned of this condition of affairs
some time ago and ordered the gang
foreman to discontinue acting as
agents for Arnold in paying off the
men.
The hearing before the committee
last night produced one peculiar fact
That is that the men who have been
paid regularly by Arnold regard the
action of the council in attempting to
get them out of Arnold's clutches as
unwarranted interference with their
private business. 1t was only the men
who had been in the employ of the
city and who had been discharged that
would give any testimony at all; those
still in the city's employ were close
mouthed. But even those who had
been discharged were peculiarly loyal
to Arnold, and Dennis Brady, for
mer street employe capped the climax
when he said the old city administra-
ton was corrupt from top to bottom,
but that Arnold was the best man in
the city. He said he had known Ar
mold to buy a team and wagon for a
man who wanted to go to teaming and
taking his money on the installment
plan.
Need Money Every Week
Under the old system it was neces-
sary for street employees to either get
their money from Arnold once a week
and pay him the 20 cents a week he
demanded or wait until the end of the
month for their pay. Most of them
lived from hand to mouth and it was
convenient for them to have their
money every week. For this accom-
mediation they willingly paid the %
cents and would have paid more, some
of them said, if it had been demand
ed. Under the present system they
are paid once a week but it is neces-
sary for them to go to the city hall
to get their money. Mr.. Humphreys,
President Lusk of the council and
City Treasurer Hance are trying to
evolve some plan that will provide for
a city paymaster who can take the
money out to the workmen and pay
them while they are at work.
Some of the testimony that Council
NAL Miles Gregory, chairman of the
committee had expected, was not
brought out. He said last night, after
the session, that the men had not tes-
titled as they talked to him, but had
made their cases much milder.