New-York tribune., 1922-11-10
ONeil Spent at
$4,000 Rate,
SInearn Insists
s,.orney Tries TO Discover
How Former Under-Sher-
iif Of Bronx Managed ait
salary of $500 a Year
Tannaany Men Grab Line
a.tocratic Operation of
Busses Said to Have Been
for Political Purposes

,asnce ]. shearn, counsel to the
ss,ssst Commission, spent much Of tho
s-sat the continued session of the
..vsst;gation into Mayor Hylan's bus
,.steu, yesterday in attempting to dis
ssrer how Thomas j. o'Neii. Under
ssey,F of Bronx County, managed TO
,;ye AZ the rate of $4,000 q year on
salary of $500, 0'Ne;! * .he Ts~-
sany district leader who admitted at
sn earlier session that he received more
IRAN $4,000, third share i'm the
nro6ts of the West Farms Bus Corpora
ion. in return for inducing Commits
.;oner Whalen. of the Department. Of
Plant and Structures, to issue a per-
nit for the line.
TIE testimony of other witnesses at
Yesterdays hearing, Mr.. Shearn charged.
,.hoEed how altogether autocratic the
opersticn of the bus system is and
hew it wss turned 60 political account at
the whin OF the municipal authorities.
II sppeared that in one instance, at
least. bus company with more than
$4,000 invested in it was ordered to
gre up its permit with less than TWEEN
t5-four hours notice, although it had
been giving satisfactory service for
more than year and a half. The re-
veasion was effected, according to the
| sestimony, without even the semblance
Il hearing before Commissioner
Fhalen. The reason for Commissioner
Whslen's action, according to report,
witnesses testified, was stthat the or
sanization wanted the line"
Check Book Disappears
The lack of proportion between
0sNeil's expenditures and his income
ean.e to light while Mr.. Shearn was ques-
.ioning him concerning the disposition
Il his share of the bus profits and
seeking some explanation of the
,:rsnro disappearance of his check
* o'Neil was able to produce only
nsw cheek book, issued November j.
the day i Tas disclosed that he was
rsrtner in the bus business masquer-
ding behind q dummy director, and
lis handbook showing his deposits.
From the handbook it appeared that
in the two months from August 16 to
October 90 O'Neil had paid out s4,sl5,
which would be at the rate of $4,000
year. All the checks included in this
sum we're used for his own purposes,
0'Nei insisted, although he could not
tell what these purposes were.
Nor could he tell how on total antici-
pated income of about $4,000 or s15.-
900 he was spending at the rate Of
ss90oo His salary as under sheriff, he
testified, is $500, and his profits from
the bus business will probably not ex-
esea 5000 or $40, 900. These. he admit
ted are the only businesses he is en-
gagged In at present.
Had No Such Sum
Gan ugive US any idea that would
explain your spending at the rate of
Ggso0 q year, If you do not live up
% tast rate and you are not engaged
u any other business ?"s asked Mr..
shean.
7 haven't had nothing like that sum
at any time," answered O'Neil.
q-How would you explain drawing
cat al the rate of S2,400 month from
this sccount If you do not live at the
rate of $4,000 a year? A.-Well,
there are reasons. / have spent a lot
ai money for different things.
Q-You are unwilling to state for
shat purpose? Al could not tell
sou what ! have done with all that
money.
Checkbook Stubs Destroyed
The checkbook stubs and the can
selled checks which might have thrown
some light on these disbursements
have all been destroyed, O'Neil told Mr..
Shearn, his practice being to get rid Of
checkbooks as soon as they were used
up and to keep cancelled checks only,
when he did not get q receipt for the
payment made. 1t "just happened that
vay' that the previous checkDook was
exhausted on the day the Transit Com
mission first discovered his interest in
4 he West Farms Bus Corporation,
0Neil agreed.
] With the request that the witness
produce such cancelled checks as he
still had at the next session Mr.. Shearn
then inquired why 0'Neil had thought
II necessary to use dummy to conceal
MS interest in the bus company. The
witness insisted vehemently that he felt
his Participation in that business was
entirely legitimate and at first declared
mere was no reason at all for with
aoding the use of his name on the
eompanys books. When pressed for an
answer he said:
wen, man in politics is generally
criticized for anything he does"
Refuses To Tell Details
= Attempts to learn from William A.
neating, counsel to the Sheriff of
hfonx County, some of the details of
saH'1dtton OF tne puS corpora
uoh met with his refusal to testify
On the ground that the questions in
scNed privileged communications be-
.Neen his clients and himself. Keat-
.'is .a's II was who drew up the incorpora
aon papers for the bus company in
maicn 0,Neil and Arthur H. Murphy,
Tao until his death last February was
asEmany leader of Bronx County,
ere interested. Mr. Shearn said later
aat Aeating's refusal to answer and
sslm of privilege was without ebasis in
aw and would be certified to the Su-
IRENE Court for decision.
j 1ne Department of Plant and Struc-