New-York tribune., 1922-10-30
Hylan- Whalen Buses 'SmeU to
Hearen' of Craft, Says Shear,
Political Footballs for Tanmany,'' Asserts Transit
Board Counsel, Reviewing Facts at Inquiry;
''Nonsense,'' Is Mayors Retort

Although the time devoted 60 In
vestigating the Hylan- -Whalen bus sys-
TENS has been far too short to more
than scratch the surface, the Transit
Com mission inquiry already has dis
closed q situation that "smelis to
heaven" according TO Clarence J.
Shearny counsel to the commission, who
yesterday issued a statement sunimar-
izIng the evidence obtained during the
last week.
This evidence establishes that the
bus system has been made politica,
football. that it has been used hy
politicians for private profit and thu
the entire operation of buses !s full
OF graft corruption and fevortism.
Mr.. Shearn charges AMI enumerates
the following eight POINTS;
II. That the hylan- Thalen system
Of 'revocable permits Tor bus operation
is vicious and demorAlizing. It makes
a bus owner q mera pawn of the poll
ticians, offers unlimited opportunity
or graft and has resulted in corrup-
tion and favoritism.
"2. That the genuine need and pop
ular demand for flexible crosstown
bus service has been capitalized by
politicians for private profit, and the
system has been made part and parcel
OF political machine. Unless bus
operator votes right he is driven of
the streets. The sure way to get a
permit is through a district leader.
~. That one method OF greasing the
path TO favor is to pay Is public official
who owns garage four times the
usual rate for bus storage, while an
ether is to buy a bus Of district
leader on his promise to help get a
-. That che bus system has been
used not to serve the public but to
provide soft berth for needy indi-
viduals who have pull. While men
without influence who have operated
for more than two years cannot get
transferred to the moro profitable
lines, police inspector, suspended
without pay under indictment, gets a
bus. put on the best line for the mere
asking.
"5. That TO hide political favoritism,
or worse, large number of buses Oh.
the best paying line in the city are
permitted to be run in the name Of
dummies.
"s. That John A. Mccarthy, che dis
coverer Of Hylan, the intimate friend
and former business associate of the
boss OF Tammany. the man who intro
duced Hylan TO Murphy and then got
the Hylan Dock Commissioner to lower
- w VIII y"Eu IeuL TO iesS tnan
hslf the rate charged everybody else.
has feet OF buses on the most prof.
liable line, each one in the name of q
dummy: All that it was necessary for
MCCARTHY to do to get three permits
issued to dummies was to call Com
missioner Whalen on the telephone.
W. That an eX-detective and brew
cry collector, long out Of job, turns
up on the. cream of all the lines
With three buses, costing $4,000, one
being concededly hidden in dummy
ownership, and manages these in con-
junction with McCarthy's feet, aided
ny Billy" Murphy, nephew of the
.nan;y .Iamnnany boss. Murphy can draw
bus account, while Lynch, the ex-de-
tective, for whom Mccarthy got per-
mits from Whalen, says he works fS-
teen hours day for Mccarthy with
out remuneration.
"s. That the insurance firm of Sim
mott & Canty, the senior member Of
which is the brother of the Mayors
son-in-law and private secretary, has
divided commissions $3.50 with n young
insurance canvasser on forty eight
casualty insurance policies solicited
from the bus owners since July ]. 1922.
The broker, Grein, admits that no
necessary services whatever are rem
dered by Sinnott & Canty in connec-
tion with this bus insurance. No per-
nit issues for bus operation until
after insurance is obtained, and there
Is no public record of applications for
bus permits"
Called Farcicai by Hyian
These disclosures were declared 60 be
plcayune and the entire bus investiga-
tion termed far .icai by Mayor Hyian
IN a statement which he issued yester-
day continuing his attack on the Tran
ait Commission and Chairman Nc
Aneny. The investigation was referred
TO by the Mayor as seandalous waste
OF public funds engineered by the
commission to discredit the city oper-
alton Ct easses SO that the "traction
hearings, the Mayor declares, cost this
taxpayefs several fhunaand dollars
day 1880 being fhs daily gse ordered