The New York Herald Newspaper, September 18, 1874, Page 5

pation soliciting Its aid in procuring tne menu Di tue amount. Mr. Haws seut a communication to the Board stating that he had declined to pay, “upon the ground that the service was not per- formed” by you; “that the prisoners were Dever {nthe custody" of the Sherif, and that it could ‘hardly be presumed that the Legislature intended to confer so large a compensation upon any officer Jor a service he does not periorm. ‘The papers were reterred to the Committee on County Offices, but no report was ever made. Your Sia when posed, was too much even for Tweed. In nection with this attempt >y you it may be stated that, althougn you were bold enough in grabbing, ou were a little tender about swearing, our buls for she first year were not sworn to, but afterwards yon overcame all scruples and made oath to your bills. 1 have no evidence | that you de any turther effort to obtain the pay- ment of this frauduleat claim during your own term o! office, but you appear to have jaid your Plans for success through the aid ef your ‘suc- Geasor. Josiah W. Brown was tue union candi- date ior Sheruf and seemed to be certain of elec. estas HONEST POLITICIANS TRICKED, Tam informed that although you were really for Lynch you united with other corrupt politicians in a trick upon honest men by getting up a citi- gens’ convention at the Fifth avenue hotel to nominate an independent ticket. Ifa true history | Of that canvass suouid be written it would show how well meaning citizens are sometimes imposed upon by unworthy schemers, A ticket was nomi- nated at the Futh Avenue Hotel, headed py your Under Sherif, Frederick L, Vulte, for Sherut. No man on it, unless on some other | ticket, wi elected, and those who pulled the wires had no expectation that any would be. But by running tuat ticket they de- Seated other candidates, whom many of the men used in nominating the ticket would have pre- ferred to thoge elected. Lynch was eiected and ‘Vultee and your brother, Hugh Kelly, remained in ofice under him. Lynch having become Sheriff in the manner stated above you and he were abie to work together for your common benefit. In his first bill (very differently from what a tyro would have been iikely to do) he repeated your traua, except that he may not have charged twice for the same persons, He charged for 376 prisoners con- veyed to county prisons $282, and tor 4,866 com- mitted and discharged $3,649 50, As in your case | the first bill siipped through and was paid, He Fepeated such a charge (i sbould think under the gpiance of some strong will bebind him) in every il that he presentea, but he did not succeed in procuring auother such payment. ‘The total of his Unpaid charges of this kind, which he made in imi- tation of and to sustain your attempted fraud, was 7,861 09, Adding the $3,649 50 he was paid and fe total that the fraud would have produced in three years, as presented by him, is $51,510 59; bat What it might have amounted to under your boid mans with Watson’s aid, no mortal mind can con- Celve. PETIT LARCENY FRAUDS. It mast not be supposed, because I have so far pasis only cases of frauds in which you trauda- le pT tly obtained irom the county thousands of dol- larg, that there were none of the petit larceny order. Under the law fixing the Sheriff's fees pace 1 have already quoted) he was allowed ity cents for summoning constables to attend court. This was allowed because constables, if summoned by the Sherif, were required to attend the courts of Oyer and Terminer to preserve order under a penaity of $5 ior every day’s neglect, but they were only allowed $1 50 a duy for attendance. As that was an inadequate price to pay constables in thia city those officers would have gone to the Legisiature aud had the law changed rather than subinit to it; so there was a compromise ail around, The Sheriff ceased to summon constables and the Court allowed him to select whoever he pleased to preserve order, For a long time be- fore you became Sheriff that officer had made no charge ior summoning consta- Dies, but was content with the patronage. But during your term there was a resurrection of everything that could be used for an entrance into the county treasury. You summoned no constables, but at every Uyer and Terminer you | Appointed a number ol your hangers-on as officers, . | For every one of tnem to whom you gave an ap- pointment you charged the county tilty cents for summoning him to @ place that he was begging you to give him. By that traud you obtained $65 60 under your first term and $64 under your second, which | put down against you accord- ingly. A little extra point is given to this small grab by the fact that during your second term | courts of Oyer and Terminer were almost un- known; but J am confident that a bul against the county will be ound irom every “constable” you “summoned,” NEWSPAPER FRAUDS. Another little grab of the same kind was for Dotices of elections to newspapers, Sheriffs had always, since we became a iree people, upon r ceiving notice of an election from the Secretary of State, been required to communicate it to the Tewspapers. You, to save yourself trouvle, made the county pay for printing the notice, to which I make no objection; but you also, witbout authority O( Jaw or usage, obtaimed from the county $1 ior each newspaper under pretence of “serving” the Notice in the newspaper—work that a boy could do inan hour, The fact that a charge was made ‘Without authority of law never seemed to be of the least importance in your view. By this small grab you made $15 at each election, in all $89, Which I inciude as part of your fraudulent r ceipts. Iwiil speciiy another. For more than haif a century the law had required the Sheriff to publish in one or more newspapers a prociaina- tion of the holding of a Coart of Oyer and Ter- Miner. You had charged, as your predecessor had done, $4 85 for aavertising such a prociama- tion so often that, in 1867, when the days of your second term were becoming few, you seem to have concluded that the $4 86 ought to be a fee to you although there was no authority of law for any such idea. So, in June, 1867, as you had aes the $485 in December and again in March you treated those charges as your fees and charged $43 15 for the advertisements. In Sep- tember you charged $4 85 as your jee and $19 40 jor advertising and in December $4 85 ior your- self and $16 60 lor advertising, but lam not able to Bay — you made More than $24 25 by that little grab. PETIT JUROR FRAUDS, I will now specily another o! your large frauds, There is no provision o) law autnorizing a payment to a Sheriff ior summoning petit jurors in criminal cases, and I presume in most ol the counties of the State no allowance there.or is ever made. As the Supreme Court declared, in the decision quoted above, it must be held that the Legislature in- tended that the perquisites aliowed to the Sherif should pay him for the service. This is particularly the case in respect to summoning petit jurors, ‘The law allows the Sherif fifty cents for each term a@civil case is on the crlenodar, to be paid by the platntif’ tn the action. In this county the caien- dare are go overloaded that @ cause is on the calen- many terms before itis reacned. I understand that in Many years there has been no time when | there have been less than 5,000 or 6,000 on the calen- dars of the three courts—Supreme, Superior and Common Pleas. Such a number—nine terms tn the ear—would give the Sheriff over $25,000 a year, le can, theresore, well afford to serve panels of Re jurors tor the criminal courts without charge. nat the Legislature never intended that tne Sheriff should be paid for summoning petit jurors | in criminal cases, would seem to be clear, from the | fact that wh!e an allowance is provided for sum- moning, grand jurora none ts made tor petit jurors, In 1843, however, Monmoutn B. Hart, the jberiff, and his predecessor, Jacub Acker, one ef each political party, having suffered severely {rom the terribie financial revulsion, which commenced in 1837, the Supervisors under the 1ufluence of the Bympathy felt ior them, were induced to allow them $10 tor serving a@ regular panel of petit jurors, and twenty-five cents each for extra jurors. | nis Was not accomplished without scout resist- ance, especially in respect to ea for the Over and Terminer, who also servea in the trial of civil causes in the Supreme Court. Afterwards the allowance for serving petit jurors was increased, Not by law, but by the Supervisors, to thirty cepts for each person summoned, and at that rate Sheriff was paid when you were elected, DEFRAUDING THE COUNTY TREASURY. Your predecessor also induced the Supervisors | to allow nim fifty cents each ior summoning | Jurors for the Marine Court, in which only civil Cases are tried. This was a8 clear a rubbery of the County Treasury as it would be of a bank to ‘Walk into it and take money trom its vaults, As your predecessor was paid for the service, how- ever, it 18 not included in this account against ‘ou. To make sure that there should be no error ih the serious charges | am about to make against you in respect to your chars for jurors, 1 have not only Peery hed a return by the Clerk of the Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Sessions of the jurors returned for those Courts during th ears you were in oMice, but Ihave had the orig- Ina paneis of Jurors in the office of the Commis- @ioner of Jurors carefully examined. J have no | return from the Clerk of the Marine Court and | only @ portion of the panels ior that Court were | examined. Those examined agreed in respect to the number of jurors charged for, but few of the panels were served as required by law, therefore | our charge for the service was doubly tlegal. ut as the examination was imperfect the Marine Court is not imeiuded in any part of | the statement Iam about to make. In respect to the General Sessiona, the Clerk's return and the | panels agree, and the numover ot jurors specifically charged by you forgthat Oourt, agreed with the | Clerk and panels, except that you charged for forty-eight less than the whole number as made by them. As will be subsequently shown, how- ever, but few of the panels were so served that you could ve paid for them. OVER AND TRRMINER MATTERS, In respect to the Oyer and Terminer, however, there was more aifiicuity. A few of the panels, which appear by the Clerk's minutes to have been ordered, could not be found, and, in some cases, [tie that could be found do not appear to have en returned to court. The difficulty 1s doube- Jess Caused by the jact that the jurors were also summoned for the trial of civil’ cases in the Su- preme Court. fo the jollowing table you are allowed for all the jurors required by the minutes of the court, Si frpesting vo havé been drawn by a panel on ie:— 3 FL ba apa ihaareeh: 1 quires! Correct Clerk Minates, Panely'h File, Nanber, 8,050 3400) 3,900 ars 1786 1,786 10 1436 1436 400 = 40 80 bi 500 800 Totals..10,17 8075 pia Besides the above, you charged during your two terms of office for’ $3,601 “extra”? jurors, The word appears to have been property Chosen, for they were certainly extraordinary. Not ope of them had any existence, The charve Jor re pata | James Rogers was $4) 87. | four'men amounted to $3,408 65, of which them was merely a barefaced fraud. They were charged by you merely as “extra,” to convey the impression ‘that they were the extra jurors re- quired in the Oyer and Terminer and Genera) Ses- sions when important cases were tried, but ail of such extra jurors are included in the jurors ior those courts for which you specifically charged; 80 that the charge for the “extra” jurors has bothing whatever to sustain it except audacity 8nd corruption, The following table shows the umber of jurors required and charged for each Year for the criminal courts:— Sama Nimiber, Charged Number Required —~ Sessions, O.§-7, Extra, Total. Sessions. 0-4-7. 3 TAS? 14,502 2 1890..... 3,375 4,300 7, 3425 3,900 voces 9875 W486 7,578 12439 33751) B00 1,236 6,909 11.645 3,500 1436 4725 400 12725 17,3604, 400 3,15) 1,300 1.682 19182 30800 3402 1454 14,510 19,365 31400 BU 27 10,176 63,601 95,904 petit urors charged for. rT) Totals 21,575 Number ot Nuinber of petit jurors drawn. . Number fraudulently charged for +» 64,607 Which, at 3c. each, ainountsto ... $19,382 10 The increase in the number when Watson was Auditor 18 wonderful, being principally in the “extra” jurors. But there was another fraud you perpetrated, When Connolly became Comptroller you had to celebrate the event, so you put up, without the slightest right, the price of summon- ing jurors for 186% the only one of your years that he was in office, from 30 cents to 35 cents, wuereby you made as follows :— Number for 1867, charged as above. Aad for Marine Court... 2.216 21,582 $i.079 10 KBLLY’S AFFIDAVITS, I will now examine one of the aMdavits you Made—say for the quarter ending March 31, 1567, the first one tor which you charged 35 cents for summoning jurors. You swore that your bill was iipat ana true, and not otherwise; that the charges therein are for services actually performed; that the ratea charged are the customary and legal rates.” In respect to the above charges for 21,582 jurors, that aMdavit was false in every allegation. Jt was not true nor just, but was otherwise than true and just. ‘he ser- vices were not performed, and the rates charged | were neither castomary mor legal. You are re- ported to have oiten complained that attention to politics tnterfered with your religious duties, You Make but a sorry spectacle as a religious man. In my experience of menI have found those the least trustworthy who use religious professions as capital either in business or politics, The Church with which you are connected has olten caused restitution to be made by its memoers who had done wrong, science or fears shall lead you to restore the money you have wrongfully taken it will be an in- stance Of great power Uselully exerted, A statute relating to jurors in this city has the following provision :—‘‘T'ne Supervisors are hereby prohibited trom allowing or paying any lees or charges to the Sheriff lor serving any of the per- sons hamed in a panel unless a@ majority of them are personally served.” This act was passed in consequence of the imperfect manner in which Jury panels were served. Many jurors not per- sonally served did not answer, and, consequently, new panels had to be issued, bringing more lees to the Sheriff, but causing delay to the courts. In the examination o! the panels of jurors for the pur- pose of ascertaining the number of jurors for which you could be legally paid, a very few panels for the Oyer and Terminer could not be tound. You are allowed in the foliowing tables ior panels not found as though they hud been fully served. None of the jurors deducted ag above stated are included in ‘this table:— PETIT JURORS, —urors Served. Not Before legally . OFT, Tova Deducted. Pail, 1 2,00 78 5,325 36836 e 136 636 400 1,100 800 1,550 “50 “60D Totals...3.550 3,172 6,722 30,697 23,975 You were paid, therefore, besides the fraudulent for summoning 23,975 Jurors not fraudulent bat not legally served, at thirty cents each these If any influence over your con- | { | | School: — 19,366 | amount to $7,192 50, Which money you Illegally — obtaiued. siti PAID WITHOUT LAW. You and your predecessors were paid without any authority of law $1 for attending the drawing of each panei of grand or petit jurors, I make no | point against you tn tlis statement tor the aliow- ance, but only array agaist ae the panels not drawn lor which you charged, The following table shows the panels drawn aad the number Jor which you charged in each year:— NUMBPR OF PANELS DRAWN, Grand Jurors. Petit Jurora. No. Panels Sexs. O. and Y. Seas. O. and 2. Marine. Total. Charged. 1869... 22 5 2 16 15 7 17 180.5% BS 19 «8 12 SASDE 5 tBTe 8 no o19 178 185.192 BB 4 B® 192 18 5 zB 7 19 2 223, bane eT he DB Ath 225, Tots. 125 32 145 63 109 474 list You charged for 713 more panels than were drawn, which was a fraud of $713. ‘The taw allows the Sneriff $10 for summoning a grand jury jor @ coart, not a panel. Its language 1s plain and could not be misunderstood, Yet you fraudulently charged $10 for every panel. It is no | the anti-rmg democracy, appeared upon the plat- excuse lor you that any other Sheriff may liave | been guilty of the same fraud. The following ta- ble shows the grand juries you were required to summon and the number o! panels’ for which you charged :— ——Panels Cha: ——Juriea Required.—— —— Sessions. O.andT. Total. Sessions. O.andT, Total, | 2 4 16 2 5 7 5 7 Pr 8 Bz 6 1B 20 8 28 a Bry 19 2 21 4 16 18 5 23 4 16 2 4 26 Totals.72 25 7 125 32 157 Sixty panels at $10 each gives $600 as the | amount you wrongully took, but I only paas it against you as illegally paid. None of your irauds was worse in character than you perpetrated in your charges for the execution of convicts, It must be a very painful duty, even to a man of ordinary feelings, to be the instrument tor taking the lile of a iellow man; but you appear to have been the first Sheri! tu perceive that those wounded sensibilities could be soothed by pecuniary compensation. EXECUTION FEES FRAUDULENT. The bill of your predecessor for tne execution of Jn your first term your bill for the execution of James Stephens amounted to $124 07 and ot John Crimmins to $113 78. During your second term, when Watson audited them, your charges increased largely. They were tor the execution of Bernard Friery, $972 84; of Ferris, $722 97; of George Wagner, $774 04; of Jer- emiah O’Brien, $940 80. I will contrast two of your bills, one from each term. Executing Jeremiah 0' Brien. Building scaftoid... $191 or sheriff's fee. 250 00 Twenty-four vi hes assisting. 120 00 Printing notice: 2% Two watcher: 200 © Advertising certifi. Summoning — jury CALE... 0.0... + .780 and witnesses:.... 10 00 Sundry expense: 8000 Certificate and two 25 00 Total.... ie same., 9 2 Sundry expense: An increase from @ little over $100 to nearly | $1,000 will probabiy equal any of the Ring bills. It is noteworthy that the sundries in the last billi— the littie items beneath mention—amount to: more than the whole of the bill ior the former execu- tion. Lam informed that though there is no statute providing a fee to the Sheriff for executing a eon- Vict, yet by prescription the fee was £5 as late as 1843; a pound was rated ta paying the Sheritt’s lee at $2 60 and the Sheriff was paid $15 50; but aiter- wards the colonial pound was repudiated and 35 recognized as a pound, which gave the Sheriff-$25. Boshing: authorized you to charge more, qetyou charged $200 in one case and 0 each the other three. II remember rightly the rates of Garvey and Ingersoll were not more excessive than this. Fraud in this item, $850, You also cuarged in each case $10 for summoning jurors and witnesees, Jurors! One would think the convict was to have been retried. By law the Sherl@ is to ‘invite’? the ‘Judges, District Attorney, Clerk and Surrogate of tne county, together with two physicians and twelve reputable citizens’! to be present at the execution, As to the two physicians and twelve citize a Sheriff is always so overrun witn applications that his only anxiety is as to who he shall disappoint. Could anything be more preposterous than to charge $40 {for inviting men who asked to be (OLY Another of your inventions was @ charge of $2 for & certificate to be signed by those ce. that the convict had been duly executed, and making two copies for publication. Ihave had one of these certificates exaiwined, and it consisted of less than 200 words and is merely formal; but vour charge was en- tirely iraudulent. Your bilis for executing the ont pass $990 against you as fraudulent, merely be Cause the correctness of the other items cannot now be tested. Your charge of ‘$135 for sunaries at one execution leads me to notice your bills for thé board of prisoners under sentence of death, Willett during his term charged $40 on that ac- count; you during your first term $207, and Lynch during his term $342, In these casea the names aud periods were given. They were also tor the rst three months of your second term; but after- wards you witaheld them. Your bills on this ac- count during your second term amounted to $2,766 29, probably four times as much as nad been paid before since the settlement of the city. I will DOW sum up the amounts you have wrongiully ob- tainea from the County Treasury, s0 tar as they have yet been ascertained, 1 may conciude to have a further examination made. Ifso, they will be in- creased, The items of fraud that I have now shown to have inured w your beneilt are aa follows :— FRAUDULENT RECHIPTS, Pretended report of 92,914 imaginary convic- vorch ing 13,200 alleged prisoners sored ; ne 9,046 00 di Overcharge, convey 75 cents each Alleged conveyance of 6440 pretended prison- ers, 75 cents each. er é Pretended' summoning Sending advertigemenits to newspapers. Proclamations: -Oyer and Terminer. Pretended summoning of 64,607 ‘ors, at 30 cents each. . Overcharge for summoning #15 cents each. Frank | Pretended attendance drawing 713 jury panels Mot drawn), $1 exch is taohitecgans4e 1 SOK Extortionate charges, services at execution of i convicts. eevee cogesecee 990 00 Total moneys fraudulently obtained........,.$81,062 32 Gal. RKCKIPTS, Alleged summoning ot 23,975 jurors (not served required by law), at 75 cents exch... Ae $7,192 50 Excess in charg ‘and Jaro: 00u 0 | Total moneys illegally obtained 7,792 50 | Total moneys wrongfully obtained... 988,844 82 MORE FRAUDS IN THE BACKGROUND, The above statement does not inciude all the moneys you nave ovtained wrongfully, because the examination could not be completed m time for Uhis statement. Nor have large sums of money been charzed against you wiieh have been paid to you without authority of law, and which you could not have recovered by legal proceedings (de- feuded in earnest), 1 omit them, tor the reason | that like payments had been made to one or more | ot your predecessors, and Lam Willing to give you the benefit o1 that excuse. 1 now add a statement of the total payments to you and several other sheriffs, beginuing with Joon Orser, Who appears tohave been the last of the sherills of the old John Orser, 1853, 1854 and 1855........ Leduct tor supplies to the County Jail. James C. Willett, 1856, 1857 and 1868. John Kelly, 185%, 1860 and 1861. James Lynch, 1862, 163 and 156i John Kelly, 1865, 1366 ant 186 . John Orser’s bills included the supplies for the County Jali—provisions, fuel, &e. For stx quar- ters the amounts for these supplies are stated | separately in the proceedings of the Board of Supervisors, and are not included above. They ranged irom $420 50 to $661 64 a quarter. The six quarters not stated separately are deducted at the rate of the smailest amount, $420 50, ERLLY AHEAD OF HIS PREDECESSORS, These irauds appear to have been initiated by Whilett, but you carried them to perfection and added new ones. Under you, beyond question, sherif’s bills became an institution of great power—for the depletion of the County Treasury, Each time you were Sheriff you were able to go about $20,000 more than your immediate prede- cessor. One deplorable consequence of such frauds is that they produce others. They not only bring others around them at the time, but are continuous, “he evil that men do lives aiter them.” To this cay the County Treasury is suffering from the game that you maj be said to have opened. 1 have not included in the above totals the amounts paid to you and | Lynch for fees in excise suits, because they were temporary windlalis that shouid not disturb the general view. J have not probably obtained a statement of all the moneys either 0! you received | on that account, but I know ol payment to you e@mounting to $36,765 26, and to Lynch to $3,064 87, With these the payments to you from the’ public | treasury ior your two terms Of office were as tol- lows :— First term—General charges. $56,474 16 First term—Fees in excise 36,785 25 Second term—General charges. Total,......escsearnseseonseee ee This hus nothing to do with the large of fees you received irom private parties. EX-MAYOR HALL’S PAYMENTS. The payment to you of $18,210 61, part of the above amount of $36,765 25, was in one respect peculiar. You wentout of office as Sheriff at the precise Moment A. Oakey Hall became District Attorney. You claimed shat the fees had been earned by you during the term oi bts predecessor, yet, Mr. Hal, as appears by the papers, paid to you out of his own pocket, the sum of $18,210 64, one of the most marvellous $189,712 73 amounts ceedings for the repayment of the money to him, | insvead of leaving you to seek payment yourself, The Court of Appeals decided that the amount should be repaid to tim. Every right minded man yields.with respect to the decision of that Court, but I think the people of this city would nave been a little better satistied 11 the parties on both sides, had not been really in favor of the payment, THE ANTI-RING DEMOCRACY. The above narrative expiains one {ocldent in our local polities that has heretofore been a mys- tery. In 1863 you were nominated tor Mayor by | form and accepted the nomination, but a few day before the election withdrew, was sick and went | to Europe, You could not run. Yoo were in tue power of Tweed and Watson. They were doubt- less willing that you should get all the money you could, but not that you should interfere with “their little game.” Beside, how could you run against Hall, who bad done you such a marvellous kindness. Ihave shown that you have defrauded the public treasury, deiamed the character of the city, libelied our citizens of your own race and sunk yoursell to the lowest depths of disgrace, In | What respect are you better than Garvey or Inger- soll? They made out bilis Jor services not performed or articies not /urnished. So did you. Tuey made out bills lor large quantities in excess of services periormed or articles jurnished. So did you. They made out bilis for services performed or articles jurnished at prices largely in excess of the proper ones. So did you. If you say that your bills weie passed by the Board of Super- visors, 80 were theirs, In one respect, however, you were a far greater criminal. You were the incumbent of an office discharging a high public trust, and bound, beside the oath to your ilis, by the constitutional oath of office. KELLY WORSE THAN TWEED. I think that you were worse than Tweed, except that he wasa@ larger operator. The public knew that Tweed was a bold, reckless man, making no pretensions to purity. You, on the contrary, were always avowing your honesty and wrapped yoursell in the mantle of piety. Men who go about with the prefix of “honest” to their names are often rogues. HONEST SILAS WRIGHT. John Van Buren, in a puvlic speech, referring to @ political opponent whose name had that handle, made it @ subject of ridicule. “Who,” said he, “ever heard men speak of ‘honest Silas Wright’ or ‘houest Azariah C, Flagg?’ At this point a voice | in the crowd, with keen sense of tue ludicrous, said, slowly, “Or nonest The meeting was convulsed with laughter. But you need have no apprehension that your fellow citizens will indulge in merriment over sour dis- grace. The feeling will be deeper and sad. A teeling ol depression might well attend the addition of another to the long list of corrupt pub- lie officers, Yet you will have little sympathy. The public sense is generally offended when a Man assumes superiority and assaiis with abuse allwho dare to differ from him. And there is always a feeling of relief when the mask {s pulled from the face of a hypocrite. I make this publication with no pleasure. Greatiy Ml have wronged me, I can sincerely say that 1 wis ofences I have payee against you; but when I ‘Was iniormed of them my duty to my !ellow citi- zens demanded that I should make them known. The danger that this city would be committed to the absolute control of you and Morrissey was feariul to contemplate. That danger is at an end. The stain upon your character which these de- velopments will leave will be so dark that the effect will not be without benefit to others, It will be a terrible warning, and it may aid to tm- id on those whose characters are now being formed the wisdom of the sound old adage that “honesty is the pest policy.” W. F. HAVEMEYER, WHAT JOHN WILL DO. The following letter, anticipatory of the Mayor's charges as above given, has been sent by Mr. Kelly to our contemporary, the Sun:— Sir—In your issue of the 12th you intimate ina short paragraph that some star‘ling developments are abvut to be made which, from the rumors that have reached me, | understand are to involve me aa former Sheritt of this county. It appears that His Honor the Mayor wil reply to the letter l addressed to him through the pub- lic press, Warning im against the reappointment of the convicted Commissioners of Police; and as 1 learn that he has employed Nelsou J. Waterbury to search the records in the office of the Secretary Of State, in order to ascertain the number of con- vietions returned by me to that office during tue six years | held theoMice of Sherif, no doubt His Honor will make usé o/ the device resorted to on @ celebrated vocasion by the Artal Dodger of the story, and answer the charge of bis own official misdeeds by attempting to prove that I am no better than himsell. It remains to be seen what | success will attend His Honor in tue role he is about to pla: The investigation, I am informed, fs to resuit in showing that I received enormons sums in excess of the amount I was fairly entitled to by law. This wonderiul discovery of @ Mayor's nest by so skil- ful a detective as Waterbury entities that person to rank, with all his owl-like gravity, among the greatest reiormers of the age. | doubt, wowever, if his pretended discovery will stand the test of im- partial investigation. I shall very certainly sub- gid it to such a one when it shall have seen the ight in the Mayor's tardy answer to my letter. I invite His Honor to continue his researches among | the acta of my personal or officiat life, and when | he is well through with the work to pubish it to | the world. fam quite confident the picture will bear comparison with his own or Neison J. Water- bury’s in anything by which the standard of char- acter is measured. 1 respectiully ask the suspension of pablic opinion on these pretended discoveries by so pre; lous a pair of reformers until the examination of them has been made and the whole truth can ve toid. Let me suggest, too, it His Houor is acting in good iaith and is really animatea pe pure love of reiorm, that he might continue his researches in the Comptroller’s ofice, and tuform the public, when he has finished, how much money Water- bury returned to that department from the amounts collected in forfeited recognizances and Prosecutions against liquor dealers during the ume he was District Attorney of this county; how much, too, that model reiormer recetved for ser- vices rendered the old Ring jn the Broadway open- ing, and In various other little matters during the atiministration o: Richard B. Connolly ; and finally, to enlighten the public as to the amounts paid this same Waterbury tor lobbying at Ped and procuring unprofitable legisiation for this city. If is Honor has no taste for the work, I promiso him that | will attend to it for him at the earliest Peuseue moment, and shall, I think, satisty im betore I have done with that gentleman that he has made a sad mistake in selecting as his henchman one so vulnerable in his oficial ante- Oedents as the unsainted Waterbury. But neither 1 hor the public can be astonished at the Mayor's acts of Kindness | on record. By vbis contrivance, Mr. Hall took pro- | ish you had never cominitted the | | cumulative folly have characterized his whole ad. | choice in this instance, in view of the many other Unfortunate selections which have been made by His Honor. Unceasing blunders, and intrepid, ministration. In concluston permit me to say, though it 1s hardly necessary, that the Mayor's alleged discov- eries in relation to mysell aré the weak but ma- licious offshoots of His Honor’s vindictiveness on account of the part taken by myself, with otuers, in bringing to justice his esteemed iriends, the forcibly retired Police Commissioners. He, per- haps, thinks that the budget of calumay which he has been preparing with such rancorous hate may have @ tendexcy Lo injure me ip public estimation before an opportunity can be had to expose the malevolence Of its author, and the turpitude and falsehood 01 ts allegations, fhe scheme is worchy oi the gource Irom which it emanates, T respectfully ask a place in your columns for this letter, Very respecttuliy, yours, JOHN KELLY, No. 315 Lexington avenue. New YORK, Sept. 15, 1874, A MUNICIPAL QUARREL. The Commissioners of Accounts vs. the Depart- ment of Charities and Correction. THE CHARGES AND THE ANSWER. Commissioner Bowen’s Reasons for Not Signing the Reply. WHAT THE ALDERMEN SAY On the 4th day of June last the Board of Alder- men unanimously adopted the resolution that “the Commissioners of Accounts be and they are hereby directed to make a ull and thorough inves- Y | tigation into the books, accounts and transactions of the Commissioners of Charities and Correction, | and to report thereon to this Board atas early a date as they possibly can.” In pursuance of this order Mr. Lindsay J. Howe commenced a search- ing investigation into the affairs of the depart- ment, and by areport to the Commissioners of Accounts dated August 27, 1874, made tne following DAMAGING STATEMENTS. First—That the books at the central office of the commigsion were in such @ condition that no ex- amination of them could be made; that the cash book had not been written up since May 3l, 1873, and that the statement ot the bookkeeper (salaried 4t $3,000 per annum) was wat he could not make the balance agree with the books of the Finance Department. Second—That there was a balance of nearly $9,000 in bank to the credit of the department, of Waich the Commissioners were totally ignorant, and which was Mnally handed over to tbe City Chamberlain. Third—That upon assuming office the present Commissioners took no account of the supplies ef goods on hand, thereby rendering a fue compari- son between the quantities used by them and their predecessors impussible. Fourth—That the balance sheets of the depart- | Ment are merely duplicates of she books of the storekeeper on lack Weil's Isiand and the supply clerks, Fith—That flour and other goods delivered at the storetiouse on Blackwell's Island are receipted for by the storekeeper without veing seen or handled by him, Sixth—that the Commissioners have totally dis- regarded the provision in the charter which pro- vides that when supplies Involving an expendi. lure of over $1,000 were needed the same should be purchased by contract founded on sealed bids or proposals. Seventh—That original entries have been erared and that an evasion of the law has taken place In entering the receipts of goods ac-diterent dates, so that they should not exceed in amount $1,000, To support this charge many citations are made and particulars given. ighth—that in the confuston ensuing from this irregular manner of doing business Messrs, E. W. Coveinan & Co. were overpaid $1,980 tor 300 barrels of flour, and that in the supplies of groceries tae same lax system has prevailed. Ninth—That Charlies G. Cornell. Purchasing Clerk of Meats lor the Bourd, received, between Novemper 10, 1873, and June 26, 1874, a salary (in commissions) Of $8,749 47, being equal to a salar: of more than doubie the amount paid to the Presi- dent of the department, and contrary to law. ACTION OF THE GRAND JURY. ‘These and other grave charges jormed the basis ofan investigation by the Grand Jury. They re- ferred the charges to His Honor the Mayor, who in- vestigated them, with the aid of Mr, Jonathan Stur- ges; but upon the latter being obliged to leave Jor Chicago, owing to illness in his family, the whole matter was referred to Messrs, Wililam A, Booth and Howard Potter, who made a report ex- onerating all the Commissioxers, Soon aiter Myer Stern, one of the Board, was conversed with by & HERALD representative, to whom he said “that every transaction was open and aboveboard; that he actually saved the city money by vn a cloth from Mr. Louis Sternbacn, and especially in using the Gellevue Hospital NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1874.-TRIPLE SHEET, | department, but have been kept since the 1st day | ticles tnerein, | Sidered @ ground of complaint against the manages | | Island 1s wholly false, as @ single inquiry would | | coupe in Making his round oi visits to the prisons, | Futy-seventh street, Jefferson Market and the | Tonibs; finally, that the +? naming a former , Mayor of this city, Who stood beside the orator. | GRAND JURY HAD APOLOGIZED for ever having suspected the Commissioners at all” He'turther said “that the waole hostility of Mr. Howe was based on @ personal quarrel with Mr. Launbeer, and that the former geutieman, when he came to make his examination of the , accounts, inquired into the domestic affairs of the | a discre Commissioner, whereupon ensued a quarrel, out of which Mr, Howe’s opposition sprung. To ali this Mr. Howe gives @n unqualified denial and says that the bitter denunciation of himself is caused by the fact that his examination disclosed the flour frauds, Messrs. H. K. Thurber & Co., wholesale grocers, state that they sold even $2,000 or $3,000 worth-of groceries to the Commission during one week, but Bay they never sold more than $1,000 worth ata time, except in one instance, When the bill was. $1,036, veo they had to lose the $36 before the bill was paid. Messrs. Armstrong & Morrison, No. 150 Cham- bers street (the latter a son-in-law of Mayor Have- meyer), say they have sold quantities of butter to the department, but every transaction has been at the iowest market price and the books are open for Inspection; no bill amounting to over $1,00u, The Commissioners’? Answer. The auswer of the Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction to the report of the Com- missioners o! Accounts was presented to the Board of Aldermen yesterday by the Committee on Law. The following ts an abstract of the answer. The Commissioners commenced by @ history of the in- quiry and the action taken by them to obtain an investigation. They claim that they took the | inittauve for this inquiry and say:— The trath is, and it was well known to the Com- missioners of Accounts, that an investigation Into the accounts of our department waa urgently re- quested as early as September 9, 1873, by the fo)- lowing resolution of our Board, adopted on that day and torwarded by our President to Hor. Jonn Wheeler, the President of the Board of Commis. sioners of Accounts, In reference to the cash balance at the Thira National Bank the Commissioners answer as {ol- lows :— Itis wholly false that thts balance of $8,869 67 to the crodit of the wepartment in the Third No tonal Bank was discovered througn the efforts of Mr. Commissioner Howe. Its existence’wus known to the present Board within forty-eignt hours after their adcesston to office. And yet Mr. Howe has the effrontery to Commissioners were not aware ol its existence, As the old bookkeeper announced that there was acy between the accounts of the M- nance Department and our department we thought it best to let the balance ve there until the settlement of this difference between the two departments; and as this sum bore interest at the rate of four per cent per annum, the rate al- lowed on all the city deposits, the city did not suger any loss or damage by this course. More. over, the transier of this suim to the ity Cham. berlain was our act, and net Mr. Howe's, THE BOOKS OF THE DEPARTMENT. With regard to the conaition of the books of our department, about which Mr, Howe has so much we beg to say the whole matter is oriefly tna: the time ol our accession to oMce we found the books of the department at the Central Oitice haa | not beea properly written up or balanced, We kept the bookkeeper whom we jound in charge along for some time, hoping and expecting that he, the only man who had any knowleuge of them, Would write them up and put them in preper shape, ashe was directed to do shertly after our accession to office. When we became satisfied that he was unable properly to post and balance the books we’obtained the services of a competent man, who now fills nis place, and who is rapidly bringing them into proper shape and order, Per- ped AE Nave been better i! we had sooner arrivéd at the conclusion that the old bookkeever Was not competent for its place, but we are con- fident that the city has not been toured or dam- aged a doilar by this mistake in judgment on our Dart, nor dges Mr. Howe show any such injury or damage, although he seems vo pave had she mat- Ver under investigation tor the Met six months, THR SPHCIFIC CHARGES, We now proceed to take up Mr, Commissioner Howe's charges in order. The first charge 1s that the present Commission- ers, When they entered upon their duties, made no inventory of the stock or property on ‘nand be- longing to the department and received over by the present from the old Board of Commissioners, It has been the practice of the department to take an inventory of the stock of sappiies on band on the 1st o/ January in each year, The atorenouse books bad bean closed and such \ | | erasures, so called, have been made tn the manner | that bookkeepers generali: y that he found that the | | Msement and | therein specified to be pure! | amine our books. | Howe’s report. | Should be complied with, both tn {te spirit and | Corporation that the lowest bid in law is the low- to say and #0 much more to imply or insinuate, | AG Si iuventory taken on the ist of January, 1873, In | bid, and were oplged to sward the contract the s'ck books kept at the storehouse t ¢ Supplies | this bidder, and thus the city was deprived of fosniehea are charged or debited, aud the supplies | the benefit of competition in the open mar! tatribuved to the various institutions are credited | In two other instances which occur to us whel an : the books balanced at the end of every month, | We advertised and entered into contracts for su and thus the stock of supplies on hand at the end plies, the goods delivered were 80 poor we had te OF og month readily appears from these stock ee them at great loss and inconvenience, boy in another instance when the bids were opened e Jound on assuming our duties that the store- | aud examined we found them generally informal keeper's books were Soreeeay Kept, aud on ex- | and irregular, and the prices 80 exorbitant that, amination we became sanstied that ‘the stock of | in the exercise of a sound discretion with a due supplies on hand corresponded with the stock regard to ecovomy, we leit it to be our duty to re« Which the storekceper’s Looks called for; we saw | Ject all the bids made. In some cases we bave ads no vecessity, therelore, of taking an inventory at | Vertised for supplies and received no bids at all. that time. On the 1st of January, 1874, the rule of Mr. Howe presents a schedule of purchases of the department was carried out, and the annual | flour in various lots from January 1 to July 1, ft eed made out of the stock of supplies on }i4 amounting in all to 7,916 barreis, Here goin aud, 'r. Howe makes the biunder or is wil’ully guilty 0: Second—Mr. Howe charges that no separate ac- | confounding the lots of tour delivered op pecelvod counts were kept with persons from whom pur- with the lots purchased, the former being made up chases were made, To this charge we answer of two or more of the latter. ‘The dealer, [or pure that such accounts were not kept at first in our pose of conventence and economy, would walt elore making his deliveries until enough bad been purchased to make a beat load. The copies 0 the bilis or invoices which appear in the store- Keeper's vooks exactly and correctly represented the purctiases as made, as to the date, quantity and price, as we are assured by the dealers {rom Third—Tve balance sheets presented by the whom the purchases were made, and by our pur- bookkeeper on April 25 may have been incorrect, chasing cierks, and eacu o1 these bilts were leas in The books at the Central OMlce are books of | amount than $1,000. Moreover, it is not true, as original entry, and are not copies of the books of , implied by Mr. Howe, that any erasures of ‘any the storekeeper on Biackweli's Island, and are | kind whatever were made of the entries in the made from original bills or invoices returned books relative to purchases of these lots of flour irom the storekeeper. Tnese bilis or invoices of | enumerated in this schedule. Our department supplies, &c., are first entered upon the books of , requires 300 to 350 barreis oi four to supply the the storekeeper, and then are lorwarded to the ; weekly Wants of those dependeat upon us, Central UMice, where the bills or invoices are en- | The supply we have bougut in open market at tered in the books of that office. It is intended | the Produce Exchange, of reputable dealers, at that the two sets Of vooks in these respects should | economical prices; aud in this counection we sub= be mutual checks, the one of the other, and itis | mis the following quotations trom the re- ainicult to conceive why this system shouid becon- | port of Messrs, Archibald Baxter, S. D, Har- rison, William L, Boyd and son H. Boynton, ment of our department. | members of the Arbitration Committee of the Fourth—It 18 not a mere theory, a8 Mr. Howe | Produce Exchange, in @ matter receutly submitted ps sg - the sapsrsient Cer pugchases, exerns | to them rugs and supplies for the outdoor poor, made for Fwat—Thi ‘ions of the Departmentof Publi the department are delivered to and received by | chertiesund Coen rnchading eons OS the storekeeper in charge of the store, but an es- | purchasing agent, were explicit and well adapted to tablished system and faithfully carried out, with foach: the end-of buying ante yaya pater ° * 0 ins for such purposes, a such exceptions, however, as common sense, con- | GaBAUiLy BBA GEALES NateesEehiOn He seaaten venience and economy demand. ‘Thus oar system | ‘Second purchasing agent carried out his instruc. does not require that coal for the Tombs or Belle- | gions faithtully, his only error being one of judgment, vue Hospital, or brick and lumber for Hart's | and thatcominitted in a commendable effort toward Island, should first be transferred to the store- | economy. house at Blackweil’s Island to be weighed and ex- About the overpayment to Messra, E. W. Cole- amined there, and thep reshipped at a great ad- | man & Co., the Cominissioners correct Mr. Howe ditional expense, or that 100 barrels of flour jn several particulars. But even admitting only Wanted for use at the pakary should be shipped | that Mr, Howe's construction o! the section of the first to the storehouse and then reshipped or | charter in question 18 correct, and that alter six tanslerred to the bakery at double the cost, or | months’ examination of our books aud papers be that horses whieh are purchased tor use at Hart's | nag discovered, in the course of our purchases Island should first be sent to the storeuouse | extending over more than a year’s time and In- o! January, 1874; but at all times the store- keeper’s books have contained @ correct copy of all the invoices of goods purchased, with the names of the parties and the prices uf the ar- 1 on Blackwell’s Island. Economy and con- | yoiying te outlay ol over @ million dollars, some: Xenlence demand that articles = of great | naif adozen insiances of purchases exceeding ip. bulk should be shipped directly to the | value $1,000, and it 18 not shown that the city hag. pluce or institution they are imtended tor, | Suffered the slightest damage thereby, but oo thé Where they are examined by the proper warden | or superintendent whose certificate or vouctier | peen beneiited, and no corrupt or fraudulent in- oes to the storekeeper, and the storekeeper | tent or jobbery of any kind is brought to lignt, is relying on the correctness of the certificate of the | it gair to charge us with @ wilful violation or eva- serious wardens < abpenin tangents; enters the | gion of the law? bill or invoice in the books, and in his turn cer- Ninth—Mr. Howe charges that the arrangement tiles the same to the Commissioners. With these | by which the agent in charge of the purchage of exceptions, which every man of common sense must | meats received one-hall cent per poand upon pur- adinit are anavoidaole, the supplies are delivered | chases made by bim 18 @ violation of that provision at the storehouse, received and examined by the | 9; the charter which lorbids any subordinate to storekeeper and bts subordinates, are compared | raceive @ greater compensation than shat paid to With the requisitions, and 11 accepted the invoice | the nead of a department, This charge is but one or bill therefor is entered on the books of the | go; many instances where Mr. Howe is Wrong in his Storekeeper, and then transferred with bis cer- | fucts and where he would have saved himself such contrary @ presumption 1s raised that the city has | tuficate of the receipt of the goods to the Central | obvious mortification if he had sought explana. Omce, Mr. Howe’s charges on this score aro simply frivolous and absurd—while his charge that | no books containing @ record of the goods de- livered Were kept at the bakery on Blackwell's , tions, a8 would’be naturally sought by one whose objects were only the ascertainment of the trath and tne promotion of the public good. The fact is, the supply of meat to the various institutions un- der our charge necessarily involves a large ex- | penditure for horses and carts, for ice and | Icehouses, lor men to cut up and distribute the meats, &c., and chats all expenses of this nature are paid Jrom the one-balf cent a pouna allowed above the purchase price, 8o In this charge Mr. Howe makes wilful misrepre- | tuat the purchasing agent, instead of receiving by Sentation of the iacts, notwithstanding he was. way of commission nearly $9,000 in six or seven made fully acquainted wit the system o! the dis- | montus, as Mr. Howe charges, has made, in fact, tribution of stores and supplies carried out by our | less than $3,000 in ten months. Conclusive evi- storekeeper, This system was caretully ex- dence of this will be furnished you. We are con- plained to bim in its details and he emphatically | fdeut, also, that we can show that the manage- approved of it, The system in operation and | ment has been an economicdl one tor the city, and strictly carried out is this:—Each warden or other | it i8 one which has long prevailed, except that head Of an tnstitution is required, once in eacn | formerly one cent instead of one-half cent was Jortnight, to make @ requisition for such supplies | paid. But the sum received as commissions by of food and other articles as he may, in his judg- | the agent {8 not in any proper sense a salary ment, require for the ensuing two weeks. These | within the meaning of the statute. The purchas- requisitions are Made upon the general store- ing agent 1s only a broker whose employment lave shown him, FiUth—Mr. Howe's fifth charge is substantially as lollows :— The goods received by the storekeeper aro distributed by lim upon his own responsibility, &c. keeper. The quantity of tne food called for is | coutinues at the pleasure of the Board, und may based Upon the actual number of inmates, | be by them discontinued at any time, and he is who are each, according to their ciass, paid by & percentage commission, as brokers gen- alowed @ per capita umount, based upon | erally are. . a dictary table established by the Medical Boara | enth—Mr. Howe charges that the expenditures of the department; ocher articles are called for as | made durimg the latter pare of 1873 were in ex- the judgment of each warden may dictate. The | cess of the appropriation remaiming lor that year, requisitions when received are examined by the | and that the bills therefor were altered and with- storekeeper personally, calculations made to see | hela, 80 a8 to ve brought into the account of 1874, it each complies with the dietary table, and when | The fact ts, that alter we had been tn oftice for the storekeeper 18 satisfied as to their correctness | some time, we jound, to our surprise, that the he ao certifies them to the Commissioners, who | former Board had incurred expenditures in the each at hig leisure passes upon, and tf he ap- | year 1872 to the amount O( $63,000, which had been proves signs the same, and the rule requires that | Charged to the appropriation Of 1873. ‘This was @ & majority of the Board must so approve before | continuance of a system which had long pre- the storekeeper is allowed to or does distribute a | vailed, and which was excused by the fact that dollar’s worth of anything, the expenses, though actualiy incurred in one Sécth—Ln is sixth charge Mr. Howe states :— year, were Lapel for ee be — in bined Upon the requisitions made by the storekeeper the | DexXtyear. ‘This discovery not having been made Commissioners in thelr discretion, order the supplies | tli & large Pportton ol the year had passed, We ased. | found that we were in danger, through no iault of in Reanim rerounns Rea rigrenard is | ours, of being left without tunds co meet the cur- paid by the issioners to the pro of the ninecy- = Kirst section of chapter 435, Laws of. 1873, which declares | A GETaltarnianoLanererncis ineerer wo adopted ‘That whenever any work is necessary to be aone to : complete or perfect a particular job, or any supply 1g | the Only course which seemed possible, and di- ed for any particular purpose, which work or jobis | recced that there should be carried over, to be e undertaken or supply furnished tor the Corporation, | paid from the appropriation for 1874, certain ex- the several parts of the said work or supply shail | penses for supplies and otuer articies which more @ of more than $1, i Properly belong to, cele woulde be used in, thas . year. e@ subsequently learned teat the book- and given to the lowest | {eener to whom we had relerred carried over, eatirely without our knowledge, some other billa to the account of 1874, We have now, in all frankness and candor, answered the charges contained im ir. Howe's report. We naturally supposed, out tt seems most erroneously, that the Commissloners of Accounts would be able, ready and willing to assist us in putting into proper order the account books of the department, which we found in an unsatis- Jactory condition upon our entrance into office, But Mr, Howe seems to have conceived it to be m3 | Boe to ip pee fh) he has bean about es is $0-called investigation in trying to discover, And cight of Mr, Howe's report are in substance 10 | by insinuations, misre} pestucationn or facts, sup- the elect that we have violated the letter and | pressions and perversions of the truth, and sys- spirit of the ninety-first section of the charter aod | tematic attempts to put an evil construction on tat we have caused our books to be altered to | all our acts, however innocent—how he can best cover up and conceal these violations ot law. | serve, not the puolic tnterest, but the acifish par- ‘The same spirit of unfairness and hostility which | poses of those with whom he is now commecton pervades! che othst Parts of the report is also ap- | " And we earnestly request your committee to paren 2 make so thorougn an investigation as to all these It is clear that the report is intende¢ to convey charges that the purpose and object of this attack the impression that erasures of @ kind to oblite- | on the conduct of our department may be revealed rate the original entries have beea made tu the yo your honorable Board and to the general public, storekeeper’s books. This 18 not the fact; any | In conclusion, we desire to say that we have en- io and together involve the expendi 0, the same shail be done by contract * © * founded on | seuied bids or proposals “* bide.” | This allegation of Mr. Howe, that in making pnr- | chases Of supplies no regard ts paid by us to the | Ronan of the ninety-Urst section of the charter 3 wholly false and untrue, and Mr. Howe must | have known When he made this allegation that it | was utterly false. He, acity oMmicial himself, had | only to consult the files of the City Record, tue | official paper, where advertisements of thts kind, by law, must be published, to find the advertise- ments from time to time by our Board (or supplies heeded for our department, The allegations contained in charges six, seven alterations that have been made have been made | deayored honest! and = jaithit to so that the original entries are ati!! preserved, and | charges all the Tatios of Nour omes. our. it 18 perfectly obvious what they were. ‘These | ous and varied as they are. We have | never knowingly violated or evaded the letter gud spirit of any provisions of law. We may have made errors and mistakes, but conscious of our own Integrity, of our pure intentions and of our honest desire to serve and protect the inter- ests of the city by the faithful discharge of the weighty responsibilities devolved apon us, we earnestly ask at the hands of your committee and the public the closest scrutiny into the conduct of our department and all our oficial acts, and | suoh Judgment tuereon, ioe nas prejudice and hostility, as @ spirit of impal aod intelligen' if 18 but just to us to say thas | justice Tail ‘aiesate. “ - M We did not direct these alverations to be made, |” Your ovedient servants, ahd were not aware that thdy had been made In WILLIAM LAIMBEER, any instance until after he Pacaeaean oc Mr, MYER STERN, : ‘edo not claim to be sk! in joners of, Public v the construction or Interpretation of the statute | COMmissioners of Puplic Chartt ra 1n question. We have acted on the theory, how- The undersigned, one of the Commissioners of ever, that the section of the charter in question | pyplic Charities and Correction, Feapectialiy begs leave to state his reasons for withholding his sig- make them—that is, & single line in red ink has been drawn through the figures only carried out tn the last column, leaving all the rest of the entry and all the part in writing, without any erasure whatever, and the figures in black ink under the line in rea ink perfectly legible. ‘rhere | has been, therefore, no conceaiment or attempt at conceaiment or deception in the matter, as clearly appears from our repeated invitations to the Commissioners of Accounts to come and ex- letter, We cannot but think that this section | is In many Tespects onscure and audfeult of er a a hh ch Le comprehension to the mind of the*ordinar; layman, We believed that the Intent Ot | oie cagnot subscribe to the intemperate language of the report in respect to Mr. Howe’s strictures on the admit ration of the department. The conclusions of Mr. Howe are in insti roneous; but the errors which te has m not be refuted by charging him with misrepre- senterions of fasts, suppressions and perversfons of truth. The undersigned fully accords to.Mr. Howe what the section was to Insure economy in pur- chases and to guard against iraud and jobbery. We have found by experience and actual trial of the aystem of advertisements ior contracts for supplies that it is almost impracticable when applied to our department, which Is called upon | to supply the actual dally wants of from 8,000 to 10,000 people, We have found, asa rule, that the | ¥ loivest bid received in answer to our advertise- | hea ‘endeavored. to” discharge his duty_ withoud ments was consideral iguer than the prices at | which the goods could be bought in open market. | miredeeers —° COMseduences. | Respectru wn The reasons for this are many. Thus the aaver- mpletion of @ contract requires fuliy twenty days, Including the ten days required for publishing the advertisement, The merchant, therefore, who submits his bid, makes @ Caicula- tion upon the chance of @ rising market, and ts almost compelled to add a considerable margin to protect himself against that contingency, Again, the conditions and technicalities required by: the law are considered by merchants and dealers so burdensome that the better class of dealers will Not submit proposais or Make bids in reply to our advertusements. Moreover, we are advised by the Counsel to the To the Hon. S. V. R. COOPER. New Youg, Sept. 17, 1874, Action of the Board of Aldermen. Thé Committee of the Board of Aldermen on Law, to whom the above report of the Commis Stoners had been presented by Commissioner Laimbeer tn the morning, submitted the answer at the meeting of the Board tn the afternoon, ac- companted by & preliminary report of the commite tee, which asked the Board to authorize the-print- ing of the report, including the answer of the Commiastoners, in document form, and that the committee be allowed a stenographer, an accoun- tant and a clerk, to assist them in their further investigation, Alderman McOAFFERTY moved that the report be jaid upon the table and the committee be dis- charged from any ‘urther consideration of the subject. He urged as reasons (or this course that the public bad no confidence in the committee and that i¢ Was untversaky understood that it was only a “whitewashing committee,” He said that it was impossible that tae present committee Pag ge chee be ght, eed except on tl supposition tha ey wouk re members of the board, : s Ween Mr. Cooper said that he did not undertake the Investigation of this or any department trom any desire to do #o, He, as chairman of the commit- tee, had found that the Board, at its last meeting, had given them nO powers to tnvestigate, and, theretore, tt Was necessary to present this pre- liminary report. Alderman BILLInas, in reply to the strictnres of Alderman MeOafferty, said that his record was ag honorabie as any of his colleagues, and he resented any insinugtions upon the honesty of his official A spirited discussion foitowed, in which much feeling Wasindulged in by the Tespective speak- ers. On the vote being taken the report was fe- ceived’ by @ strict party Vote, ag follows :—Afmrma- tive—President Vance, Aldermen Billings, Cooper, Faiconer and Morris, Negative—Aldermen Koch, McCaMerty. Kilev aud Otteudorien est bid that is regular, in form and in substance, and which conforms to the requirements ot the | Statute, As @ Consequence it often happens that we are obliged W pass Over the bids lowest in fact and award the contract to une whose bid 18 regu- jar and legal tn form; but tt may be the highest on tae ist, and thus the articles needed have to be purchased at exorbitant prices, We now beg to call atterition to some of the results of our ea- deavors to obtain supplies by the contract system. It should be observed that the law prescribes that. “all such coutracts, when given, shall be given to the lowest bidder.” As our purchases of four have been the subject of severe crijicism on | the part of Mr. Howe, we will detail our ex- perience in our endeavors to buy flour by the con- | tract sysiem. On the 20th of duly. 1873, our de- partment advertised for 600 barrels of four, We received S1X bids in all, Varying in price from $6 58 to $7 60 per barrel, ard the eontract was, in ac- cordance With the law, awarded to the lowest | bidder, The contract was sompieted and the four delivered. When we undertook to ase itthe bread made from it was found bad; those who ate tt were made sick, and we were obliged to return it at a great inconvenience and some expense to the depart. | ment. Again on August 10, 1874, Wo advertised for proposals for 1,000 barrels hour, We received bat one bid and were obliged to award the con- tract to this bidder, and we afterwards found that we paid for this four, under our contract, about twenty-five cents @ barre] more than the market price then ruling. On June 16, 1874, we adver. Lined ior 8.000 ona af coal. We received bat ong