account of the Tammany Frauds in the renting of armories for the militia in the city of New York, was published. This business came within the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Works, and was therefore immediately under the supervision of the "Boss," as Tweed was very appropriately named. Tweed had a partner in the chair making business, who was called into the service of his department, and appointed agent to rent lofts, stables, sheds, public and private halls, and other out of the way and generally useless rooms, at very low prices, and to sublet them to the city at very high prices. The agent discharged his duties so skilfully, that very soon the city held the leases for twenty-four armories, at an annual rental of $281,100. Now there were only twelve regiments and two companies in the city, so that ten of the armories were not occupied, that, however, was of small consequence to Tammany. The tax payers paid the rent, and the "Boss" and his agent made a large profit on each armory rented; the more armories the more profits. Tweed & Co. paid only $46,600 to the owners of the properties thus rented. The difference between $281,100 and $16,600 is what Tammany stole from the tax payers by this transaction; that is $234,500 a year. These figures were derived from accounts copied from the Controller's books, and this fact was announced when they were published. A few days later another instalment of accounts, showing what it cost to keep these armories in repair was made public. It appears from the discoveries made by explorers of the Tammany Camps, that the chiefs of the tribe retained in the public service a full corps of experienced mechanics and supple merchants. George S. Miller was the Tammany carpenter; Andrew J. Garvey, the Tammany plasterer; John M. Keyser, the Tammany plumber; James A. Smith, the Tammany carpet merchant; C. B. Boller, the Tammany furniture and cabinet maker; Archibald Hall, Jr., the Tammany painter; James H. Ingersoll may best be denominated the Tammany "whitewasher.” There were in addition to these, here named, many others of smaller consequence, who did numerous small jobs in the way of work and supplies, for which they received very large prices. Between all these and the Tammany chief, Ingersoll acted as agent; the checks drawn on the city treasury in favor of the carpenters, plumbers, plasterers, cabinet makers, furniture dealers, carpet merchants, upholsterers, decorators and others passed through Ingersoll's hands, and many of them were endorsed in the name of Ingersoll & Co." 66 The law of the State which governs the financial transactions with the city treasury provides, that whenever any claims against the city are presented for payment, each bill shall be made out in items, and accompanied by an affidavit, and that, after being passed by the Board of Supervisors, it shall be "examined and allowed by the Auditor, ahd approved by the Controller," before a warrant can be drawn for its payment. Under Controller CONNOLLY'S administration of the finances, all these provisions were ignored. There To submit the Ring bills to the Board of Supervisors would have placed the latter in possession of facts, which would only have made them more restive and dissatisfied with the inglorious and unprofitable rôle to which the unscrupulous and insatiable Ring had assigned them. In addition to this, there was no oceasion for submitting these bills to the Board of Supervisors. The new charter gives the Mayor absolute control of that Board-his single vote is sufficient to override the votes of all the other members. is no law or ordinance which requires the publication of the proceedings of the Board, and hence the Mayor and the Clerk of the Board are at liberty to pass as many bills as they think proper, while the other members of the Board of Supervisors, and the public, are left in the dark as to the frauds that are being committed. The bills for repairs on armories, and for work on the new court house, are fixed up by INGERSOLL and the Clerk of the Board to Supervisors. Without any more formality they are handed to the County Auditor, who certifies that he has examined them and found them correct. The warrants are then drawn, signed by the Controller, Mayor, and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, and then handed over to INGERSOLL, who acts as the go-between and divides the plunder among the thieves who are entitled to shares. In many of the bills rendered, no attempt was made to show where the work was done, or of what character it was. The following is a fair sample of the bills presented, upon which millions of dollars were drawn from the treasury.. Repairs on the armories of the Sev enth, Eighth, Twelfth, Fifty-fifth and Eighty-fourth Regiments. $39,835 Garvey received a check for this sum on the 12th of March, 1870, and on the same day was paid on two other checks $19,343.82, and $32,250, without filing a scrape of a pen to show what these sums were intended to pay for. On the same day, John H. Keyser, the Tammany plumber, drew from the treasury $60,702.32, on a bill rendered for "Plumbing in the several National Guard Armories." These were the sort of statements, called by cour tesy "bills,” which were passed by the Auditor, approved by Mayor Hall, and paid by Controller Connolly. The sums paid out on such flimsy and fraudulent pretexts during the years 1869, 1870, and 1871, were as follow: To Ingersoll & Co. This included bills for furniture, carpenter, and $5,691,144 26 cabinet work, carpets, shades and curtains, and fixtures for the new court house. To Andrew J. Garvey, for plastering, 2,905,464 06 To Keyser & Co., for plumbing, 1,231,817 76 To about fifteen other persons and firms, for miscellaneous services, and goods furnished, 1,409,961 76 Making a grand total in three years, of $11,238,387 74 It is a liberal estimate to say that all the work and materials furnished for the new court house, at highest prices, would not cost over $500,000, yet the enormous sum of $6,052,045.96 was paid to the Tammany ring on this account. The building is still incomplete, and is under the hands of the workmen, yet the enormous sum of $2,940,473.70 is charged by carpenters, plasterers and plumber, for repairs. Andrew J. Garvey, the plumber, is able to figure his repair bill up to the princely sum of $1,294,684.73. If there is anything in the familiar and matchless stories of the Arabian Nights equal to this in the way of conjuring, or calculation, it ought to be named as a precedent for Garvey's Exploits. As the case now stands, he has obtained the highest rank as a plastic artist; his works of imagination commanding a higher price than had ever been paid for the productions of any other-predecessor or cotemporary. The experience of the Tammany plasterer is one more illustration of the truth that "true genius is ever appreciated and liberally rewarded." The Controller's books set forth among other things, a printing and advertising account, amounting to over a million and a quarter of dollars annually. In the |