STATES & CITIES: Scandals of New York (Cont’d)

Corruption in the government of New York City is widespread. This corruption could not exist on so large a scale if the sinister forces who are profiting by it were not afforded protection. Their identity must be established.

Thus, last month, did Samuel Seabury, counsel for the Republican-controlled legislative committee which has been investigating the Democratic municipal government for the past six months, state the purpose of his inquiry. Last week Inquisitor Seabury had established the identity of several persons who had profited by conditions within Tammany Hall, had also established the extent of their profits.

Digging into the bank accounts of minor city officials Inquisitor Seabury made public the following list of deposits since 1924:

Sheriff Thomas M. Farley $360,660.34

Under Sheriff Peter J. Curran $622,311.00

Assistant Deputy Sheriff Joseph Flaherty $260,803.00

City Clerk Michael J. Cruise $217,246.91

King’s County Register James McQuade $510,597.35

City Court Clerk Harry C. Perry $135,061.50

Largest salary earned by any of these men was that of Sheriff Farley—$15,000 per year for the two years he has been sheriff. Realists realized that the officials did not profit much personally, that their mysterious incomes were simply collections for the Tammany campaign chest, party graft, not individual.

Burly Sheriff Farley, openly called “grafter” by Inquisitor Seabury, admitted he had spent $14,000 bailing out 30 prisoners arrested in a raid on his political club, but denied knowing any of them, denied that “Baldy” Froelich or any of the other professional gamblers arrested there were actually gambling. He said they were busy packing 30,000 baseballs & bats, 5,000 skipping ropes and some May poles for the club’s outing. His $360,660 bank deposits, he said, were made from “money I had saved.” Most of it was kept in a tin box in a big safe in his home. The Sheriff insisted the box never contained more than $90,000, which was deposited and withdrawn over & over. Inquisitor Seabury called that a “revolving process”; Sheriff Farley called it “put it in & take it out.”

Register McQuade said he had got his money from friends, spent it taking care of “34 McQuades,” all dependent on him. Clerk Perry explained that some of his deposits represented “loans” from a subordinate, Edward P. Sherry. Inquisitor Seabury said he had evidence that the ‘”loans” were in payment for political favors. Clerk Cruise said $15,000 of his deposits were given him by the treasurer of his club for charity. He could not recall where the rest came from. “BigHearted Joe” Flaherty said his brother owned a “restaurant.” The others were vague.

Following Inquisitor Seabury’s revelations the City Affairs Committee began consideration of a move to oust Messrs. Farley, Cruise, McQuade and Perry. Federal income tax authorities began investigating the more than $1,800,000 deposits of five of the six officials. They found that Under Sheriff Curran had filed returns since 1925, but did not reveal how much tax he had paid. They revealed that one of the officials had offered to pay up his back taxes if promised that he would not be prosecuted.

Meanwhile Investigator Seabury had turned his attention to Mayor Walker’s missing business agent, Russell T. Sherwood, and found that he had conducted transactions in about 20 bank and brokerage houses, totalling more than a million dollars. Once an accountant in Mayor Walker’s old law firm, Agent Sherwood became the Mayor’s confidential agent, disappeared in August when Seabury agents were after him. He was found in Atlantic City. Inquisitor Seabury heard that the Mayor left a banquet in Berlin to talk on the radio telephone to Atlantic City at this time. Soon afterward Agent Sherwood disappeared again. Inquisitor Seabury charged that Tammany Hall was obstructing his investigation, that Mayor Walker “has kept his business agent out of the committee’s jurisdiction.”

The Mayor: “Nothing to say.”

At this point Agent Sherwood was located in the Ritz Hotel in Mexico City. To reporters he said: “I have not a single word to say regarding anything published in New York regarding me.” He threatened to leave Mexico City and go into hiding again, said he would refuse to accept a subpoena.

With little chance of bringing Agent Sherwood back where he could ask questions, Inquisitor Seabury prepared to call before him a onetime Tammany leader— George Washington Olvany. The committee has had Boss Olvany’s personal bank accounts for several months, but Boss Olvany has insisted that his law firm’s books were confidential. Lawyer Olvany explained his sudden resignation as Tammany leader on grounds of ill health, but not even Tammanyites deny that if any Tammany boss ever made money for himself out of his Tammany connection, Boss Olvany did.

Ratification Party. Last week in its bright new hall Tammany staged a rally to ratify its candidates for the November election. Speaker Alfred Emanuel Smith denounced Governor Roosevelt’s pet reforestration program. He was roundly cheered. Republican observers found it easy to guess why the loudest cheers had come from Listeners Farley, Perry. Cruise and McQuade. Ex-Governor Smith had not previously been much exercised about reforestration. His speech sounded like an oblique notice to Governor Roosevelt that he was lined up on Tammany’s side and that Tammany was tired of being pestered by investigations.

Political Significance. In 1909, one of the many other times when Tammany Hall was in really bad odor, a group of public-spirited men formed a Committee of 100 headed by Norman Hapgood, Joseph M. Price and Dr. Henry Moscowitz (husband of “Al” Smith’s efficient adviser and chief propagandist). Wealthy contributors to the committee were headed by Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Fulton Cutting, with $20,000 each. A fusion of Republicans and independents put candidates in the field, carried on an intensive campaign, chief feature of which was the erection of a huge papier-mache cow at campaign headquarters. Before the cow was a trough, from which the cow ate taxpayers’ money. Attached to the udders were rubber tubes through which was pumped “graft milk” to be drunk by Tammany. Tammany countered by erecting in Times Square a heroic female figure with a shield labelled “Our City” and the legend “Defeat of Slander” on the base. Also it persuaded brilliant, sadistic William J. Gaynor to be the Tammany candidate. He defeated Fusionist Otto T. Bannard. though the Fusionists did elect George McAneny Borough President of Manhattan, Alfred Steers Borough President of Brooklyn, and young John Purroy Mitchel president of Manhattan’s Board of Aldermen. Four years later John Purroy Mitchel was elected Mayor on another Fusion ticket.

Next month will be elected a borough president, many aldermen and assemblymen. In the five boroughs of New York City 1,350,000 voters have registered, an unusually large number for an off-year. But both Republicans and Democrats knew that the large figure was due to Tammany organization, not to civic indignation.