Land and Post-Office. In 1903 politicians and others were indicted in Nebraska for corrupt land and post-office transactions.
Other similar post-office irregularities in McKinley’s administration, implicating high officials; many indictments; gross department incompetence and carelessness revealed (1903).
New York, 1904. Fire Department scandals, fraudulent hose purchases of $23,410.
Kansas, 1905. Government land frauds implicating a state senator and other officials.
New York, 1905. “The notorious ‘Ten’ carried through a scheme in the New York Senate, by which the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway bonds were to be included in the savings bank bill as proper securities for investment. The ‘Black Horse Cavalry’ had succeeded in a similar deal formerly and members had made a large profit on the consequent appreciation of the bonds in question.” (Reinsch, p. 248.)
New York—1906. Ahearn scandals; padded payrolls, illegal purchases, etc., amounting to millions, involving office of Borough President.
New York—1914. Hunts Point Bathing Place; value $4300, sold to the City of New York in 1914 for $247,000.
Indiana—1908. Conspiracy to defraud the State; former legislative speaker indicted.
New Jersey—1913. One Kuehnle, political boss of Atlantic City, sentenced to prison for voting as a water commissioner to award a contract to a company of which he was a stockholder.
In 1899 a book of about eight hundred pages, entitled Thirty Years of New York Politics, was published by Breen who had been for a generation active in New York politics and had held office as member of the state legislature and as local magistrate. It presents a vivid picture of the corruption, rascality and incapacity that characterized the politicians of New York City and State from about 1860 to 1890. He tells of forgeries of items in legislative tax bills, the true bills immediately after passage by the legislature being altered by additions of items and the forged tax bills placed before the governor and signed by him. Some of Breen’s tales are even amusing, showing the open way in which the business of official bribery has been carried on and the fun there was supposed to be in the business. In one instance there was a gas bill before the New York legislature opposed by the company interested. A lobbyist was in charge whose original orders to pass the bill were revoked and he was directed to kill it. In order to make his services appear more valuable to the company the lobbyist had the bill reported favorably. Subsequently he had it defeated and the members waited upon him for their cash at the Kenmore House, Albany, N. Y., the fee of each being $250. Meantime another bill had been introduced regulating the price of gas and the members were told that they would get nothing until they also killed the second bill. This was very annoying as it required them to do two jobs for one fee; but it had to be done. Then the lobbyist began paying off some of the members at the Kenmore House, Albany, while to avoid suspicions which might be aroused by the presence of too many members in one place his assistant undertook to pay off the others at the Delavan House. By mistake eight of the members got money at each hotel. When a return was demanded they, partly in joke and to worry the lobbyist, refused, claiming that as they had done two jobs they were entitled to two fees; but finally the duplicate money was returned to the alarmed lobbyist. The reader will thus see that there is sometimes entertainment as well as profit in the vote traffic, when well understood by the participants and spiritedly conducted. One veteran member used to say that he considered it injurious to the health to have anything to do with a “contingent bill,” that is to say where the bribe depended upon the result. “I never can sleep at all when I have a contingent bill on my mind; it undermines my health and my life is valuable to the state. Spot cash is my gait; it saves all bother.” Another interesting incident told by Senator Breen is that of one Hackley, a contractor, who put in a bid for a street-cleaning contract in New York. The aldermen delayed voting the contract. Hackley received a letter unsigned requesting him to leave $40,000 in a package on a table in the City Hall. He left the money in $500 bills on the aldermanic table in a package without any address. As he entered to do so he saw four of the aldermen casually conversing by the door; when he came out they were still standing there. Nothing was said. The next day he got the contract. The courts were for some years occupied with some questions of legality regarding this contract and incidentally this little episode came to light.