Municipal Bribery in New York.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 143, 18 June 1887, Page 3 (Supplement)

Municipal Bribery in New York.

About one year ago a number of political scandals were unearthed in New York, which bade fair to equal the exploits of the. Tweed gang, , which reigned supreme in New York for many years, and was finally destroyed through the efforts of the late Governor Tilden in 1872. The scandal of a year a°-o involved many members of the Board °of Aldermen, who' were shown to have received bribes repeatedly from persons who desired to pass certain swindling measures through the board. Principal among this class of legislaton wjere a series of franchise bills, givingto certain street railroad, telegraph, and other companies the exclusive privilege devoting the public streets to the purposes of their various business. These franchises, as a matter of course, were of great value and much sought after. Among the members of one company which was striving to obtain a number of franchises, was an unscrupulous old man named Jacob Sharp, who had amassed a large fortune as a lobbyist and political trickster, who induced the members of the Board of Aldermen to give these franchisesto his company. Sharp ofl'eretl them very large sums, which were accepted. ; ' . * ■ ■;■" '■'";! This was a patent breaph .of trust, as tlicre were companies which would have gladly paid the City of New Yoijk millions of dollars for the privileges which the board'gratuitously granted to Sharp and his associates, and it was evident that the aldermen, had they been' 'honest, would have offered the franchises to the highest bidders. While this was very evident, and i proved, to a moral certainty, that the aldermen had;been bribed, it was of but little or no importance as legal evidence, and hence the conviction of the aldermen and Sharp and his confederates in a court of justice was- a matter of extreme difficulty.' Indeed, it is probable that they could not have been punished at all, had not one pf the. guilty .aldermen confessed his guilt, and given damaging testimony against his fellows, which resulted in the conviction of several of their number. But the demands ef justice, will not be fully satisfied until the areh-erfminal Sharp shares the fate of the' aldermen whom he corrupted. District Attorney Martine, of New, York, proposes to soon bring him to trial on thirty-one separate charges of bribery, that being the number of aldermen whom he is charged . with ■havino- improperly-influenced. The same evidence which induced the juries to render verdicts of guilty against the men charged with having received bribes' from Sharp ought it is evident, to suffice to convict him of having given bribes. The conviction of Sharp would be a most salutary example to the rich and bold knaves in all large American cities who grow rich On siniilar practices, but haye so much wealth and influence that they can afford to, set the law afc defiance.