TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1908. A RECORD IN "GRAFT."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 66, 17 March 1908, Page 4

TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1908. A RECORD IN "GRAFT."

In October, 1906, Pennsylvania formally opened its new Capitol with a solemn ceremonial of dedication. It is one of the largest, certainly one of the., most gorgeously adorned, possibly one of the most beautiful public buildings in the United States, and its completion evoked a fervid outburst of popular enthusiasm in which impressionable people mingled thoughts and phrases of the most elevated kind. Round the interior of the dome is inscribed a sentence from the speech with which William Perm tha, Quaker, founder of the state, inaugurated its career, describing the city of Brotherly Love as "a holy experiment for the nations," and expressing the hope that its citizens may always do "the thing that is truly wise and just." And this is the spirit in which the Philadelphians themselves have endeavoured to regard their new civic temple. Standing beneath the dome," wrote one of them, "I believe that the architect's ideal was that of a shrine conceived as a habitation for the spirit of Perm's utterance —great as befits the magnitude of its significance; soaring high as with its aspiration; strong, serene and beautiful as the faith that is in it." After reflecting upon these dignified and lofty sentiments, it is something of a shock to learn that this magnificent structure, which was to embody the noblest ideals of patriotism and civic virtue, is really the most gigantic illustration of the omnipotence of "graft" and municipal corruption that even America has yet been able to supply. In view of what has subsequently transpired it should interest our readers to know something of this remarkable edifice. It is 520 ft. long and over 250 ft. broad, and its area is about 2000 square feet greater than that of St. Paul's. The dome is modelled on that of St. Peter's, and the whole building is meant to be a florid imitation of classic Greek. The interior is furnished in the most gorgeous fashion —stained glass windows, mural paintings, bronze gilding and colour combining to produce a general impression that reads more like a page from the " Arabian Nights" than a sober description of a 20th century Legislative Chamber. But perhaps the most interesting fact about it all is that it cost several millions sterling to build and decorate, and that perhaps fourfifths of this amount has been absolutely and literally stolen by the contractors and their friends. The original vote for the Capitol was 550,000 dollars, and the Commission entrusted with the work was carefully instructed ou no account to exceed this amount, and to have the building ready for the State session of 1899. But political intrigues, in which the notorious " Boss " Quay played an important part, delayed the work, and in 19J30 a new Commission appointed by the "machine" increased the vote to 4,000,000 dollars. When the vote was secured, the Commission set about extending its operations on a more generous scale, and the constitution of PennsylvaI nia afforded many facilities for a dishonest use of the opportunities placed in the hands of the " grafters" and "boodlers " who ran the State " machine." There is in Pennsylvania a State Board charged with the care and repairs of public buildings. Its duty is to facilitate any trivial but necessary work such as order- | iag coal or repairing roofs without wait-

ing for the red tape formalities usually incidental to the voting of supplies. The Capitol Commission secured the adherence of this Grounds and Buildings Board. As this board had a perfectly indefinite- right to draw on the public accounts, all that was now iwessary, as ond indignant Amerbau puts it, was "to get into the treasury vitb-a scoop shove'"; and this the Comtv tsion promptly proceeded to do. Ihe first step was to appeal to the Board for the cost of furnishing the Capitol, on the ground that the original vote was for "construction" only. This was speedily arranged, and then the game of "graft" began. -The Commission employed its own architect and let contracts to its personal friends. The contractors knew what was coming, and began their work months before tenders were called for. They -substituted base and cheap metals for fine and costly ones, and cast work for lathe work or hand work. They secured blank billheads from sub-con-tractors and filled out "fake" bills, which were doubled or trebled and duly presented for payment. They used birch for mahogany, and putty for hand-carv-ings; they laid parquetry floors on top of cement, and heavy carpets on top of all, and charged on the three accounts at fabulous rates. The Commission "was able to close the eyes and seal the mouths of the men elected to the highest place of trust," and all the time on. countless pretexts it kept on drawing State money for any amount that it chose to ask. It would take too much of our space to give many details of this "carnival of graft." Bronze work was bought "per pound," and furniture "per foot." Thus | the chandeliers in the Senate chamber, some of them 2 tons in weight, were I charged at about 5 dollars per pound, though they were mostly loaded with , iron worth 4 cents per pound. The total' bill for the chandeliers and other bronzes was about 2,050,000 dollars, though cvi- I dence has shown that they were not worth more than 500,000 dollars. The j ceiling decoration of the Treasurer's office really cost 300 dollars, but was charged at 5,400 dollars. A mantel over one fireplace cost the State 6,800 dollars. Leather chairs of very ordinary style were charged at 18 dollars a foot, or about £18 each. The bill for furnishing the Senate Library is a curiosity in itself. The metallic furniture alone cost £11,000, the chandeliers £870, the designed woodwork £4,100, two sofas £890, three tables £1470, and so on through the list. The total cost for this one room is 105,000 dollars—over £20,000 sterling. When we read that the cup-rack in the Senatorial barber's • shop is put down at 3,256 dollars, and a boot black stand with two plain mahogany chairs cost 1660 dollars, we are inclined to think that the thieves must have been blessed with a sense of humour in addition to their singular ingenuity. It is still impossible, to say whether the total expenditure has been as high as twelve million dollars, but the estimate of a graft of about £1,500,000 on a building that was originally supposed to cost about £120,000, is enough to satisfy even the exacting fancy of the most accomplished American " boodler." The moral is too obvious to need drawing; but it is certainly regrettable that a city with such noble traditions as Philadelphia must still, in the words of a distinguished American, "stand as the colossal type of corrupt administration, not only for the United States, but for the whole world."