TAMMANY TRICKS.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 458, 16 July 1898, Page 2

TAMMANY TRICKS.

♦- A NEW YORK SENSATION. New York finds itself able to crowd in a local sensation of its own in the midst of the fervor of war feeling. / The boldness of the Mayor in manipulating the Police Board so as to have it practically a part of the Tammany machine has excited the indignation of the opposition whose leaders now threaten to have Mayor Van Wyck suspended or removed. They claim that he, has violated the charter by his police appointments. The charter enforces non-partizanship in the Police - Board by requiring that half the commissioners be Democrats and half Republicans. The Mayor is said to have been bent upon removing Chief Inspector McCullagh, in order to put at the active head of the force a man who would better serve Tarunany interests. In order to do this he removed the two Republican Commissioners, and put .in their places men who were at first supposed to be Republicans, backed by the leaders of that party. The new Board at once removed Chief McCullagh, and appointed Captain Devery, a man of doubtful reputation. Some years ago was called the Lexow Committee of the Slate Legislature investigated the city's police and found that many of the captains were standing in with many of the dive keepers, liquor dealers, and keepers of disreputable houses. These officers were found to be taking large sums of money .in weekly or monthly payments for protecting such persons from molestation when they broke the laws. This Captain Devery, ' who is now made chief of the force, was obliged to retire from the force as a result of the investigation. Captain McCullagh, who had just been removed, came to the top on the crest of the moral wave that then swept over the town. The itepublicans now claim that Mayor Van Wyck's new appointees are in violation of the charter. Ex-Senator Piatt and exSecretary of the Navy, Benjamin F. Tracy, threaten to appeal to the Governor of the State to suspend or remove the Mayor. The affair is causing a sensation, as it is believed that Captain McCullagh's dismissal is the first step towards the restoration of corrupt Tammany methods in every department of city government, and what is called a "wide open city" is expected. A "wide open city " in American parlance is one in which the publichouses keep open on Sundays, and dance halls and gambling dens flourish.