 Tribune |
New York, Friday, May 2, 1873
The Brooklyn Bridge
Is the Work to be Abandoned?
| Tribune |
|
Friday May 2, 1873 The Brooklyn Ring seeking to withdraw its investments - Mr. Murphy to introduce a bill into the Legislature repaying them and invalidating the subscriptions of the two cities. Some months ago the Committee of Fifty of Brooklyn, by repeated efforts, compelled an inquiry into the management of the East River Bridge Company, which from the first had been under the joint management of the old Tammany Ring of New York and the Brooklyn Ring, which ruled in the two cities. Tweed, Connolly, and Sweeny were subscribers and directors from New York; Kingsley, Murphy, McCue, and others, were the respresentatives from Brooklyn. Associated with the latter were Henry W. Slocum, Mr, Husted, Demas Barnes, and other prominent citizens and political opponents of the Brooklyn Ring, who were taken into the directory to give it respectability and confidence. A condition of the subscription by New York of $1,500,000 and by Brooklyn of $3,000,000, as provided in the charter, was that individuals should subscribe $500,000 or more. These subscriptions were allotted to about ten or a dozen men, among them Tweed, Connelly, Sweeny, and Hugh Smith. Their troubles overtook them, however, before the installments were paid up, and the Brooklyn Ring members of the directory had to assume their subscriptions before the Company could get the subscription of the two cities. Thus the New York Ring were ruled out of the job, and the Brooklyn Ring attempted to run it alone. The first thing attempted was to vote Superintendent Kingsley fifteen percent on all the expenditures. In the first subscription of $5,000,000 this would have netted the Ring $650,000. The total cost of the bridge will probably be $20,000,000, and if the designs of the Ring had not been exposed by the Committee of Fifty the total amount thus obtained by the Ring, for it is idle to suppose Mr. Kinglsey would claim or accept such a reward, would have been $300,000. The exposure of the Committee forced the return of one-third of the percentage which had already been paid Mr. Kingsley, and has finally compelled the Ring wholly to abandon the enterprise. But before giving up a work in which they see no prospective profits, the Ring now asks that their individual subscriptions on which, as a guarantee of good faith on their part, the two cities were induced to subscribe $4,500,000, shall be returned with interest. This monstrous proposition was deliberately voted at a meeting of the Board a few days ago, and created great interest in Brooklyn. It is now claimed that the repayment of the individual subscriptions will invalidate the cities' subscriptions; at least it is urged that any taxpayer so disposed can, on his pleas, throw the matter into the courts, during which litigation the building of the bridge will be practically abandoned, and the Ring be at liberty to point to the half-finished towers in derision as a proof of the incapacity of the two cities to carry on the work. DESIGNS OF THE RING. Since investigation into the affairs of the bridge, the directors have evinced a remarkable indifference to the progress of the work, and this indifference has lately given place to a desire to retire from the enterprise entirely, and let the conduct of the bridge, as well as its finances, come under the control of the two cities alone. At an informal meeting of the members who had voted in favor of the proposed retirement, it was determined on Tuesday to introduce a bill before the Legislature which would tend to that end. Accordingly Controller Schroeder, who voted with the Ring in favor of the measure, yesterday sent the following bill to Senator Murphy at Albany, and Mr. Murphy will introduce it according to agreement as an amendment to the Brooklyn Bridge bill before the Legislature: The Directors of the Brooklyn Beridge Company are hereby authorized to consolidate any or all of the stock of said company owned by others than the cities of New York and Brooklyn, so that the stock so held by private stockholders may be reduced to $250,000. When any private stockholder shall have paid in less than 50 percent of the amount subscribed by him, he shall, in order to entitle him to the benefits of this provision, first pay into the treasury of said Company any installments due upon said stock, so as to make the aggregate payments equal to 50 per cent of his subscription together with interest upon such unpaid installaments from the time when the same were called in, and thereafter full paid stock to the amount of 50 per cent of his said subscription shall be issued to such stockholder. When any private stockholder shall have paid more than 50 per cent upon the amount subscribed he shall be entitled to have full paid stock issued to him to the extent of 50 per cent of his said subscription and the surplus of payments made by him thereon shall be repaid out of the treasury of said Company. Provided always that the Cities of New York and Brooklyn may at any time before expiration of one year from the completion of siad bridge purchase and hold said consolidated stock or any part therof at par said stock to be held and purchased by said cities in the proportion in which they may be general stockholders; and if either city decline to purchase and paid consolidated stock, then the city willing to purchase said stock shall be entitled to purchase and hold all paid consolidated stock; and provided further that no overplus of payments shall be refunded to any stockholder until all installments of payments which may be due and in arrears upon all stock held by private stockholders shall have been paid into the treasury of said Company. Information was, yesterday, sought from several prominent gentlemen residing in Brooklyn as to the cause and meaning of this action on the part of the majority of the directors. The general sentiment prevailed that they were endeavoring to withdraw from the enterprise, and, in order not to excite too much attention, proposed first to reduce their interest one-half, and next year perhaps one-quarter more, until they should retire altogether, securing the interest on the amounts which they have invested. The opinion seemed to be general that if the act should pass the Legislature, work on the bridge would be suspended for an indefinite time, as it became a very serious question whether, according to the original provisions of the bill incorporating the Company, the two cities could be held to subscribe any stock, as the original provision says that of $ 500,000 worth of stock shall be subscribed by privatge individuals, then the city of Brooklyn shall take $3,000,000 worth of stock, and the City of NEw York $1,500,000. It is said that at any rate it would become a question of law; the matter would get into the courts, and with the innumerable delays which ingenious counsel interpose to obstruct the advancement of the enterprise would postpone the completion of the bridge to a remote time in the distant future. Some persons say that this movement is set on foot by some of the stockholders who at the outset entered into it for the purpose of plunder, and who have discovered that opportunities for successfully defrauding will no longer be afforded, and that the public will watch the proceedings at every step, and who consequently wich to withdraw. The understanding that Tweed, Sweeny and others of theRing whould take stock is mentioned to show that fraud was originally intended. The 15 per cent which Mr. ingsley received for his services is cited to show the prodigality in expenditure which it was intended should prevail during the construction of the enterprise. A Tribune reporter yesterday asked Controller Schroeder the maining of the section and why it was proposed. He Replied, "The section speaks for itself, I can tell you no more that you can see. If you don't understand its meaning, I can't interpret it for you. It is simply a corporate measure. It is a withdrawal that may occur if all the stockholders agree to it. That is all I can say about the matter." Some of the other stockholders were visited, but they had nothing further to add except that they believe that passage of the section would hasten the bridge enterprise by consolidating the stock. They agreed that the work would advance with even greater rapidity than previously, and that no suspension on the operations would take place. They said that the Legislature by passing this section would not affect the obligations of the two cities to take stock, as the same body which dealt with this section framed the old law and that it could amend its own section. |
This website maintained by:
Gary Feuerstein