incurring either his enmity, or the censure of the
leaders of the Ring to whom his influence was of value. So crime of all
kinds increased in the city.

[Picture: A. OAKEY HALL, MAYOR OF NEW YORK.]

Under the protection of the New Charter, the Ring began a systematic
campaign of robbery. Section four of the County Tax Levy, one of their
measures, provided that liabilities against the county, the limits of
which coincide with those of the city, should be audited by the Mayor,
the Comptroller and the President of the Board of Supervisors, or in
other words, Mayor Hall, Comptroller Connolly, and Mr. William M. Tweed,
and that the amount found to be due should be paid. "These Auditors,"
says Mr. Tilden, "met but once. They then passed a resolution, which
stands on the records of the city in the handwriting of Mayor Hall. It
was passed on his motion, and what was its effect? It provided that all
claims certified by Mr. Tweed and Mr. Young, Secretary of the old Board
of Supervisors, should be received, and, on sufficient evidence, paid."
Thus the door was thrown open to fraud, and the crime soon followed.
"Mayor Hall," continues Mr. Tilden, "is the responsible man for all this.
He knew it was a fraudulent violation of duty on the part of every member
of that Board of Audit to pass claims in the way they did."

The door being thus thrown open to fraud, the thefts of the public funds
became numerous. All the appropriations authorized by law were quickly
exhausted, and large sums of money were drawn from the treasury, without
the slightest warrant of law.

[Picture: WILLIAM M. TWEED.]

The new Court House in the City Hall Park was a perfect gold mine to the
Ring. Immense sums were paid out of the treasury for work upon this
building, which is still unfinished. Very little of this money was spent
on the building, the greater part being retained, or stolen by the Ring
for their own private benefit. The Court House has thus far cost
$12,000,000, and is unfinished. During the years 1869, 1870, and a part
of 1871, the sum of about $8,223,979.89 was expended on the new Court
House. During this period, the legislative appropriation for this
purpose amounted to only $1,400,000. The Houses of Parliament in London,
which cover an area of nearly eight acres, contain 100 staircases, 1100
apartments and more than two miles of corridors, and constitute one of
the grandest architectural w