STATES & CITIES: Scandals of New York (Cont'd)

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Following Inquisitor Seabury's revelations the City Affairs Committee began consideration of a move to oust Messrs. Farley, Cruise, McQuade and Perry. Federal income tax authorities began investigating the more than $1,800,000 deposits of five of the six officials. They found that Under Sheriff Curran had filed returns since 1925, but did not reveal how much tax he had paid. They revealed that one of the officials had offered to pay up his back taxes if promised that he would not be prosecuted.

Meanwhile Investigator Seabury had turned his attention to Mayor Walker's missing business agent, Russell T. Sherwood, and found that he had conducted transactions in about 20 bank and brokerage houses, totalling more than a million dollars. Once an accountant in Mayor Walker's old law firm, Agent Sherwood became the Mayor's confidential agent, disappeared in August when Seabury agents were after him. He was found in Atlantic City. Inquisitor Seabury heard that the Mayor left a banquet in Berlin to talk on the radio telephone to Atlantic City at this time. Soon afterward Agent Sherwood disappeared again. Inquisitor Seabury charged that Tammany Hall was obstructing his investigation, that Mayor Walker "has kept his business agent out of the committee's jurisdiction."

The Mayor: "Nothing to say."

At this point Agent Sherwood was located in the Ritz Hotel in Mexico City. To reporters he said: "I have not a single word to say regarding anything published in New York regarding me." He threatened to leave Mexico City and go into hiding again, said he would refuse to accept a subpoena.

With little chance of bringing Agent Sherwood back where he could ask questions, Inquisitor Seabury prepared to call before him a onetime Tammany leader— George Washington Olvany. The committee has had Boss Olvany's personal bank accounts for several months, but Boss Olvany has insisted that his law firm's books were confidential. Lawyer Olvany explained his sudden resignation as Tammany leader on grounds of ill health, but not even Tammanyites deny that if any Tammany boss ever made money for himself out of his Tammany connection, Boss Olvany did.

Ratification Party. Last week in its bright new hall Tammany staged a rally to ratify its candidates for the November election. Speaker Alfred Emanuel Smith denounced Governor Roosevelt's pet reforestration program. He was roundly cheered. Republican observers found it easy to guess why the loudest cheers had come from Listeners Farley, Perry. Cruise and McQuade. Ex-Governor Smith had not previously been much exercised about reforestration. His speech sounded like an oblique notice to Governor Roosevelt that he was lined up on Tammany's side and that Tammany was tired of being pestered by investigations.