So It Was Boss Youngs' Job!

New York, 1895

Why Assemblyman Vacheron Wanted Five Arrears Commissioners.

The Long Island City Herald, the leading Republican newspaper of the county, throws some new light on Assemblyman Vacheron's job to increase the number of tax arrears commissioners to five. The Herald says it was Boss Youngs' job to make a place for a Flushing henchman named John Doty Van Nostrand, which would cost the tax-payers just $4,500. Boss Youngs does not think of the taxpayers. All he cares about is to perpetuate his political machine and go on bossing. What the Herald says on the subject follows:

"We are informed that Mr. Vacheron insists upon increasing the membership of that commission to five, in order to make a place for one of the Hon. William J. Youngs' friends in Flushing. There is not the slightest excuse or justification for enlarging the membership of the commission. It will only exist three years and the value of the property to be investigated by it, and the ownership established, will not probably exceed half a million dollars. In the three years they are to serve their salaries will amount to $13,500. A fifth member of the commission would be like the fifth wheel of a coach, for which there is no necessity whatever, and his appointment would cost the taxpayers of the county $4,500. We can dispense with this luxury and no one will suffer except the gentleman who is seeking the appointment. Governor Morton has insisted upon retrenchment and has defined his views in a manner so clear and statesmanlike that even the Democratic papers have given him his full meed of praise. The tax arrears commission bill is a good measure, but it must not be made unpopular by loading it down with more salaried officers than are absolutely necessary."

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 12, 1895, p. 2.