National Affairs: House & Hall

The House of Morgan last week pulled the Hall of Tammany out of a bad financial hole. It was a rescue of civic necessity, not political love.

Tammany's political strength derives in large measure from oversized municipal payrolls, fat public contracts, personal relief for the faithful. Slim, slick little Mayor James John Walker, whose salary is $40,000, refused to economize. In 1929 the municipal budget was $520,000,000; in 1931, $605,000,000. For this year Mayor Walker put through a budget of $631,000,000 while his critics screamed themselves hoarse about his extravagance. Fortnight after New...

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