department in their hands they could suppress this evidence,
or, if driven to desperation, destroy it. A council of the leaders of
the Ring was called, at which it was resolved to get Mr. Connolly out of
the Comptroller's office, and to put in his place a creature of their
own. They did not dare, however, to make an effort to oust Connolly,
without having some plausible pretext for their action. They feared that
he would expose their mutual villainy, and involve them in his ruin, and
they wished to prevent this. Still, they resolved to get rid of him, and
their plan was first to crush him, and thus prevent his exposing them.
We shall see how their plan worked.

Meanwhile the public indignation had been growing stronger daily. On the
4th of September, 1871, a large and harmonious meeting of citizens,
without regard to party, was held at Cooper Institute. At this meeting
it was resolved to compel an exposure of the frauds practised upon the
people, and to punish the guilty parties; and committees were appointed,
money subscribed, and the best legal talent in the city retained for that
purpose. A reform movement to carry the November elections in the
interest of the citizens and tax-payers was inaugurated, and the power of
the courts was invoked to put a stop to the further expenditure of the
city funds. The popular sentiment was too strong to be mistaken, and
some of the leading officials, and several journals which had previously
supported the Ring, took the alarm and entered the ranks of the party of
Reform. The Democratic party of the State repudiated the Ring, and it
was plain that the Tammany ticket would be supported only by the lowest
classes of the city voters. The members of the Ring were now thoroughly
aroused to the danger which threatened them; but, true to their corrupt
instincts, they endeavored to meet it by fraud. They appointed a
Committee of Aldermen to act with the Citizens' Committee in the
investigation of the alleged frauds, and then withheld from them all
evidence that could be of service to them.

The Comptroller's office contained not only the accounts of moneys paid
out, but also the vouchers for all sums expended, properly signed and
sworn to by the parties receiving the money, and these vouchers
constituted the principal proof of the frauds. On Monday, September
11th, the city was startled by the announcement that the office of the
Comptroller had been forcibly entered during the p