After John J. Kenny left the stand, the trial reverted to a litany of kickbacks. Galano gave another account of the Steers payoffs, adding to Kenny's account of the abortive $150,000 kickback on the bridge-repair project: "I asked Mr. Dooley what the hell Jack Kenny wants a hundred and fifty thousand for, because, as far as I was concerned, he wasn't politically connected with John V. Kenny, and he had broken apart from the organization, and I just didn't understand why John V. Kenny would send Jack Kenny for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars....

"He was quite frightened. He turned white, and he said, `Well, I hope he is not using me, either, because my job at the county is at stake here.'"

Galano went to Wolfe, who had succeeded Jack Kenny as nominal chairman of the county organization. Wolfe said that Jack Kenny no longer spoke for John V. Kenny. Galano renegotiated the kickback with Wolfe - for $20,000. But there is no honor among bribers. He told his superiors at Steers that the price was $45,000 and pocketed $25,000. Philip Schuster, from the Warren Brothers division of Ashland Oil, testified that a $400,000 claim against Hudson County for road materials was settled in January 1970 for $208,000. A few days later Manning asked Schuster to stop at his office. Schuster arrived, and the county engineer led him into the hall.

"He told me he didn't like to talk in his office," Schuster said. "He was afraid that his office was bugged. . . . He then told me that I would have to come up with some money if I wanted to get this money from the claim. . . . He told me that he would need twenty-two thousand for the boss and two thousand for himself." ". . . Did he identify to you who `the boss' was?" Stern asked.

"... Yes, he did."

"Who did he identify his boss as?"

"He just called him the Little Guy."

"Did you know who in Hudson County was referred to as the Little Guy?"

"Yes, sir."

". . . Who is that?"

"Mr. Kenny."

"What is his full name?"

"John V. Kenny."

Schuster continued his narrative: "I told him it was impossible. We were a national company and we had no access to cash. . . . He said, well, maybe he could get the amount shifted down a little, but I would have to come up with something.... He told me this was Hudson County, and this was the way things were done.... I said I didn't know how I could raise the money, but I couldn't raise that much. He said, `I'll go back to the boss and see how little he will take, and in the meantime you see how much you can raise."'

The kickback was haggled down to $15,000-$13,000 for the Little Guy, $2000 for Manning.

"Mr. Schuster," Stern asked, "did you want to pay fifteen thousand dollars in cash?"

"No, I did not."

"Did you want to pay anything?"

"No."

"Why did you agree to pay it?"

"Because I didn't think we could get our money any other way."

Schuster raised the cash through a subcontractor-paying out an extra $16,000 for the subcontractor's taxes-and went to Manning's office. "I tried to give Mr. Manning the money, and he wouldn't accept it. He told me I had to give it to Mr. Wolfe." Schuster did so.

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