Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Richard S. Fuld Jr., wearing tie, is heckled by protesters as he leaves Capitol Hill in Washington after testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

AP / Susan Walsh

I don’t fully understand how the $700-billion we are all donating to rescue Wall Street’s executives will be deployed, but I assume it will become clear in a few weeks when we are likely to see a report from the front along these lines:

Hundreds of security personnel, some in riot gear, kept order at Congress’ much-anticipated bailout distribution site today on Wall Street.

Earlier, dozens of relief trucks loaded with sacks of cash intended for needy financial executives had lumbered through the streets of lower Manhattan before dawn. An estimated 70,000 CEOs, CFOs, COOs, VPs and hedge fund managers hit hardest by the collapse of the credit markets will receive $10 million each in taxpayer money.

By 7 a.m., they clogged Wall Street wearing tags issued by their former companies and the crowd was a sea of names like Freddie, Fannie, Lehman, AIG, Washington Mutual, Bear Sterns and Merrill Lynch.

Congress had hired emergency-distribution veteran Oxfam International to oversee the operation. Oxfam’s spokesman Jack Rowley said that in the past weeks, needy recipients awaiting the relief drop have been housed in appropriate Manhattan hotels commandeered by the government as holding “camps.”

The hotel/camps were chosen in the hopes the executives would be used to the routine, but authorities said conditions had become difficult, with Wall Streeters in some cases forced to share rooms at the The Palace, the Four Seasons, The Ritz and the St. Regis.

“The hygiene situation is appalling,” said Oxfam’s Rowley, “with the men’s locker-rooms attached to the day spas running out of Clubman aftershave, Armani cologne and Cartier eau de toilette.”

Rowley said food was also becoming a problem, and his people were putting out an emergency call to restaurants to donate more beef tartare, Dover sole, seared Hudson Valley fois gras, pistachio crusted filet au poivre and wild boar tagliatelle carbonado.

The denizens of Wall Street, though still among the world’s richest citizens, have been in crisis ever since they bet everything on shaky subprime mortgages , which then predictably collapsed. One executive, who insisted on anonymity, said it is unfair to point the finger of blame at Wall Street.

“The middle class let us down,” he told reporters. “We tried to help these $40,000-a-year people by talking them into $3,000-a-month mortgages, which we could bundle into huge hedge investments, and what happens? Two years later they default into foreclosure, cratering our lucrative mortgage-backed securities. I guess that’s gratitude for you.”

Congress cut costs at the distribution site by canceling the need for thousands of National Guard members. Instead, in a show of “solidarity with the American needy,” security was provided by a “coalition of the willing,” from such sympathetic states as Switzerland, Macau, Liechtenstein, Barbados, Monaco and the Cayman Islands. Although clad in riot gear, the security personnel also carried folders bulging with deposit slips from their local banks, offering the bailout recipients tax-free havens for their money.

Authorities said preparatory operations had gone well, with C-130 cargo planes usually used by USAid to deliver rice to Third World disaster spots having landed at JFK at 2 a.m. They carried the first $70 billion of the $700-billion bailout fund. Waiting trucks were soon in position in lower Manhattan.

At exactly 10 a.m., the Oxfam staff opened the truck cargo doors to reveal thousands of sacks bearing the stamp, “Gift to Wall Street from Main Street.” Instantly, the crowd surged forward.

Men in Armani Collezioni charcoal 3-button suits with Salvatore Ferragamo belts jockeyed for position next to women in Mariella Burani black crepe blazers with drapped detailing matched with Gucci classic heels. Among them were the CEO’s of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — Daniel Mudd and Richard Syron — who will likely walk away from their companies with over $25 million each, as well as ex Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld, who got $480 million over the years in pay packages. They all said they appreciated taxpayers helping them out now that they’re out of jobs.

Peacekeepers with bullhorns shouted for calm. Several reporters saw officers with tear gas guns tense up as the crowd began to chant, “Show us the money. . . .”

International observers were concerned. “If we don’t get this finished in the next week, the situation will become acute,” said Oxfam veteran Gustav Yves-Pierre. “The risk of money riots is imminent.” He pointed out that many recipients were in arrears on yacht payments and club dues. One man, Pierre said, told him he feared that if he could not follow through on a $100,000 pledge to the Yale capital campaign, his son would not be accepted early admission, and perhaps not at all, which would interrupt his family’s four-generation membership in Skull and Bones.

“That’s why I’m here,” said Yves-Pierre. “Whether it’s the starving in Ethiopia or this, a human being can’t look away when tragedy is unfolding.”

Those on the trucks worked feverishly, handing out 110-pound (50-kg) bags of cash, each containing $10 million.

As money managers, recipients are expected to invest it and live off the interest, but officials were concerned that with yield rates on treasuries and bonds so low, the $10 million won’t generate enough, and Wall Streeters will have to dip into their new principal to pay for such essentials as Sothebys auctions, Tuscan vacations and caretaking for their Aspen ski houses.

Many of those in line found it difficult to wait for hours in the sun and some, on the point of collapse, retreated to their BMWs, and idled with the air conditioning on.

As predicted, there was only enough for 10 percent of those in line. It was a poignant sight as tens of thousands headed empty-handed back to their hotel-camps while the luckier recipients struggled to their cars balancing the heavy sacks on their heads.

Some relief workers wept openly at the heartbreak.

The second distribution will take place tomorrow.

mpatinkin@projo.com