Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1845-03-21

q Iatureto intimate to'them that their servj
/ ces are no longer required Upon this tes
/ timony he was perfectly willing to rest tn
: case, and leave it to an honest people +
. Judge whether those officers are such puri
tans as to preclude the right of the Legs
lature to call them to an account for lhei
misconduct in office. The Senator from
Hamilton, with an air of confidence, ha
informed us, that upon investigating thu
charges made by the Auditor, by commit
tee OF the Senate, at the last session, "tht
whole matter ended in smoke" This is
then, the whole ground OF the conclusion
that the Auditor was wrong, and made
false charges against the Board of Public
Works, From this defence of those off.
GERS, he felt compelled to press the matter
a little further. But, before he aduced any
other evidence, he would admonish the
Senator Of one thing, which he must have
observed, if he ever paid any attention to
the defence Of criminals; for, when the
evidences of guilt are thickening around,
and stern justice is staring him in the face,
the attorney is apt, in his zeal, to say things
J that he would afterwards regret to see upon
paper Such imagine is the case with
the witnesses am about to introduce.
He found in the report made by the COM
miltee Of the Senate at the last session of
the Legislature, (of whom the Senator
from Hamilton was chairman, the follow
ing, which he called charges, and which,
for the edifcation Of the Senator, he would
read; "The work on section 48, was Civ
en- to E. Dodd & Co., without advertisement
or competition. and, indeed, without c0u.
tract or any tp1mS Of agreement IN reiati0u
TO price. Why this was done has Ueen
asked by your committee; but they confess,
that they are unable to appreciate the ar
swer, if it is held as a sufficient justiGca-
ton" This is the language Of the report,
and yet the chairman Of the committee
who made it, has Just advised us that all
those charges "ended in smoke" Yes,
sir, it did end in smoke; and 50 thick, that
it will forever obscure its subjects fiOn lhpI
light Of integrity. But hear the witness
further: "Your committee have examined
the specifications OF quantities, in relation
TO the work on the Providence dam, aud
the different bids for it, colsruction.-
From that examination, itappear4 tbat the
bid of E. Dodd & Co., Omou lis 10 23,775
Is. The bid Of Binghlm u >o TX, tuoun-
ted to S21,52O 95. The bid of S. N. lie ch,
amounted 10 1858 "a, and the bid of
David Camp, amounted TO S22, ,424 25; all
three Of lhe latter being below the bid to
which the contract was awarded. The |
figures speak for themselves, and the Com
missioner admits that the bidders above
mentioned, are all responsible men. Your
committee have no comment to offer. 1t !
stands out grave and papaUIe error"
Who do you think makes these charges!
Why, che report is signed by one D. r. |
Disney, W. l.. Perkins, and C. NJ. Aten, |
Committee Of the Senate. And, after all |
these facts, that stand ont in boI and Iar |
ing coIors, we are asked TO sh W some
charges, against these officers. Sir, if the
Legislature had taken decided steps years
ago, and turned out these u1ai hruI SER
wants, millions would have been saved 10
the State. FOrit Is Il fact, 1T which all hon |,
est men must starlP, that when the Ohio
canal WAS completed and the Miami canal
finished up to Dayton, our entire de,t was
only four millions nine hundred thousand
dollars; which has since thlt time incrru-
scd to near twenty millions. Who chat
knows any thing ahout these Wo''i,, or the
finances Of the State, believes the rCal
increase has been honestly cured
What important wo.k2 have we made
& nee tha, time, that our liability should he
increased lhrce-lolll Sir, since thrl time,
our Safe has been one common plunder
ground. Fraudsand pccuIation have been
the order Of the day. Such transactions
as nre shown forth, in tho report Just rcSl,
will account for the amount Of debt We
now owe. And this is mt an isolated Clse,
from the whole mass that s, and perhans
always will be, shroudcd in mystery, No
huma II eye can ever discover the enormi.
lies aud wrongs we have suffered as prO-
Pile. Sir, here are charges gmvrly and de-
llbrrately made, and sustained by such wit
ncsses as ere believed to bo entitled 10 fail /,
credit and he hoped the Senator from
Hamilton would give portion Of his at
tention to the character of the witnesses
ana the lactS ny them prevent ana ne lrR
entirely confident that between him and
the Senator there could be no difference Of
opinion, Another matter, and he would
dismiss the Board Of Public Works.
lie had been told that the suborAnatcs
had been in the habit of hiring lahorrs at
fifty cents per day, and charging the State
one dollar; thus making out Of the sweat
and toll Of the poor Iahoriug man, one hun /
dred per cent. In view OF the millions
that the State has already lost, who now
can doubt the truth Of these chorges Sir, /
If the bill introduced by the Senator lrom
Richland, had become a law of the land, .
he could before an honest jury have con-
viCted them upon either OF those chnrges
with no other facts than those already dis
closcdi and yet we are called upon TO show
something, in the form of charge, before
we dismiss those uuioithful servants, to
save the treasury of the STATE.
The lamentations of the Senator from
Ricblnnl reduirpd him Ia nn1icp Nnn other