Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1846-10-09
From The Morgan Herald.
Report OF The Committee on RascaIit,


Report of the Committee on RascaIity,
The State of Ohio was cheated out of three
hundred dollars on section No. 26 Of the Miami
extension canal, by some one fraudulently alter
ing $500 check to a $500 one. At this day il
is difficult to tell lchO made the change, but one
thing is certain, the State is pundered as usual.
On page 1853, is the history of financial ope.
ration of Barney's that is quite characteristic Of
the man. Stacey Taylor had become a conuac.
tor on sections so and 55, and Barney so mana.
ged matters with him that he Barney drew thir.
teen hundred and Sirty.tO dollars MORE than he
ever accounted for, or paid over to said Taylor,
1t would seem TO be drawn by Barney for work
never done. Thus was the State robbed in that
instance.
A most glaring and outrageous fraud was per.
petrated upon the State by Mr.. David Bates who
was an engineer in locating the canal, &C., at ST.
Marys. 1t has been the policy of the Statewhere
an improvement is determined upon, and where
laFgewater power was to be created, for the State
10 purchaSe the lands, that they could control said
power and have the full benefits thereof in let.
ting it to others. In this case David Bates before
any location was made, purchased tract of land
east of st. Marys and then LOCATED THE CANAL
THROUGH 1T, so as TO get HIMSELF the benefits OF
the water power. This location being made,
Bates proceeded to order large basin TO be made
on his land, and the earth taken from said basin
was used to fill up the uneven surface of his land
so as to enable him 10 lay it off into STREETS AND
TOWN LOTS. This he did. There was no earth
ly use of basin there but to accommodate him
and improve his property. The snug sum ofwo
thousand two hundred and sixty-four dollars was
expended in making this basin for Bates benefit.
All this was sanctioned and permitted by Loco
foco Board of Public Works. A mill race half a
mile long was erected at the costof the State, and
terminated so as to benefit the lands of Bates as
the mills must be erected on his premises. For
this mill race the State taxed and paid the
of two thousand nine hundred and forty dollars.
The testimony fully shows that all Of these out.
RACES were FULLY known to the Board of Public
Works. But they kept Bates in office after all
this till his death in the winter of 1840-41.-
What should the public voice say of set of men
who, knowing the facts, should stand by and see
the State thus outraged and plundered by her own
agents. And what else could we erpect of men
who would permit all this, than that they too
should turn out, as they all of them did, plunder-
erS and defauters TO the State!
Onthe 162d page is a statement showing that
nearly eight thousand dollars was expended at
ST. Marys, almost all of which was dead loss to
the State. The whole expenditure was for David
Bates benefit. Hewas brotherto Timothy Bates,
one of the Board of Public Works. Upon the
strength of this expenditure he (Batcs) built a
large warehouse on this basin. He also built a
large tavern and laid out town lots, had maps ex-
ecuted and circulated setting forth the great adj
vantage of that location, &c.
On section No. 80, John Murry did work to
the amount of four or five thousand dollars. He
then abandoned the work. Barney refused to
pay Mury the balance due him of 81 ,554, allied
ging that it cost the State large sums to re-lct said
section. But the sequel shows that Barney and
others DREW this money and have not accounted
TO Murry for it, that Barney has drawn nine hun
dred and thirty-f dollars that he has not ac-
counted for, and the State has lost the sum of
$1,14l 86 this being the difference which the
section cost over the old contract of Murry.-
Thus, the State has been plundered as heretofore,
and the cash has gone into Barney's pocket!
On page 167, and some pages following, there
are exhibitions of gross fayoritism and improper
conduct on the part of Barney. But we cannot
go into detail. George Johnson was a contractor
for several wooden locks, and appears carly to
have ingratiated himself intothe favorof Barney.
To accommodate him and make GOOD contracts
the PLAN of these locks were CHANGED, and ap-
pears that over twenty-five thousand dollars were
paid Johnson for work thatwas WORSE THAN USE
LESS because portion of it, as pudding, had to
be removed at the expense of the State.
In one item of timber and excavation given,
the account stands thus:
Total value at contract price, 1919 25
Amount paid Johnson, 1857 70