The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1855-01-12
rhe. columbus ana portsinouth rn.rn r.1

JAMES B. STEEDMAN, Of Lucas.
The, Columbus and Portsmouth Turn.
pike Company. i
IT Is with no small degree of satisfac
ton we notice the fact, that the Council
ofthis city have, at last, been prevailed
upon to inquire into the affairs Of thiscom-
pany. The following resolution, we clip
from The published proceedings Of their
last regular meeting; p
ssMr. NEWMAN offered a resolution in
structing the committee on Claims to call
upon the Directors in Scioto county, Of the
Portsmouth and Columbus Turnpike Co.,
for an account of'the financial state Of said
Company, SO far as Scioto county is con-
cerned, and to ascertain what amount of
money; il fany, is now on hand belonging
to the County, and what disposition can
be, or is to be made Of the same. Adopt
ed unanimously"
So far SO good" But, in our opinion.
the resolution don't go far enough--it don't
reach the vital part It oaght tohave call
ed for a full, complete and minute inyesti-
cation Of every thing connected with the
official actions Of these directors. Nothing
short Of this will prove satisfactory to, the.
public There has been gross miscon-'
duct on the part of a majority Of that
board, to say the least and the public are
not going to rest satisfied until the matter
is probed to the bottom and thoroughly
sifted. And tits clearly the duty Of the
Council to have this done, since they are
appointed to look after the interests Of the
people of this city, who are taxed to pay
the nice little sum Of 1000. subscribed
by the Council to the capital stock Of this
road, the proceeds Of which is believed to
have bcen, for several years, squandered
by these directors. But, independent Of
this, we hold that the Council should have
the matter fully investigated. It is well
known that the board Of directors Of this
road, have steadily refused to publish a
statement of the condition Of their affairs,
although the law makes it their duty to do
SO, which of itself ought to be evidence
w.
sufficient to cause a. Suspicion, at least,
that all was not right. Honest men, with
clean records do not thus skulk from the
light Of day, nor fear to have their official
acts meet the public gaze. And, since
these men refuse to report the condition
of things under their control, the Council
being large stock holders, by virtue Of thei
offices, should either compel them or in
vestigate the matter themselves.
We have said that these Directors d
notmanage the affairs Of this road strict
ly in accordance with the principles 9
right and justice. We win give our reas
oHs. It is known that there has been il
their hands for some time, aseonsiderab
amount Of money, which, it is believes
has been used in tn, private business {
certain of these directors, contrary to Il
express provisions Of the law. Its all
well known, that one Of the directors WI
in the habit of taking vouchers for none
expended by him on the road, and TIL
when thisgentleman presented those youcl
ers, atthe close Of the last settlement, f
the purpose Of aiding. the Treasurer of u
Company to make acorrect statement,
was very politely told that "such hin..
were entirely useless that other gel
tlenen Of the board never troubled thel
selves with vouchers for the money e
pended by them that :" we (the board
managed our concerns great deal bett
than the Directors for Pike county did
&c. &C., all which sounded very singul
toithe honest director, who was trying
transact his business in accordance with
law, and the oath he had voluntarily tax
upon himself. OF course, this mode
smuggling up the affairs of the ComPar
did not suit him exactly and, like
honest and upright public servant, he p
tested against such a line ofconduot. Fir
this moment he was marked man.
the next meeting ofthe board, il was tn
his services could be dispensed with, .
in accordance with this opinion, It was
solved to have one P. KINNEY, ESQ.,
director Of the board, representing theS 81
Stock--supplant him BY fair means
possible--by foul, Unnecessary. The pl
Of mojority Of the board having b
perfected, when the day for the elect
came round, ]. McDowEIL, Esq.. IRE
uferof the board, repaired to Piketc'
the place appointed for holding said 9
and succeeded in procuring Mr.. 4
HEE's election, BY artful representation
the directors Of the adjoining counties,