The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1855-01-19
The Columbus and Portsmouth Turnpike
Compsny.

company.
The reader will find one or two com.
munieations in this Aumber of the Inquire,
signed by officers of this rnad to suhiol.
we direct attention. They are written in
reply TO an article Of ours concerning the
veryrdysterious conduct of these gentle.
men in the management of the affairs of the
road over whichthey in part have control.
We hope they will elicit ia careful perasal,
as it is but right they should be clearly
understood, if indeed, such thing is pos
si6le. We acknowledge it is difficult
matter to divine what they are driving at,
or what particular point they desire to i'm
press upon the public mind. They appear
to be peeping around the corner at the
Antipodes.
We shall pass by those parts Of their
communication personal to ourself, and
briefly refer to the matter in dispute, the
important part of which is, not what The
Auditor Of Scioto County should have told
the Treasurer of this Turnpike Company
nor what Gov. MED1LL's private Secretary
should have said in regard to appointing
Mr.. HALL director These are points Of
but little or no impo, tance to the public,
and are only referred to by our correspon-
dents either to 'soft soap" gentlemen sup
posed 10 be aiders and abetters in this con-
troversy, or to blind and mislead the pub
lie mind. We want to know what has be-
come of the money foolishly invested by
the commissioners of this county and coun-
Gil of this city, twelve or fourteen years
ago? How has it been administered
What has become of the revenue arising
from that unfortunate investment? Has it
been judiciously expended? or has it been
squsndered by those having the manage
ment of it? These are the questions at is
sue, and the silly subterfuge resorted 10 by
the champions of this board of directors
shall not divert our attention from them,
nor benefit those whose delinquency it
would cover.
We charged that large amount of
the funds belonging to the stockholders
in this road, was in the hands of these
directors, and that it is believed they are
and have been for number of years spec
ulating off oft. Do these apologists dis
prove this charge? Do they bring any
evidence to the support Of their simple de-
nial? Not at all. If they do any thing
they prove beyond doubt that all we have
said is true. Mr.. Mcdowell gives a
statement of the amount drawn by the re.
spective officers Of the Turnpike Company
for the last FIVE years, the aggregate o.
which is 81 ,O84.. Now take the average
amount of tolls collected in this county
for the same length Of time which can
not be less than $1,000 per year, anc
we have an aggregate amount OF rev
enue collected in this county, for five years
of nine thousand fve handrsd dollars
Deduct from this sum the amount paig
out and we have over EIGHT THoUsANl
FIVE uurnRRp DOLLARS left, which is, O.
eught to be in the hands Of Mr.. Mcdowell
the road Treasurer for this county Yet
this is not the case. The Treasurer say
that there is between fWo and three thous
and dollars offunds belonging to this roat
in his hands, and no more. Fe-e thel
according to their own showing, is tou
thousand fue hundred dollars of the peo
ple's money unaccounted for--undispose'
Of II will not do to say it was paic
over to the Dicctors Of Ross county, t
enable them to iquidate their bridge
debt, because Mr.. Kinney tells us tina
debt only amounted to four Thousand
dollars, and that each county had TO bea'
an, equal proporssqa' Where, then, ha
this money gomez Is it in the Treas
ury? No. Has it been divided and pai'
over to the Stockholders? 30. Has
been judiciously expended on the roadY-
Not at all. ], Where, then, we ask has
gone? The Directors are as silent a
the tomb upon the subject They an
careful to give The amount expended
but still more. SO to keepthe amount co
lected IN the dark. They are anxior
to give one side Of the matter, but thin
It inexpedient to say much about d
other
Asto the gentlemen's assertions that Y
books Of the company have been open +
inspection at all times, we have but lit
10 saw If such is the case it is passir