Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1857-02-12
The Smelling Committee,


sppeIs,ion is altogether jsst one; toF TIC
committee have scented nu' and brought It
light deeds of fraud thai some would have
hoped were forever lost in the silent chSG-
bers of the past. But such was rot iaeiF
rood fortune. They new stand before sR
lSehgihs Peopie, whose trusiihey hive BE-
irsyed and whose money they hs'e s7nSE'
dered. as evidence Of ihe lru b Of the sayi
Of ko.s-th. ,ha, .';here is 70 siati'ity IN
suc.c.sru, crime"
10 re,iesis isg ihe i:.yesiigs' On We will lie
trief snd give s;a,emsnt Of ia:'5 waifh !
can NO, be con;tadc,ed. This commit'ee
yss APPOINTED By an oct o. April li;h. 1856
10 investigate the aeif Of the eoard Of Pu' :
lie Works, OF wiiuui there were Numerous
eompla nts In beginning this artuons taa
the CONN iitee test fed that they '3ouid Pc
fer above all tLirgs 10 find the afsiTs of The
publ: works in such condition as ~on'd
jus,ify tn, In in reporting ih,t al Is right >
That they Lad no i'll feelings &c CRAFTY 10.
wsrds any msmber OF the BnUrd, and thai
they had no tavurites 10 st.ie:d from justice
sud tnst they would strive 10 conduct The
investigation with viea cr!y to ascertain
the truth, ana promote tie pubic good
With these feelings :; u IT,; iea5 nuble 70
suppose that the aciipn Of lie committee
would be unprejudieed, md unbiased, and
that their revelations can be relied on But
we 90 not deyend on q m alonc but have
the swern testimony of re,iab'e pcrscrs.
BY law passed March the 9Th, 1915, the
Board of Public Works wss authorized to
let the repairs by contract. These were 10
be let bysec,ions 10 the !oTest re'Fonsitie
bidder but in no case was a section 80 be
let at price above the average cost o! kerE-
ing the same in repair for the last six years.
Under this law the Bosrd proceeded to let
by contrsc. the various sections, and the IN
vestigs ion Of the com mit;ee will show how
near they lived up to the las.
Section LIST Of the Chic canal Nas let TO
A. Medberry s. Co, at s275oe per year,
while on this SINE section there were SIX
lower bids. One by ii. H. Mills at sal :
600, which was July as responsible bid
as that of Medberry g. Co.
Section End was let 10 Doyle & Miller at
Sas, $50 per year, while ,here were icur I'M
der bids on the same section. One by NJ.
HI. Mills al $40 ,oOo II is sufficient to say
of this bid that Doyle g. Miller were reject
cd on section Is, while their bid was near y
three thousand less than that Of Msdberry
& Co.
Section 4th was let to Dennis Mccarthy
at $3.50 per year. Here sgain there were
two under bids one at S7,59o.
Section 5ih was let TO Chamberlain &
Paul at SOS ,ooo. On this SECTION there
we're three under bids one at Sls.999.
Section 5ih was let TO s. N. Yoros &
Co., at S52 ,0G0 per year. On tbs sfc;ion
there were four ether bids, three OF which
according te the teet:mony OF Young ih'
contractor, were his own b rs urGer fa.se
names, and the fourth bid he bought ofl al
$4,000. Here they gave the contract 10
compsny at their highest bid when they had
frsudulently bough, all cProsi'i' ".
Section 7th was les 10 Forrer Burt &. Co.
at Sis 600 per year,v hile there woe oui
under bids, one Of which, a, sSi COO, mus
have been good, a. The Board gave the SAINT
bidder section 81.
Section sth was ie, 10 J. J. PARIS, a
S5,499, with three under bids, the lowest o
which was, $3.50.
From the foregoing i, will be ssrn tha
the various sections OF the Public Work
we're let at s27s ,a29 per year, at an oxces
of contract price Over the lovest responsible
bids Of SEA ssl per year.
These contracts were TO last FIVE years
which would make the excess amount TO III
sum of s32l.905. And yet with ali this L
Justify or Legislators in appointing sai
ctnmiiiee, il seems in: efficient in the eve
of that party bose favoriiss are likely I
fare the wors, in the investigation, and wh il
ws have yet to find one who can gire
shadow of excuse for this wholesale fraut
we at The same time Can frd plenty uh
are willing TO let i; all be forgotten, an
have the ou.acity TO condemn in the bi'tel
tst terms those v-llo have sought to bring I
light and correc:these abuses. In orr hun
bic opinion any one who would ihas wish
shield the guilty from jnstiee is not 10 I
trusted any farther than the GU iity person
themselves From this the pe"pe ray hay
same idea where their money is goinF, al
should be very careful who has the ditpcsi
of il. These abuses may lie entirely coireo
ed now, tut Ne viii ever lie exposed to the
repetition while the presents arrangemeI
continues. Our idea is this: sell the Publ
Wo,ks TO prirste individuals or cumPsnie
Shf their own interest would be 81 sta Il
and we think everything wcu'd he heti'
taken care cf.7 We will leave The malt.
here for The present, snd wai, the iartht
ropUrt of the conmittar.
@We frequently. heer tie questio
1sked, "Whnt are The Republicans goiH
,o:do since JAMES EUeHArAE is eiectcd,
and think il we'll answered in the follow in
from the Utica IN. " Hcrcid:
We will tell ihem what the Repuh iica
partv proposes TO do, end what hy the ,rrar