The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1857-06-11
CommissioRef 3. e. Davis and the
,.s4 Bridge CONTRACTS.

a Il
'MEssHs,. .4iRT & 'SoMERvILLE:- +, -
In the SeaIiEsl Of May 9lst, letter up
pears over the names Ofthe County Commis-
sioners in reply to a statement made by me,
,sad published in the same paper Of April
18th. In this, they single me out and make
answer to such Of the bridge contracts as
relate to my bid alone. They thss virtually
admit the correctness Of the. statements
which l made in regard to the other bidders.
There is nothing left for me to do, but to
defend myself. The Commissioners desire
to have It understood that l claim all the
bridges. This they know to be unjust
| claim to be entitled only to one bridge and
they know It. Nothing but the most whih.
sicnl technicality and unfairness would ever
have taken |, from me. The Commission
ers admit that they calculated their adver.
tisement to cover all the necessary expenses
Of the work. Now as defence, they claim
that bidders did not 90 understand it. What
evidence have they that Cole and myself did
not SO regard it!
But they have not yet answered the ques.
zion why they gave the contract to Hughes
& Elliott when my bid was twenty three
cents lower on the perch. The statement
that they intended to do right will not an.
swer.
Met, Of common Isense and honesty ought
not 70 be long in deciding between bids
when one is twenty.three cents lower than
the other. Itrcquires but little knowledge
of arithmetic to understand that 1881 is less
than $4,l6.
But there is letter of 3. E. Davis. one
Of the Commissioners, in the Sentinel Of June
4th, to which wish to call particular at
tention. In this letter he states that on the
morning of the bridge letting "asked him
before put in my bid, absGt the fdtndation
of the bridge, and he replied that there mus,
be some understanding in my bid in regard
to the foundation" This statement of Mr.
Davis is incorrect in every particular, and he
knows it. He told me no such thing. On
the contrary, he distinctly affirmed that there
need be nothing said in the bid about the
Foundation. dislike to be under the neces
sity Of making SC. direct charge Of inten'
tfolal error against; ANY man. I prefer
thefgfcSe, to suppose IL is In consequence oI
ipfrgsitV Of intellect or education. That
the public may know l am not alone in this
statement. herewith.append the certificates
of LoRIN B. DIX and CYRUS Cole, men Of
fair character and standing in our commu.
nTty, who were present and mad the same
understanding of the case as myself, and are
ready to make affidavit to the fact if neces
sary.
Mr.. Davis says that personally he would
be glad to have favored mo, as he entertains
kind feelings towards me. How do his pro.
fessions compare with his conduct! Before
he got home from the Commissioners meet.
ing, he was know to assert that intended to
take the advantage Of the Board, as had
done in Mahoning county, and | have reason
to believe he mode similar representation
10 the board when in session. Herepeated
W charged me of dishonest Intentions. and
purpassea regarding bridge CONTRACTS. These
representations are designed to injure me-
1 have been bridge builder for more than
twenty years. Let Mr.. Davis, if he can,
place his finger upon single instance where
I have taken any advantage Of any man.
Let him point to single act where have
acted dlshonorably or deceitfully, If he can
He charges in private circles that 4 acted
diBh6hoEably with the Commissioners of Ma.
hoDiDg county, in getting paid BY the perch
for timber. d,d do work In that .county
and ! confidently appeal to the Commis,
sionets there fyr a vindication of my conduct
They will certify that my work was don'
well, hoaestly,. and to their full satisfaction
in every reopect.,s 80 e. -.
Upon this statement Of the case, leav'
it, confident that a discerning public will
Judge correctly between US. hnve statet
nothing but what can prove. fave NO
entered into this controversy on account o
the small pecaniary advantage which l Nigh
reap had the contract been awarded to me
but because l felt that injustice had beer
done not only to myself, but to others, ane
further, because in my judgment the Com
missioners had not been faithful to the pub
lie interest, and SUCH, matters should b'
plain j understood by the public.
Yours truly;
EDWARD RoBiNsoN.