The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-03-20
Report Of New State House Investigating
Committee.

; Report OF New State House investigator,
i Committee.
: THE HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE,
appointed to investigate certain matters per
.taning to the new state house. and the rela
tons existing between the state house com
missioncrs, and the penitentiary commission
ers, have about concluded their report, and /
will shortly be submitted. In substance i
J will be about as follows:
They have found that Of the funds hereto
|. fore appropriated for the construction of the
new state house there remains unexpended
and in the state treasury the sum of S52e14
81 at the close of the fiscal year ending No
vember 80, 1874; that advances have been
made to contractors before tho work was or
aered and accepted; that
TIE DOME
itf the state house building when completed
if the expense falls within the estimate OF the
;, architect, Will cost $750000; that the pOrt
Goes will cost $4,000, and the annual saving
which could be made so as to tit ii for the oC
cupancy of the general assembly and state
officers might occur by deferring the time foI
I the completion of the dome and portcoes
AS to the proprlety OF doing so, the commit
tee express no opinion. They find that had
I the state house commissioners not been re
ouired by the terms of the law to have pro
cured material and labor at the penitentiary
A SAVING TO THE STATE HOUSE FUND
would ave resulted to the amount of over
$4,000 They call the attention of the house
to the fact that in 1869 the penitentiary was
la
stone cutters were concerned. The legisla-
ture, at the instance Of the governor, with the
end in view of making the pcnitentiary self.
sustaining, and to prevent the repeated appro.
priations which have been asked in order to
sustain that institution, enacted the present
law requiring the state house commissioners
to procure of the pcnItenlary and no other
place, all materials and labor of every name
| and nature, for the CO.. struction of the new
state house, which could be furnished by the
Ipcnitcntlary. And TO further favor the peni,
tertiary and to make certain to it "A profitable
arrangement the price of all material and la
Dor was to be fixed by the state house archi.
tect, subject to the approval OF the governor
and commissioners. Under this law the cut
ting of the stone was given to the penitentiary
commissioners at profitable figures, which
were 30 per cent. above cost to the penitcn.
tiary, and 1t became at once, selfsustaning so
far AS the stone-cutting was concerned. This
labor went far towards sustaining the entire
Ipenitcntiary.
, COMPLAINTS
were lodged with the governor by The state
house commissioners that the state house fund
was suffering for the benefit of the penitcn.
tiary. The people of the state approved of
the arrangement and made no complaints, il
being understood this plan was resorcd to to
prevent the legislature from making apprO-
priations. BY the laws of 1866, in relation to
the penitentiary, the labor at that institution
which was employed for the state was to be
reserved from public letting; yet ia viola
ton of the spirit of this law, and the intention
of the legislature in July, 1872, the commits
sioners of the penltehtiary let the stone cut
ters to
W. D. RICHARDSON,
thereby destroying their power to cut stone
for the state house, and placing it in the po-
silion of independence as to the price he
should receive for such work. Richardson
had from the time of the acceptance of his
bid the use and control of eight teams, with
out any compensation to the penltentiary,
and which were not included in the advertise.
ment for bids. In the judgment of the com
mittee this was
FRAUD UPON ALL COMPETING BIDDERS,
and fraud upon the penitentiary of from
$4,000 to $4,000 ann ually.
After calling attention to The joint meeting
of the penitentiary aud the state house com.
missioners, held at Springfield, at which Mr..
VIM. ID. Richardson was eX mined as to the
price which the penitentiary was to receive
on estimates, and the estimates were revised,
and the penitentiary commissioners passed
over to Richardson the stone contract with
out notice to any other contractor. and from
that day to this the penitentiary has lost the
profits 10 the state of the cutting contract,
and the same have Injured directly To Rich
arison by
! THE COLLISION OF THE PENITENTIARY AND
STATE HOUSE BOARDS,
vouchers for work done thereafter being, by
the state house board drawn in favor of the
warden, then invariably passed over to Rich
ardson, the penitentiary commissioners act
| ing, according 10 their own testimony as "a
i go'betwecu from the state house commission
ers TO Richardson. This practice by which
the profits, which the state was entitled to,
were diverted from the state treasury and
> passed over to private contractor who stands
so high in the favor of both sets of commits.
sioners, for some reason, that for his sole bcne
III the VIII OF the legislative branch OF the
i government is overthrown, is by the commit
tee condemned rs fraud upon the state, and
AN ACT OF BAD FAITH
on the part of all Connected with the transac.
ton. Mr.. Richardson, as a contractor with
the penitentiary commissioners to cut the
state house stone, and deliver it on the grounds
OF the new state house IN the city of Spring
field, the state house commissioners are IA
miliar and with Mr. Richardson's relation to
the penitentiary; yet their uniform practice
is TO pay for this work while the stone re
manned at the penitentiary, and payments for
large amounts have been made to Mr.. Rich.
ardson by the state house board, through such
go.betwecn, for work not ordered by them.
but which Mr.. Richardson expected u re
ceve payment for long before it was drawn
into the order by the state house commission.