, 1877-01-28
C0IJNTY SUPPLIES.
min Citizens Assoc alton to Investigate
1N the Cameron. Amberg & Co.
Contract
3. Formidable Indictment Presented by
The .'Staats.Zeitung." =
r,eroes Of Wholesale Corrup~
ton and Swindlinq.

IT.. following communication from the sfaats-
u...uo Company vas presented yesterday alter
N ~ the Executive Committee Of the citi-
noo. .-.,c;atiop, It relates to the alleged e1-
sens = charges made by Cameron, Ainberg
so1 ~, 4,e blauk-books, stationery, etc. fur-
,.ssd bv them to tho county o1l1c,als- alter
nspee nan,;,at;on of the document, and at the re-
III 80 - cameron, Amberg d Co., the Commit
.,nt,intcd subcommittee OF three 10 nlahe
1ee -p' p1,,,c,, investigation OF the matter. Ihls
cs,,1n;tsec will meet In the course OF Two
.sa suuo ;;,vs and arrange for the production Of
s~.nesses aud papers:
*'1'. nsa,cF oF ILLINOIS STAAT5-ZE1TuNG CoA-
~, Gn1cA1o, Jan. -, 1sI6.-1o me 1I1ccii-
risl r. l1.m,nittex Of the Citi-e7ls ASSOCIATION o.
Age,bls rec, bcrenith ~ trans-
Gu:ss II the several articles published ID Inc
lat'oi;s ls.;s s-Zejtung The essential one vas
tsn.ed tsasd IN Tue TRIBUNE OF MONDAY iast-7Ep:l
s'at,uc to the charges. made py Ine % 1umoss
@.r.fs. Z<.tunq against the boaro VI Goun.e
eatars for furnishing stationery. blank nooks'
nJ mining, Messrs. Cameron, AmDefe q eo.'
u .n1n Inv .is to give within small compass the
.11r,snce Of what We aim at. and also state,
sr.nt as regards the manner III WHICH We "e'e
a;ren into making these charges.
~! IL. hod learned That tue amounts pa'd during
"" s,,s+ vear ia the firm OF Cameron, Anloerg x
~ ~ we're vastly in excess OF the aEsere.a.e
monut for which contract vas entereu ll'lo
hr them and the county. 10 give our 5eauete ~
;G.e how careless the County Board acted III
~ matter Of making contracts. and no"
nttrrly jlnpracticablc the contract-system Is ~
s,,,ri to s1lur,lies, we detailed reporter TO as
attain The respective amounts which cameron,
smberc g. CO. had charged the county, Aas-
1rNF
uishcd under contract or on nele o',o.a ~ in.
Hardly had our reporter. commenced 70 ~
snprt the bills, with this purpose alone, taan ne
fonnd himself confronted by the mosl e'lucnI
nruofs OF fraudulent charges on part ol Eng Gon,
:ra,tors, and he SO reported to US ~ nau
ous KNOWN Is every taxPaier hx 1 ontraetors @
rirht and left, but had hardly expected the
nroof could be- SO easily produced as our re-
p porter seemed to be sure Of. We therefore d'-
rec,ed lin 10 90 ahead, and arranged 20 nave
the bills copied. We also trIea u seL ~ Ssn:
tract: experienced, however, considerable dlli,
,allty iu this endeayor, until. after Two Gays
hard pushing, the county Officials we1e maoe 10
produce that document.
Our investigation began in dead earnest on ffl-
day, jan 19. On Monday, Jan. -, our hrSt
1rtirlc appeared, and at once the county officials
attempted to thwart our efforts: We had, up
1o Tuesday noon, copied about all the bills GOV
eriny the first eight months of last year, When
County Clerk Lieb issued the order that inc
Sfodts- Zcitung reporter should no ton9~f oe per
u,ittcd to laudle those bills.
In Tuesday morning there appeared in the
Times what everybody would construe as az an
sycr to the charges made by US against Cam-
cron, Amberg i Co.; it was simply a counter
charye. that the Stan1s-Zctuag had swind1ed
the county lar worse than cameron, pesg TO o.
eYoundless,as the Stdats-Ztanng never was
rntrartor for the county: still, the - Stats
Zftuuq Job Printing Company having done
some work for the county, We wanted TO see
what truth there s, was IN the statement Drought
forward os 1ne :es; corr If +br conntv Board.
But Mr. ComlskeF, Iierh o. tne euuutS ooatut
emphaticaiy denied our reporter access ~ +tat ~
ILLS in question. and stated At last tpaL
Ger. Licb had gwen stFst osocrs no. " 1;1ie -
Sfaats- -Zenunq reporter have any more Dllls 10
copy Or TO inspect. Ims are " he If.nex
fa1 that at the same t!snc ~ ~ +ho
and TRIBUNE we're aaoFaeo nee ''s'@ss ~ ''e
papers We desired. L,e.a
Finally, Geu. Lieb offered 70 give US eea.luId
copies Of all the hills VIC desi;eu' eas5 =; ~
psy the cosl, elguI s1.e ~ h;e ,,d offsr we felt
obliged to decline, espcc1aiiy as W au ~ uua
hands already sufficient malG5a ~ R9&tcfE cE eVef
of the most snaH'e4ees ." ~, - tay-hurtieEed
suffered tooc pcfpe'4 4'e~@ W
community. h,,,-o1or into which the action
The position, ~" ~. 1;la..ed ns forces Us to
o1 tue county 4.:sat;Sns within so small q
contne our s i:'., tn 1eovc = 0reat deal to be
compass that We Aa'e 10 .ea;e Il alI the docu-
mie1lea OH 49, 49,. n be 11ndcniable fact.
ments woula prove 70. 70 oe 4n;nt in view that
It WIS win tnlo lo,, po1no Mo,oraiic bod,
We waited on YOU ronortnr Who has madt
Yesterday through tue ~, order to fully c1
the Investigations mus aal ~ or investigation
plain to you Whlcn sesu1ts ~ county and Cam
into the CONTRACT between .,1d ~ h. 1iahIe to p1o
eron, Amberg q 20. "oaiG .aat ~ vn,r honorable
duce we sincerely hois 'u1s ~. esnerially rs th
body Will take tias nsaLt r., 9pn,vast;@atiou Com
composition ol taG m speeAG %e Gounty Board to loo]
Mittee appoluleu y e. .a -, t3,nht that tn
into these matters leaves ,,;ss;oncrs ~ intend t
Board Of County Ionl,!ls'''n~1
whtewash theiE conl1actoi. =, ,-,,, the folIoyin
VIC Respectfully supn,ie ~ so1
points tor lnsesteaiaonG ne. cameron. Ambcrg g. c.
a. We charge tnat xan'H1 saro;,,et the count
have made out tnear uui5 - IL rnntract cxjstin
with an utter ulsfegala ,,,t.. " .ns eoN'
between them aud lne Gaa1o, coune5 An,berr & Ct
~ we cnalgc LII +hc contTac1. Charge
have, besides olsres;lu's oe sna for articles fu
the county outrageous p''ee7 1
n1shed. D.,xs of commissionei
~ lo,' "e cnatgc ;4n i41 nav havinr been criminal
ANA-I'~ ,1;+b sI1ffiCtj