The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-02-07
Especial Correspondence Fremont Messenger.I


Especial Correspondence Fremont Messengerl
COLUMBUS, o., Jan. 2s, 1878.
In my last letter your correspondent promised
to let little daylight in on Dan June's Colum-
bus Fremont stone'CutteIs. Your readers are
doubtless aware that 6Molg other appropriations
of the last yirtuous Legislature was one SET apart
for the erecti on Of additional Cells at the Pen-
tentiar y-designated in the Auditor Of States
Office as "NCw cells Fund" The Directors oflhe
Penitentiary had general charge Of The ccnsruc.
ton, nd, of course, all the subordinate employees.
such as SUPERINTENDENT Of carpenter work and
superintendent of mison work, as well as the
carpenters, st one-Cutters and stone masous. &c,
were under the charge and direction Of the Di,
rectors. In the early Port Of last August there
were a large number OF employees working on the
new Cells" as appears by he pay rolls on file in
the Auditor of states Office Among other pameg
aIpear-as stone cutters working in July, paid
6rst Monday in Augus-the following persons
some of them residents Of Columbus the heads OF
families, and others strangers S. H. HalveTsop.
B. Burns W. clifford, {. Sweeney John Powers,
Thomas, Clifford, Joseph WelCh Thomas Bran.
digan, A. Thomas and Thomas Kelley. By look
ing through the books Of some of the Fremont
boarding houses your readers will find that all
these men were boarding in your city during
portion Of the month Of August all the month Of
Sept ember and portion Of The month of Octobfy
Your correspondent thinks that you will find ON
the books of the Superintendent of construction NJ
the engine house and new City Hall then being
built in Fremont all the names above given az
stone cutters and slOne.masons in the employ Of
D. June & Son, contractors. 1t develops that d
june of the above fIm is the Dan. June. the
great PenitentiaIy Director. On the October
rolls in the Auditor of States Office appear the
names of some of these men as receiving nav for
work done at the Penitentiary at Columbus dur.
ing the month of September last, while the
boarding house keepers in Fremont and their
fellow laboreIs on the Fremont engine house in.
sist they were IN Fremont all that month. work.
ing for D. Juue Co., contractors. Your CORES.
pondent further thinks that by looking over the
poll lists in Dan. Junes ward OF the October cleo.
ton the names Of these men will be found az
having voted theIe-at least some of them vonr
corr spondent knows did. Others may have vo.
ted in other wards where they were boarding AZ
the time. While your readers are hunting the
matter up, inst let them look at the Book of Reg
istratl on, in the City Clerks Office or wherever
they may be, and you will find most, If not all NJ
hese men registered as not having lived in the
county 965 daysn preceding the election. And
no doubt Dan June will tell you, if you ask him,
that all these men voted for him as a candidate
for State Senator in the October election. Now
our correspondent has hinted at the facts-(all
Of which will be investigated by authority soon)
The question will be asked who drew tbe
money for work claimed to be done in Columns
by sCme of these men- which was not done-and
while your readers are investigating the other
matters they might perhaps ascertain where the
| NV,.VT Md NUIg i.
it0-tbat has been put into the new Civ Hall in
y0ur city Your correspondent has heard NJ
killing two birds with one store, but II is left for
Dan June and other high othci0ls to kill half
dozen with one Swoop. 1t will prove. however. a
dangerous PRACTICAL kind of a boomerang that
flies back on he thT0Wer.
The Legislature is moving on the institutions Of
the State by investigating committees and sever
al hills are now In the hands Of committees look
ING 10 a general reorganization and cleaning ont
of the corrupt rings that have been running
them for personal benefit, instead of the interests
of the public. This being known by many of the
subordinates In these institutions. and many OF
them perhaps knowing that their old supefiors
cannot be OF any more help to them these subor.
dinates are among the first to expose the frauds
that they have, as subOrdinates had knowledge
of. and participated in under the orders of their
superiors. The result is some rich Developments
and more coming. Your correspondent has dur
ing the past week been engaged in most inter
esting field of investigation, Not being half
Our Constitution has given to the Chief Execu-
tive of the State the power to grant pardons. 1t
used 10 be exercised by our Old.fashioned Gov
eTnors-onlu tUhen public justice oad humanity de.
ndnded it-out how greatly have things changed
these late years The worthy man has been
showed aside and the meanest rascals been able
TO obtain what meritorious and honest claimants
could not get Ten to twenty paTdOns from the
Governor in the good old days was high average
per year but we have lived to see pardons grant.
ed by the. wholesale-sOmetimes three, some in
stances four, and one instance within the past
wear of five embraced in one pardon There is a
record kept of paTdOns which should disclose the
names of all parties who petition for pardOnS and
briefly set out the reasons for which the pardOns
are granted. This record discloses some interest
ing facts which every one familiar with The cir
cumstances (for instance, take the Close pardOn)
knows are stated in the record as they should be.
As an illustration, below, / give you the record
made by Governor Young's direction in the Close
case, to-Wit:
"PERRY CLOSE.
Crime Cutting with intent to wound and
"Convicted-'At october term us77 sandusky
County Common Pleas
Sentence One year in Penitentia1y'
"Pardoned-D December 49, 1877, on the recon-
mendation Of The President Of the LndCd States
Bon Chds Foster, The Judge ,Cho tried The case, The
Prost cutting Attorney the jurors, Probate Judge ana
other county officers and citiztns Of Fremont San
| dusky county, and because the Offense has been
| sufficiently atOned for already"
Now ali these petitions and letters are shown 10
have been filed in the Governors office when the
committee of citizens visited Columbus in Closes
| behalf tO.wil: December r. 1871" The pardon
| was not granted until several days atterward as
the record shows, and certainly every one OF the
| committee referred to can testify that Young re-
| fused 10 grant the pardon on the very showing
| which the record gtreS and says he granted the
| pardon on. In tact, the pardon was not granted
till after the $500 was paid to June-Teerred to in
/ NTaVV 10 fg nVn lU nWNn hi
haps fifty where the record shows some rich con-
tradictions as to the reasons for which pardons
| have been granted.
Your correspondent is able to speak from the
record when he informs you that since Tom
Young took the reins of government IN Marcn
| last, there have been
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE
persons pardoned up TO January 10, lS7S-and the
record is not completed yet Next week your
| correspondent hopes to be able to give Chapter
| THIRD of frauds In connection with the Ohio
| Penilentiary.
The new administration is now getting down To
| business, and the people may rest assured that
rings, frauds or official ne glect OF outy VIII re,
| Ceive cold comfort in the future. Hardly mad
| Governor Bishop become seated in his once atter
the Inauguration when he received surprise IN
| the form Of an application from an accomplished
lady residing in East Cleveland asking IN tcritln9,
| a Commission as Notary Public. The Govern
ment Immediately referred the application 70 At
toIney General Pillars, for his opinion, When mat
officer made an exhaustive ana hDle eAaminh-
ton of the law on the subject A few days since
| he rendered his decision in writing, 10 the Gov
| ernor in substance to the effect tnat under the
present statutes of Ohio and the provisions OF the
| Constitution, females cannot be commissioned as
Notary Publics, however much both the Governor
and the Attorney General might personally de-
sire change in the law in this respect. Yet find
ing the statutes in such condition, 1t becomes
their duty TO enforce them until change is made
in the law. ~
Next week hope to give you a brief letter lin
addition to Chapter III o. P.) relating to import
ant bills now pending before the Legislature.
TRIP RAP"