New-York tribune., 1879-10-31

business of the road without unnecessary delay.
The fare is not 10 exceed cents "a mile. All prison
supplies are to be transported without charge, anu
also the officers connected with the prison when
they travel over the road on official business Wood
and timber from the stale lands, an s'euo
and other materials for building ana iepaIs,
and all articles furnished to or manufactured by ihe
contractors at the prison shall be transported NJ
fair and reasonable rates, and if they prove unsat
isfactoTy, the superintendent OF Insons anu tiio
Controller may IiX he rates.
The cost of Transporting supplies 10 the prison
yearly for ten years cannot be asccrtalned WITHOUT
considerable timc and labor. Ii may he stated as
al item of importance III connection with tins lease
that the convict labor which was contracted lor -
cents a dav prior to the construction OF the
road, now brings 40 cents a day. whlCt hnut
$4,000 per annurn. II is estimated that It
would cost probably not less than $1,000 moh'n
in excess of earnings 70 operate and MAINTAIN thio
road, to say nothing of claims which might pc
brought against the : ate in case of accident. II
our answer Is not sufficiently explicit we VIII DC
pleased 10 give YOU any additional information al
any time. Most truly yours. HENRY GALLEY
Deputy Controller.
II will he seen from the above that the State au-
thoritics made great show Of insisting that the
road must be extended; and IT reads in the lease as
if it was condition of great benefit to the State
exacted by the State, and reluctantly conceded by
the lessecs This is deception. The lease OF the
State road went begging until il was determined TO
build a road to the mines. The condition is solely
beneficial TO the cssees.
Controller Olcott has also insisted, in defending
himself. that the lease affords protection to the
contractors and prevents the Chateauesy Rail-
road Company from driving them out Of their con-
tracts by high rates of freight" II does not do
ANYTHING of the sort. 1t allows the railroad COM
panv to fix any rate it pleases to fix. To be sure
the Superintendent of Prisons and the Controller
nav fix such rates If Williams pnts them too high
but suppose that after January next the successors
Of Messrs. Pllsbury and Olcott should insist on
getting into Weeds Ring, what would the con-
tractors do thenf As it is now, the question
of rates is left to Mr. Olcott and Mr. Pilsbury, and
if Weed could 80 readily blind them as to ms de-
,iens in grabbing the road. why may he not make
them think cxorbitlnt prices for freight are fair
enough He has already done so as 10 passenger
rates Tor the road low charges cents per mile by
special act.
M. BARBEE'G DENIAL
II was stated in former article that Mr. Barber
formerly connected with the State road had SAID
that the road could he made to pay for itself III four
years. Mr. Barber writes TO lHE lRlbUNh aS 4oi-
lows:
Il Inever SAID TO your correspondent or TO any
other person that the road could be made to pay for
itself in four years. any other number of years
but | have SAID that the additional amount received
by the State from Carroll & Co. would repay the
amount of the Appropriation of $4,000 for the
roadbcd III four years"
MI Barber explains that Carroll & Co. she
contractors at Clinton Prison who since the state
road has been finished have paid 40 cents per day
instead Of % cents rs formerly, for the labor of
each convict. He adds in commendaion of tins
contract that the additional amount paid to the
State by that firm alone amounts to more
than $4,000 per year" This appears To be-
admitting that indirectly the road was paying very
nearly IFS operating expenses of $4,000, the total
appropriation for that purpose II Is perhaps only
necessary to say that THE TRIBUNE's informant was
"a Senator of the State, who was understood 10 De
quoting Mr.. Barber directly.
Mr. BARRIERS letter contains some rather startling
admissions As superintendent of the road for tho
State his monthly deficiency was $1,000 until
July l. when Weed and Company got possession
Since that time the deficiency has been only 5000
nor month and the additional road from the Prison
70 Weeds mines. from which point he says
oil the paving traffic must cone. is not get
CONNECTED. 1t Is well to note just here that
Controller OlcOtt. who is supposed 10 know some
thing about State appropriations and expenditures
saws IN an interview in The Aibdny Arg"s deiend-
irg his lease of the road that the road was cost
ing about ~ 900 month over and above ITS earn
ings." Which defender of the fraud is right And
ought there not TO be some consistency III the state
ments of the several defendanisf
The rest OF Mr. Barbcr's letter is a defence very
similar 70 the one from Controller Olcotts office
winch is pubiished above. Mr.. Barber is now the
super,ntendent for the cssecs; LIS defence cannot,
therefore, he considered impartial and preference
Is gwen TO the official one, from which il does not
pIacticallv differ. Mr.. Barber also appears To be
one of the many " Smith Weed Republicans" who
evidently abound III Clinton County
There is much more of this matter TO relate but
IuE TRIBUNE has not space at tins time. Besides
the next Legislature will want little room left for
it's own investigation of this rotten bargain.