, 1879-06-09

TnE uuBrUM.HouBB CASES.
Tho long, tireary, and utterly incomrrehcn.
s,blo tumble Of evidence, ~hich dragged out
the Oustom.Ho cases nanr{y month, haa
onded at last in the acqnitta' Of oil who wefe
under indictment. Probably nobody will DO
astoniehed at tho result. The great mass OF
the Chicago people long since abandoned
overy ofort to understand tho case rs it vas
presented, or to follow tho trial as 1t dragged |
along; those fow porsous who have made
m effort, from sonse Of duty, to koop up
with the tria! must hare concluded aomo |
time since TINT, whsther from ignorance or
tteagn, t1,oro was not such prosecution as
would be likely to convict anybody. Tho
Jury could acarcely fail to conceive discharge
10 be a mattor OF. Justice In case whero tho
evidence was 80 votumtnous as to bo con-
fusing, aud 80 confusing as to leave all things
doubtful. No mattor how thoroughly
conyinced tho jury mny heye heou
that there was gross negligence and
actual corruption in TINT part OF
the Government contracts on winch the in
dictmonts wcro basod, land personal lnsPoo.
ton must hayo loft auoh a conviction, they
could not 10y the blame, from the evidence
submitted, at the door OF anybody, Official or
otherwise, and thero WIS nothing to do but
bring in a varaiot Of aoquittat indiscr1minate~
IL rs to all who were under Indictment; had
the indictments been still more numerous,
tho result would hayo bosu the Same for the
same reason.
The fact remains, nevertheless, that tho
Custom.H House, ms 1t stands, has cost at tho
lcast estimate million dollars moro Than II
ought to havo cost. No jury Of competent
| aud impartial architects, with sufficient
timc and opportunity to go, oror tho build
ing thoroughly, rnnko thoir estimates, md
| ascertain what contracts could DO concludod,
| would fail to report TINT at least thai sum
| had been squanderod in excoss Of tho leglti-
uata cost Of the building. It is equally
certain TINT tho appearance Of tho bnilding
haa been diagrncofully ma1rod, whether OF
not isa strength has bean !mpn'rea, by tho
jmporfect and dlscolored stone thas has boon
laid in the wills. Az tic main purpose OF
stono ia to beautify the exterior Of build.
ino. this was a serious breach Of contract, fol
which somebody ought to be responsible
It waa cyidout also, evsn from tho evidence
taken ct the trial, tha& thero had boon serious
losses on account Of tho systematic idloncss
Of tho stono-outtorH- Tho lahnrors bene'
fitod by this, as thoir tiuac was oxtondod a
tho highest stone-outtors' ratos; tho cou
tractor benefited by it, rs his profits, undc
the most Infamous kind OF contract, increasa'
with tho increase In cost; the suhordinat
officers and employees bonoated by it
sisco tito pro1ougetlou OF the worl
raye them a continued hold upo
their places and pay. Everybody con
nected with the job waa tho gamer, Of
cent tho Government, which WAS subject
TO constant md frightful lossos by the swir
die; but nobody has boen fonnd roHponBibi
, for ali this, mud nobody over will be. The1
. saoms to be- nothing for tho Taxpayers to i
3 in those cases but grin and bear tho ou
t raReous frauds prnotioed upon them withor
!. tho topo or consolation tlat tliu guilty pa
i tics will be punished.
o The people Of Chicago will not 10 ab]e
il forget that there sco,ned to be a eMz!ous oppt
o sition among cortain set III Washington
( tho prosecution of those cases. This opp
j. sition was manifested at tho beginning, wlle
4 tho investigation commenced to boar frnlt
o and 1t was continued in a manner 10 deli
o aud embarrass the procuring Of tho indie
Ii mentH and subsequent prosecution ther
!, of. TO .whnt extent this Washin
ton sympathy with tho indicted (whEt
seomol to ba divided betwcon Il
o Treasury and Law Departmonts) has inf
! l Al. Il.