Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-06-22
HILLS INVESTIGATION.
It Still UncoVers a Course
of Dealings Wherein the
Rights of Govern
ment Were
Ignored.
A Free-Lancs Editor Sent up For
Libelling Against Belmont.
n Mass of Minor Items.
The Architect OF Fortunes.

THE INVESTIGATION AT WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON, June l9.-The Hill IN
vestigating committee reconvened this
morning, General Stineme;z was
croSS-examiued.
Qaestion-If you should take one
stone in any one course and apply il
to the standard cost which rules
through the whole building, and that
stone should be y very large enc with
a great deal of cutting, would it not
show IS compared with small stone,
au excessive cost, which would be
rather apparent than real?
At would not be possible to COM
pare twelve ton plaster, which re.
quired much labor 10 move il aud costs
50 per foot, with = small stone requir-
ing but little surface cutting and oeat-
ing not half so much,
Hill-Rut that is not what the cont
tract calls toI?
A-Then all have to say is there
was not much sense in such contracts.
Ii was stated that one element of the
contract for cutting and dressing was
the extreme low prico for which rough
stone was obtained by the government.
The defense wished to show this WAS
one reason for the more lib
ersl contract forScutting. Coleman said
while it may be satisfaction to the
public to learn, that the government
could recompense the losing contractor
by making another contract with hiaa,
through which the government must
be the loser"
Thomas put Hypothetical question
ON the assumption that n certain num-
Der Of days were required under Il 5
per cent contract to cut certain stone,
and elected the reply: Il would not
take the word of any sculptor or stono
cutter who had been working under u
15 per cent contract. 1t would not be
safe estimate to base y contract on
Thomss-''Sunpose ho could not
keep it?"
Colem an-"Theu ] would give the
buildings away and be done with it.
Witness insisted that his estimates
of the cost for cutting the stone for the
Philadelphia buildings were exceeding
| ly liberal. Coleman wished to extend
| the inquiry to contracts for Suhlc
buildings at Boston. st. Louis and Gin
cinnati but Thomas Immediately oh
jected to going into another branch Of
investigation until the Philadelphia
building was disposed of.
Coleman said it would not be fair to
take the Philadelphia contract rs
criterion for the others, for they we,
totally different He had looked ov
the contracts for st. Louis and Cinc'a-
matt buildings, and as q lawyer he must
admit that there had never been SO
much cheek displayed, except in. the
amount of fees taken by counsel in the
star route cases. The prosecution pro-
posed to show not one fraud, but scores
and systematic plundering of the gov
ernment in the erection of public
buildings. He said in the case of the
ST. Louis contracts it can be shown the
contractors were already getting
greater price for rough stone than its
market value and still i'll making modi-
fled contracts the sama excessive al
lowances were made for dressing stone.
| The prosecution expected to prove
that 500 600 were raised and used
in Washington TO fix those
contracts and get the alterations.