The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-06-15
Cat out OF the Bag.

fled late on Thursday afternoon, to elucidat
at least one side Of the affair, and prefer
definite charge against the commissioners o
Dimmick.
At the April meeting, commonly known
as the annual town meeting, in Dimmicl
township, these rumors had come to sucl
proportions a. to command the attention o
the elders and patriar1hs, and Isaac Robson
William Cuthbertson and John J. Conner
ton were appointed an investigating com
mittee to examine the books and vouchers
Of the treasurer Of the commissioners OF
highways and proceed according to the bes
interests Of the town. Tho committee wen
to work at once and after examining tn,
subject thoroughly, discovered, or claim t
have discovered, system Of prooeedur,
which is simply shocking to the town o.
Dimmick They say that the commissioner,
Richard r. Shea, James Mitchell, ant
Timothy ]. Maher, have arranged things
politically so that they have been enabled tc
retain their Office for the past three years by
hold-over and reelection. During this time
Timothy j. Maher has been the board
treasurer. Dimmick has no expensive road
ways and bridges and the ordinary levy Of
sixty cents on the one hundred dollars had
been and is at the present day more thar
sufficient to meet the demands Of all grad
ing, graveling and repair work. From this
tax for 1886, they received S2,7l7.76, which
with $500 delinquent taxes of the year
before, gave them SO, 1856 to use on the
roads during the year 1887. Bat in 1887
they levied a road tax of one dollar upon the
hundred dollars and raised So, 655 90, all Of
which has been collected excepting S7Ss.06,
which remains delinquent and will soon be
placed in their hands. All that they have
received is, they claim, already expended
upon the public highways of Dimmick.
| When all has been collected in, they will
have had S6,95096
But, says the committee, has all the mon
ey been expended upon the public highways
| of Dimmick? not over one thousand dollars
of it! The remaining five or six thousand
has been used to further the ends Of the
commissioners. Nearly three thousand dol.
lars of it lies buried beneath the broad
acres of their relatives and friends, in the
shape of tile placed there to drain private
lands at public expense. This is where
the greater amount of the tax Of 1888 went,
for less than one thousand was placed upon
the public roads. Not satisfied with this
munifcently rewarding their friends and
confederates, say the investigators, the CO.
missioners illegally let contracts for road
work to one another and charged and paid
for the work double prices, for fear, perhaps
that there would be surplus in the treas
ury.
ers, given by the commissioners, over and
above the money then in the treasury and
the money still due from delinquent tax
es, amounted to $l,649.00. This with the
81, 22S.82 in cash, which they had expended
and orders amounting to 81 900 which they
had not reported and did not report, made
the expenditures, for the year 'S7 8
$4,S77 81. These orders, amounting to
So, GAO drew and are drawing interest at
eight per cent.
Not even satisfied with this wantom dis
regard of their trust, says the committee,
they proceeded to create additional debts
and on March Goth, last, they reported
So, 900 of debts in interest bearing orders,
without money or tax levy to draw against.
In this report they claimed to have expend
ed $3,37925 in cash but did not say in what
way or for what purposes it was contracted
These men, say the Investigators, have
run the board as q sort of private affair, for
of these interest bearing orders, one thous
and dollars worth was issued to Shea, five
hundred and fifty to MITCHELL and three
hundred to Maher, for alleged work per.
formed upon the highways of Dimmick.
On account of the row created by the
affair, the commissioners, fearing that the
payment of the interest'bearing orders
might be interfered with, have threatened
to use all moneys coming into their hands in
paying orders and the committee has asked
the Court for an Injunction restraining them
from applying any moneys to this purpose,
claiming that all such interest bearing ord
ers and all orders made payable to the
commissioners for contract work, are void,
as the commissioners had no authority to
issue interest bearing orders or let contracts
10 one another.
WHAT THEY sAY-0THER SAYINGS.
The commissioners are free in their de.
nunciation of the acts and accusations Of
the committee. They claim that when they
took hold of the roads Of Dimmick they (the
roads, were in deplorsble condition.
Where there were no standing pools Of
water there were mudholes, and where mud
holes did not exist, pools and lakes of water
fourished There was not a road in Dim
mick over which snide sideshow Of q fake
circus could have passed and not consumed
six days in crossing the township. The roads
were soft in dry weather and perfect pools
of mortar like mud after every rain. Indeed
they were so bad that people living on the
other side of the township would 90 four
miles to seek other highways. bitches?
Dimmick scorned bitches. Even the re.
doubtable Luke Doyle swore at the roads.
Now, all this was changed. Instead Of mud
the farmers Of Dimmick were confronted
with the best roads in the county of La
Sale. They had expended considerable
money, but every dollar of it had been
placed where it would do the most work for
Dimmick on the public highways. If they
had done work themselves it was because
others would have charged higher price,
and when they did work they knew it was
done properly. If they had benefited any
mans land by draining reeking mudhole
on one Of Dimmlcks roads, it was rather to
be praised than deplored. Their manage.