The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1894-10-24
THE STATE FAXED.
An abandoned Coal Vein Pur.
chased for the State.
MINING INSPECTOR IGNORED

100000 Has Been Spent in
Junketing-The state Has Left
$4,000 With Which to Pay
S., 900.
We ask the tax payers to cut
this article out and paste it away in
their books for future reference.
We may not convince them before
the election, but when the excite.
ment has passed, when sober reason
has resumed her sway, when the
calamity is on the tax payer, then,
possibly, they may realize that the
republicans were right and their
leaders wrong. April, 1893, eigh-
teen months ago, the legislature
authorized the sale of 100000
bonds to raise money to build a
penitentiary. The lease of the con-
victs expires in short time. There
are in the neighborhood of 1900
convicts. When the lease expires
it must be renewed or the state
must care for them. Therefore,
haste was demanded. There was
no time for moments delay.
Turney appointed his commits
sioners who, instead of going to
work in a hurry as they should,
dilly. dallied and fooled around for
months doing nothing. They finally
agreed that they would purchase a
tract of land in Franklin county
and so reported to the governor
The Banner and other papers in
this state charged that there was a
job in it and proved it to the salts
faction of the public. The scandal
was so loud that Turney refused to
confirm the purchase. Then months
were spent readvertising and fool
ing around.
One year and half passes and
nothing has been done except buy
ing two bodies of land and receiv-
ing bids for the main building.
Those Bios.
Out of the $5SS,ooo net received
from the sale of the bonds, over
Soc, 900 has been spent in buying
lands, paying salaries and other ex.
penses, leaving little over 1876
900 with which to put up the
building. The lowest bid for the
building was $95I,ooo, or about
5000, 1000 more than was appropri
ated by the legislature.
If this plan is adopted then the
legislature in January must appro
pirate the above 100000. This
makes 81, 100000 to buy the lands
pay.salaries and expenses and put
up the main building.
When this is done 100000 will,
be required to build stockades
open the mines and put in machin
cry at the Brushy Creek mines
and another 100000 will be re-
quired to put in machinery ane
complete the main prison neal
Nashville. This will make a grane
total of S., 200, 900.
If this were all, we might stant
it, but it is not all. We will have
100 Convicts
on our hands next year with NJ
work for many of them, who mus
be clothed, fed and guarded unit
! the buildings are complete and the
machinery put in it. 1t will cos
the state 40 cents per day to feed
cloth and guard them; 1900 at 4t
cents is $3.50 per day, or $2o,4o'
per month, or $24S,2oo per annun
: to care for them. The question
: then arises: If it takes the presen
5 state government one and hal
years to let the contract, how long
5 will it take to finish the buildings
We honestly believe that it will
cost the state 100000 to take car
of the convicts until it is ready 70
them.
l Those Coal Lands.
E The commissioners appointed b,
, Turney, with his approval, bough
; the Brushy Creek coal lands at
cost of $4,000, which amount wa
! paid in cash. This vein of Goa
was formerly worked by the Ten
:. nessee Coal and Iron company,
: corporation that leases our convict
o and the vein was by them aban
+ doned because it was not goo
< coal, and because it could not b
worked proftably, even by convic
e labor. The coal was not good fC
! domestic, gas nor coking pul
I. poses. 1t could not be worke
q pro6tably on account of the chara(
ter of everything strata. Do tn
! taxpayers think that Pete Turne
J. and his gang are better busine;
t men than the Tennessee Coal an
I Iron company, and can work thes
l mines profitably when they coul
i not? Hardly.
Another remarkable thing
connection with this entire tran
. action is this: The state has COZ