The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-10-28
CORRUPT TOTHE CORE
ANOTHER CHAPTER OF THE ROTTEN
COUNTY ADMINISTRATION.
How Money Is Taken from the County
by Rotten bridge Contracts
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Deal.

The latest development in the County
Commissioners Court, controlled by three
Democratic ringsters, shows an urgent call
for grand jury investigation of the methods
Of these commissioners. With a Democratic
Criminal Court Judge and a Democratic
prosecutor, who Is also chairman Of the
Democratic county committee, it is hard
ly probable that the shadow of the p~eniten-
tiary will fall over the shameful crowd
that controls the affairs of Marion county.
Day after day the corruption has been ex-
posed. but the grand jury is evidently a
dead letter under. its present control. There
Is another chapter In the draining of the
Marion county treasury.
The Canton Bridge Company will put
only six hundred cubic yards of masonry
in the First-street bridge, though the speci-
f~cations furnished other contractors who
bid upon the work called for 1882 cubic
yards. 1t will be remembered that a reader
of the Journal offered to wager any sum
under 800 that the contract would be
awarded to the Canton Bridge Company
before the commissioners had announced
their decision, thus showing that it was
known to at least one person that the con-
tract would go to this company, regardless
Of what it's bid as compared to the bids of
competitors might be. This company is the
one that built the bridge over White river
at kentucky avenue, and in that bridge
the company put less masonry han the
specifications, under which the other con-
tractors bid, called for.
The work on the Kentucky-avenue bridge
was subIet to William Koss. and he re-
company got $4,000 from the county for the
stone work. The additional $1,000 was given
as a present to the Canton Bridge Com
MANY Norris w. anah ~ no Inn -
of Works under the late Democratic ad-
ministration, after an inspection of the
work. said the bridge could have been built
for $4,000 and left a handsome profit TO the
company doing the work. The Brown
Ketcham Company has said 1t would have
been glad to have received the contract for
$4,000. The County Commissioners nave
covered up the possibility of exposing their
fraud through their records by the manner
in which they made the disbursements for
this work. Business methods nave no place
in the commissioners office, for by busi-
ness methods one would be able to tell the
full particulars of every step in the work.
To prevent the possibility of answers being
found in the records to any uncomfortable
questions that might be asked the COM
purpose for which disbursements were made
in this work. There is no way to tell by
reference to the commissioners records
whether the money paid was for iron work
or stone work. The money was paid in
lump sums from the bridge funds, and
there is nothing to indicate whether it was
pau " " VI "
In the case Of the First-street bridge all
OF the companies that submitted bids were
supplied with specifications calling for LISP
cubic yards of stone. William KosS bid for
the stone work under these specifications,
as did all of the other companies. The
bridge company has opened negotiations
with him for the stone work on the bridge
and asked him to bid on six hundred cubic
| yards of masonry. This is a reduction Of
nearly one-half in the work to be done. The
| specifications furnished Mr.. koss by the
Canton Bridge Company only call for six
hundred yards of masonry. The natural in
ference from this would be that there were
two sets of specifications, one of which was
| furnished to the Canton company and the
other to the other bidders. 1t will be re-
membered that a Journal reporter made
| several unsuccessful attempts to inspect the
| specifications after the bids had been
| opened. The commissioners advertised that
the plans and specifications were on file in
their office. but several persons who called
to see them for the purpose of submitting
get a view of them. Now the specifications
have disappeared from the Office and cannot
i be had.
In this connection 1t is said'that about the
time the contract for the First-Street bridge
was TO be let a man representing himself as
the agent of a steel-testing laboratory i'm
Pittsburg came TO the city and tried tc
negotiate with the commissioners for a con
tract to test the steel put into the bridge
1t is claimed that he was told there was a
possibility of the contract being len TO the
Brown-Ketcham works and If il were. thu
commissioners would require the most rigid
inspection of steel. They also told the agent
IL the contract was let TO the Canton com
| pany there would be no inspection.