The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-06-05
THE TRENTON SCANDAL
Report of the New Jersey Senate In.
vestigating Committee.
VERY VIGOROUS DOCUMENT.
Collusion On the Part Of State Officers Is
Charged In Most Cases-Attention
Directed to Several Alleged
Glaring Frauds.

eAbEhNdBdnCB IN furnishing bnQ SUatonOuSo !
and certain other charges touching the |
conduct Of public officials was presented to |
the senate today. The report begins by |
saying; We have not exhausted all the |
sources Of information, nor followed up all |
the possible roads to discovery but have |
pushed our inquiries into subjects that |
seemed most important and that afforded |
clear indications Of need for investigation, |
accomplishing as much as was practicable |
within the time at our command.
" The obtaining of proof in an inquiry |
of this sort is attended with much diff. |
Guilty. Persons directly involved in wrong !
doing are industrious in obliterating the |
evidence of their actions, and others who |
are aware of the facts are generally reti- |
cent, and even when discovered give un- |
willing testimony. OF the 81 witnesses
examined, by far the greater number have |
testified under oompulsion, and little in
formation has been volunteered. Enough, |
however has been disclosed to indicate the |
course of events In recent years at the state |
house and TO suggest legislation for guard |
ing against recurrence Of similar irregu- |
larities"
Figures and facts are given to show that |
under very meager authority large sums of |
money have been expended annually with |
out appropriation. The report continues:
Between 1889 and 1895 nearly all the
furniture in the stntebouse was by auction
or otherwise disposed of for triding sums
and new furniture put in It's place Some
parts of the building were furnished twice.
Part of the money realized from the sale Of
old furniture has not yet been paid into
the treasury.
State Cheated aud Betrayed.
T.,
the state was cheated and betrayed The
prices were exorbitant being often double
the usual retail price of the goods. Bills
were falsaed in quantities and prices
Large bonuses and commissions were paid
to state officers. Furniture and carpets
paid for by the state were sent to persons
holding offices under the state for their
private use Moreover, much of the new
furniture was inferior to that which was |
displaced, and changes were made which !
were not desired by the occupants of the |
offices.
I'm the furnishing of coal, lumber nnd |
other supplies for the statehouse there was
deliberate systematic swindling. Guam
titles and prices were falsely raised, goods
being billed to the state and paid for that
were never furnished, large percentages
were added to bills sometimes undoubted- |
ly for the benefit of state officers, at other
times possibly, for the benefit of the deal
or. The state was by the collusion of bid
ders and others made to pay 81, $50 for a
flagpole and flag on the statehouse By
the oollusion Of state comptroller and in
the face of the protest of other state officers
against the waste the state paid S21, S47
for the construction Of pigeonholes and
similar appliances which could readily !
have been obtained for 81, 500 and still
have afforded liberal profit to the maker
More than $1,000 was paid to one painter
upon bills wherein false entries of labor
and material had been made, the prices
likewise being exorbitant, the peculation
being probably "a, 900. That commissions
were paid on this work was not seriously
denied.
The Assembly Chamber Matter.
In the rebuilding of the assembly cham
Der, which cost S232, 600, an architect was
employed who had never before designed
and erected a building OF much of the
work he appeared to have no control, it
being under the immediate supervision of
the governor. NJ plans of this work ap-
pear to be in the possession Of the state
except certain blue prints found among
rubbish in the collar of the statehouse
These do not so much as indicate any ven
however, put in at a cost Of S25, 500. The
evidence is that full price, with large
profit, would have been Sl3 923 and, fur
thermore, that the apparatus is obsolete
and highly unsatisfactory, The same con-
tractor, by arrangement with the govern
or, afterward put similar apparatus in the
senate chamber at cost of S21 625. The
evidence is that full price would have
been Sll, lO2 and that the work is obsolete
and well nigh useless The electrical plant
in the statehouse, with fixtures and sup
plies, cost about SAG, 000 The evidence in
dicates gross overoharges and the probable
payment Of commissions on this work
While much Of the work at the state
house is said to have been done by con-
tract after competitive bidding, the evil
dence Of that fact is missing from the pub
lie files. The bids correspondence and
other documents appear to have been kept
in the executive offices, and all of these
with all the executive files, were removed
from the statehouse at the close of the
term of the governor preceding the present
governor. This course was unprecedented
and has been a source of embarrassment
TO the committee IN their inquiries
Some Serious Charges.
Seven thousand dollars was spent in fur
ulhuluB lub htuhue CudIll Dei uuucI an dp-
preparation to ventilate it, We think that
from 1889 to 1894 there was greas waste,
and in not few cases corruption and
bribery OF officials in the reconstruction,
furnishing and supplying of the state
house Where gross overoharges and false
charges occur the evidence warrants the
belief that 1t was always by the oollusion
OF aoquiesoence of some state officer or en-
ployee
The ordinary expenses Of the govern
ment, excluding public debt, were about
$500 600 in 1875 and in 1884 they had
reached only 81, 600, 600. Tbenoeforth un-
oil 1894, the increase was rapid, the total
in the latter year being 81, 658. 900. The
increase is largely due to the multiplioa-
tion of state officers and state boards. The
expenses of the legislature increased from
$53, 57S in 1873 to S125, 2f9 in 1895. In
1894 the expense fell off TO Sl0S, 791. 1t is
difficult to SEQ why these expenses should