The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1895-07-11
A CANTON BRIDGE co.
Being Investigated by the Taxpayers of Guernsey
County, Who Object to the Big
Bridge Trust.

the bidding. All these transactions appear ON
the books of the clearing house at Chicago"
"The success of this pool" said the Enquir.
er, lis due to the culpable neglect or ignor-
ance, OF worse, of the commissioners. Their
engineer can always make rough estimate of
the actual cost Of such bridge, and compar.
ison of bridges Of the same form erected before
the formation of this pool will show what is a
reasonable amount to pay for the structure.
The bids should give an itemized account of
the cost of each part thereof. Almost every
county in the state is robbed by such rings as
this. How much have county commissioners
received, individually and collectively, for
standing in with this swindle2 Are the COM
missioners elected TO help rob the people or to
protect them against just such stealing as this2
The thousands of dollars this ring extorts from
the coanty treasures is paid in by the poor
men, VINO form the bulk of the taxpayers, and
who must scrape and save and deny them.
selves to save their property from being sold
| for taxes"
singular fact appearing in the laws relat-
ing to bridges is, that while the commissioners
are required to make, or procure to be made by
a competent civil engineer, full, accurate and
complete estimate of each item of expense, and
the entire aggregate cost of, bridge substruc.
ture, and no contract can be made for a price
exceeding such estimate; yet there are no such
provisions or limitations on contracts for bridge
superstructures
1t looks as though this bridge combination
had "a friend at court" at the time the law
was enacted by the legislature.
We are informed that, during the last fifteen
months, Commissioner Graves has been the
hired agent and travelling salesman of the
Wrought Iron bridge company, Of Canton. 1t
is said that his agency does not include this
county; but the fact that he is in the employ
of the company is not denied. And although
the statute, (Sec. $780, provides that 'no COM
missioner shall directly or indirectly, be con-
cerned in any contract for work to be done, or
material to be furnished for the county," un-
der penalty of from 5000 to $4,000; yet Mr..
Graves has continued in office as commissioner.
We notice he has signed the journal as chair
man of the board, for at least one session where
large payments and allowances were made to
his company.
The agents of these companiesare all advised,
as matter of course, of the pool arrangements;
they know the plans; they are the ones who
work up the bridge business And in view
of the publicity of the pool, if the other mem.
bers of the board have not ascertained the true
situation, it is poor commentary on their in
telligence and business sagacity. The truth is,
they did know, or might have known, that
there is combination existing among the
iron bridge builders, which shuts out competi.
ton and compels the county to pay large
amount in excess of the cost, including a
reasonable profit, of every iron bridge built in
the county.
Under these circumstances it would seem to
be mere farce for the commissioners to ad-
vertise the letting of bridge. 1t simply mo-
tifes the agents Of the bridge companies when
to come in and fix the amount they will filch
from the county forthe work. The commission
ers, under the plans of the combination, have
little to say in the matter. 1t is true they go
through the form of opening the bids, but
these bids have been determined beforehand
by the agents of the bridge companies. They
determine who shall make the lowest bid, and
who the highest and about all the commits
sioners have to do is TO confirm the proceed
ings of the agents.
Notwithstanding all this, the commissioners
of this county have been letting contracts for
iron bridges from year TO year; and they are
now about to go through the farce of giving
notice for proposals for bridge over Willis
creek, near Cambridge.