The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-03-09
CAPITOL SCANDAL,
Some Queer Yarns Spun for
the Senate Investigation
Committee.
DID BARNEY WANT ADIVyY !?
Pages Alleged to Have State
House Accounts on Them
Cut From John Mul-
lins' Books.
A Discharged Employees Highly
Colored Sensation-Barretts
Denial.
Specie. 10 The jersey c:tu Ncsrs.

Specie, to the Jersey CstH lTcsrs.
TRENTON, March g. 1Ss5.-At the open
ing of yesterday afternoons session of
the Voorhees, Committee. which has
started to Lexow the State, Mr.. Corbin
quoted the act of January 80, 1890. which
appropriated $4,000 for necessary car
pets and furniture for the various offices
of the State House, to be expended on
the approval of the Governor and Comp
troller. On that account there was ex-
pended S19239. He also drew attention
to another act approved the same day,
in relation to State House expenses,
whereby the Superintendent was author
lied TO expend $4,000 in furnishing, paint
ing and ventilating the Senate Chamber.
Under the latter act. Mr.. Corbin said,
nothing had been spent, but $4,000 had
been expended for the purpose under the
Joint Resolution of 1876. which provided
for expenditures for State House pur-
poses. Then Mr.. Corbin read the Joint
Resolution of March 20, 1884, which pro-
vided for the new Assembly Chamber
and authorized the Governor to pay out
the amounts required for the same I'm
der that resolution the Governor ex-
pended S239, ,S73. OF that sum $l6,SH was
expended in furnishing the Assembly
Chamber A joint resolution, passed in
1892, authorized the Governor to provide
for the proper ventilation OF the Senate
Chamber, the committee rooms and Of
fees. Nothing was said in that resolu-
ton about furniture, yet there was spent
under it $32, 1888, of which sum s6,9sS went
for furniture. Under the joint resolution
of 1916. which provided for State House
expenditures as they should be needed,
S123, ,9O9 was spent during the years 1882
1894.
STATE HOUSE STRIPPED.
The State House was stripped from
garnet to cellar Mr.. Corbin continued,
and everything taken out that something
new might be put in. The amount OF
stuff bought was stupendous and the
prices paid for it exorbitant. The Su-
preme Court chamber. which was the
hsndsomest office In the State House
and recognized as one of the handsomest
court rooms in the country, had been
stripped of its fine old walnut furniture
and cheap oak put in its place The
simple but dignified decorations had been
torn down and something else put in its
place Every room in the State House
was formerly furnished in rich walnut,
which, with very few exceptions. had
been replaced with oak very much in
nerior and cheaper in appearance, if not
In price. This, Mr.. Corbin declared. had
been done even against the protests Of
some of the State officials.
He then proceeded to read some of the
bills which had been paid for furnishing
the State House during the past six
years. Among these were:-Scudder Il
Durham. Trenton, s3,149; Convery &
Walker, Trenton, s90S6; Lawrence Far
rell, Trenton s4,574; New Jersey Church
and School Furniture Company, SS,0SS; A.
B. Dick & Co.. s22.772: John Mullins &
Co.. s4S.5H.
Mr. Corbln then called to the stand
John Riker, clerk in the Comptroller's
Office, who acted as a clerk to Mr.. Ford
at one time. He testified that Mr.. Ford
would bring him the bills rendered by
John Mullins & Co. and he would separ-
ate them into the various accounts to
which they were TO be charged. These
separated bills he made out on Mullins &
Co.'S bill heads. which were furnished
to him by Mr.. Ford While doing this
work one day he came across an item
where Mullins & Co. had charged S1o2
for a copying press. The press was iden-
tically like one in the Conptroller's Office.
for which $40 had been paid, and he called
r
said it was a mistake and directed Riher
TO charge s42 for it. He also called Ford's
attention to the fact that Mullins had
charged higher price for the desks for
the Senate Chamber than had been paid
for the same kind of desks in the As
sembly Chamber
Ford also characterized that as an
error and directed rilSer to make the cor
rection. After Mr.. Riker had identified
several bills which he had copied he
gave way to John Mullins.
MULLINS MUTILATED BOOKS
Mr.. Mullins had brought with him
from Jersey City three large packing
cases full of books. and the big folios
were spread on a large table in front of
him Two of the big sale books and one
of the ledgers had several pages cut out
of them, and Mr.. Mullins testimony was
directed to that. He said that on the
morning following election day, 1898, his
partner, Mr.. Moriarity. called his atten-
stion to the books and told him that
someone had Scut out the missing pages
some time during the night. Those of the
books which were not in daily use were
usually kept in aSvaE1t, while those In
use were locked uD over night in the
safe. The books after mutiiatton were
found ScaCter9d on a telDie IN. tHe once.
Three books were cut that morning and
two others about three weeks afterward.
Mr.. Mullins went to Police Headquar-
tiers, he said. and re ported the affair.
The then Superintendent Smith, detailed
Detectives Dalton and Doyle on the case,
buf tf1yy never discovered who did the
cutting. The missing pages were never
seen afterward.
Mr.. Corbin read. from The Jersey City
News, of November 9, 1898, an account
of the discovery of the nutilation and
the unsuccessful endeayors of the de-
tectives to discover the mutilators, which
was offered In evidence he State House
account. Mr. Mullins said. was on one of
the missing pages.
Mr. Corbirl called Mr.. Mullins, attep-
tfon to the fact that In all the en-
tries of sales to the Senate the
items wtre in ink, Willie the
prices were in pencil, and asked him why
that was.
~ ,annf,t fall ~ renlied Mr. Mullins