The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-01-10

1aiSiy SHltTCtQr vi
their face the contract requirements are
exactly outlined, infinitely specified and
rigidly drawn. but it is well recognized
oy the inner few that Noncompliance
herewith is tacitly ignored. : y . :
This policy ends by placing the depart
ment in the power of contractors, for ii
necessarily promotes a favored class OF
contractors. who. commencing small,
swell to large proportions"
After pointing out how this system
stided all honest competition, Mr.. Freed
ley proceeds to exempliioation. IT will
commence" he says, with contracts re-
lating to the highways of this city.
Such contracts embrace contracts for
street cleaning, for removal of garbage.
for collection of ashes, for paving and
for unpaved macadamized roads. In each
and all of them, as at present conduct
ed, pitfalls for the unwary exist, APP
p~arently difficult and expensive to cross;
but passed by with exceeding ease by
practical non-performers. In cleaning
streets contractors %stipulate to use GER
tain specified expensive machines. High
prices are. t~hereupon, bid and accepted.
The machines are not used.
Some idea of the profit to the con-
tractor and the loss to the public by
this system is perhaps best developed
by the fact which will be shown to you
that in 1895 the street cleaning contrac-
tors offered to do more work than they
had done in 1894 for 500, 900 less, and
this after paying $4,000 additional in fines.
The reason being, of course, that others
were beginning to discover the profits
of non-performance, and the bids were
lowered-all still based on a vicious sys-
tenn
W days of the committees time were
given up to proving these and other sim
liar abuses in detail. Wholesale robbery
of the most fabulous kind was over
whelmingly shown. For instance, a
member of the National Paviors' Union
swore that the street paving contractors
rarely, if ever, performed their work ac-
cording to contract. He gave instances
where cinders were used in place of
gravel and also testified that the best
blocks were sent to New York and Bos-
ton because the officials in those cities
upon the paving contracts be-
ing earried ot1t aooordinu ~ tho 1a++ar re
the law, whereas in Philadelphia the in
ferior blocks could be palmed off.
After a few days recess, the commit
tee, on November %, took up the SUBJ
ject of padded payrolls. Instead of gem
eralizing on this point, we shall give an
extract from the testimony
Thomas Warren, No. 242 South Ninth
PAYROLL, was then called. He testified
that he had worked on bridge work for
the city this year under Superintendent
a artfk Be f anisbe IL WAS " sss s9me time HI in os MAY;
thet he had ever received IS per day. the
amount credited to him on the payroll.
He ner asserted tSte tia ! he had never been paid
work that he did for the city. He was
asked, Didn't you receipt for So per
Jay
4. 81 could not tell what I did re-
ceipt for. When we signed the war
rant, the blotter was held over the
amount on the paper, SO that We could
9. Who held the blotter over it?"
6. pa that occur every time you
a. Sir. I did not know what
amount / was signing. for"
Q. When did you first discover that
A. "one of the men employed with me
told me so.'
On December 4 the committee listened
to some sensational evidence.
1t was shown, in the first place, that
the vulcanite Paving Company had re-
ceived four-sixths of the paving and
other work done in the slum district a
year or 50 ago, at a cost of nearly $780,
600. Contractor Smart testified that he
was the lowest bidder for the under
ground work in one of the districts en-
braced in this work, but in spite of that
fact the contract was awarded to the
vulcanite Company. There was a ripple
of surprise when Mr.. Smart testified that
after complaining to the Director he
received an invitation to call upon DR..
Hilbert, of the Vulcanite Company. He
did so and DIR. Filbert thereupon en-.
gagged Smart to do the work, not only
in the district in which he had been the
lowest bidder but in others. There was
a general raising of eyebrows when
Agent Adds testified tina the yulcanite
Paving Company had received a war
rant for the total amount of their bid
for this work, and not for the lesser
amount, as bid for by Contractor
Smart. Prior to this there was testi-
mony to show that contractors had nc
legal right to sub-let their contracts.
There was another sensation whe a
for $3.50 was produced showing
that Thomas Warren had been credited
with receiving five and a half days pay,
at 50 per day, for work done during the
early part of July. Mr.. Warren appear
ed in person and stated that he had not
worked at that time, being in Atlantic
City during the whole of the period
covered by the warrant. The warrant
mo drourp IN Tbonoe urorrao ss.w