The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-10-27
WEBER COUNTY MATTERS,
EFFORTS TO DIVERT ATTENTION
FROM THE REAL ISSUE
Facts of the Case Perfectly Clear
and Plainly Set Forth in the Rec
ords-Some Points About the
Canyon Road Contract.

~ great nue. ana cry is raised tnaL Inc
Herald has charged William G. Wilson,
John C. Child and e. W. Wade with
embezzlement and other criminal mis-
appropriation of public money. These
statements are false. The Herald has
never charged this, and the Federation
| OF such false statements will not di-
vert the attention of the people from
the real issue. The Herald has sim
ply given extracts from the county
commission records and the public doc
uments, and has pointed out the stat
utes governing the handling of public
money by the county commissioners.
Since The Herald's first article on this
subject, the records have been con-
suited by others, and especially by Re
publicans. They are desperate, and
will doubtless publish articles intended
to mislead readers and discredit the
| showing made by The Herald by mere
mass of juggled figures. To all such
the readers should apply. certain tests.
| They should examine and see if the
! figures disprove these statements:
First-The county commissioners
have, since December 81, 1895, borrowed
500 on notes of the county, which
draw interest at s per cent.
Second-The county commissioners
have never allowed most of that
made by law the custodian of public
| funds. and who gives heavy bonds for
| the proper discharge of his duties.
! Third-The commission have issued
warrants enough which have already
been presented to the treasurer for
payment to bring the total of increased
Indebtedness up to $66,500.
| If the defense offered for the COM
missioners' action do not disprove the
I 9h0Va c mr.
convicted of extravaganza and misman-
| agement?
| AS to the other phase of the ques-
ton, whether certain sections of the
county have been favored above others
or not, the people can judge. The Og-
! den canyon road is an important high
way, but so is the Weber canyon road.
/ Some time ago the county commission
! ers solicited and received numerous
! bids for. the construction of a good
roadway up Weber canyon. For build
| ing it along the north side of the can
/ yon where it could be made to act as
protection from the river for the
Union Pacific grade, important aid was
! offered from the railroad. Aid was
also offered from the canal company in
Davis county to which the present
road is great inconvenience; and aid
! was offered from Davis county. The
! highest of these bids was not over
| $4,000, the lowest less than $1,000. Yet
| they were all refused, while nearly
1 81, 500 was expended in Ogden canyon
The Weber canyon road is as i'm
! portant to the people in the western
and southern portion of the county as
| the Ogden canyon road issto the people
who traverse it. They bring their
wood and their coal down that canyon
as do many Ogden people.
| Commissioner Wade was seen and
made some statements to the effect
that he did not expect the road would
cost so much. At the outset, they had
thought the road would not cost the
county nearly so much. Wilson had
| emphatically offered to pay every dol
4 lar over $4,000 which it should cost.
| He never considered the transactions
whereby money had been secured from
the banks and the notes of the county
pledged as security. However, two
good lawyers had said it was legal,
and they went ahead. Regarding the
Withholding of the money from Treas
urer Boyle, Mr.. Wade said the money
came mostly from John E. Dooly, who
refused to take warrants, because he
could not draw per cent interest on
them. and he wanted s, which he gets
on the notes. The money was not
turned over to the county, but held by
the bank and paid out as warrants
were presented. The warrants were
kept as security for the notes.
"Then they hold double value war
rants and notes for every dollar
loaned?"
Eyes, but the notes will be surren-
dered when the warrants are paid"
Gould they not negotiate the notes
and raise money on them and then
likewise raise money on the warrants?"
Yes, but they could be put behind
the bars for fraud"
Then is the county's money protect
ed by the criminal statutes only?"
To this Commissioner Wade made no
answer He further stated that some
of the warrants held as security for the
notes have been registered. These have
been figured by The Herald as part of
( the $4,000 registered warrants which
swells the Indebtedness incurred UP to
! s66, 500.
IF these warrants are registered"
he was asked, will they not then draw
interest as well as the notes they Sc
cure?''
They will not draw interest, be-
cause we have an express agreement
with them to the contrary"
rs 1t a written agreement"
eff you had come to me in the first
place I would have told you all, as it
is + prefer to say nothing about that"
When pressed IOr an answer, ne re-
piled: IF l should tell you that we
have written agreement you would
Immediately ask why we did not place
| it on file with the other public records"
Yes, sir, I should"
Then just tell them that the funds
are safe, that's all"
W. F. Adams, Cashier of the Utah
| National bank, was ayerse to talking
about the matter at all, but finally said
that his bank merely acted as the agent
of Wells, Fargo & Co., represented by
Dolly. The notes were Immediately as
signed to Wells. Fargo & Co. by him.
That firm holds the notes and the
money was deposited in the bank to
redeem the warrants. The warrants
were not cancelled or marked in any
way when they were received The
county commissioners never had the
money in their hands for a minute. But
still it is the county's money
The transaction, then, was the
county borrowed money from Wells,
Fargo & Co., and by their authority it
was deposited with you?"
Yes; that's all there is to it,
| 1t was also learned that the $500
borrowed from citizen of Ogden was
likewise deposited in the Utah National
bank, Treasurer Boyle and the statute
being completely ignored.
Another of the boards peculiar
methods of doing business and defyine
the law, was much discussed yesterday.
The law provides that no commissioner
shall be financially interested in any
contracts or dealings of the board. It
William G.. Wilson has furnished much
of the lumber used by the commission
1851, &I,,.< .r~l.< @1,rA