Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-13
SUPERVISORS ARE SUED
Another Turn in the Much Mixed Case of
County Printing.
M0ReH0USE ASKS FOR AN INJUNCTION
County board Is Charged with Being
Influenced by Certain Fnvors in
the Matter of Award
ing Contracts.

Just as the members OF the Board OF Su-
pervlsors were leaving after adjournment of
the January session yesterday afternoon,
they were served with notice that an in
junction suit had been filed against them in
the superior court to restrain them from
complying with the contract for the manu-
facture of blank books for the county, re-
Gently entered into with the Nonpareil Print
ing company.
Il. a. Morehouse appears as plaintif in
the action and he charges the board with
being unduly influenced in letting the con-
tract. The defendants named in the petit
tion are Perry Kerney, w. f. Baker, ia
cob Hansen, Henry Brandes and b. G. Auld
members OF the Board of Supervisors; j. NJ
Matthews, county auditor; William Arndt,
county treasurer, and the printing company
in question. Among other things the petit
tion states:
"That in the letting of said contract by
said board as aforesaid, the members Of
said board fraudulently connived with and
accepted favors from said New Nonpareil
Printing company, through its manager,
one Victor Il. Bender, Immediately before
voting upon and letting said contract thereby
doing irreparable injury to the plaintif
herein, and the citizens and taxpayers OF
said county"
The favors referred to in the petition, ac-
cording to the members of the board them
selves. consisted of trip to Omaha to "Pud-
d'nhead Wilson," and the taking Of a pic
ture of the board at Sherradens gallery.
Continuing the petition states that the
plaintiff had a bid on file in the auditor s
Office in which he agreed to do the work at
much less cost than the defendant printing
company. By rejecting the bid of More
house G Co., the petition states, the money
of the citizens and taxpayers was squandered
to the extent of about 200.
The new point advanced in the present pc
tition and which was not brought out last
year in proceedings of the same character, Is
stated in the petition as follows:
THAT said contract was given to the said
New Nonpareil Printing company, through
fraud. connivance and for political prefer
ment, to the great damage and irreparable
injury OF this plaintiff, and the citizens and
taxpayers of said county"
After stating that the board is endeavoring
to heedessly and willfully squander the
money paid into the county treasury by the
taxpayers the petition asks that all the de-
PENDANTS be restrained from in any way car
rying out "the terms OF said alleged con-
tract"
The filing Of the suit caused considerable
surprise among the members of the board
gs they did not expect to be again con-
fronted with an injunction suit. Several of
them had expressed themselves, since Mr..
Wadsworth first appeared before them and
demanded recognition for his client and him
self as a taxpayer, that they thought 'the
whole thing was nothing but bluff.'
Mr.. Wadsworth stated last evening that he
would follow the present action with one
against the same parties to recover the
amount paid to the printers last year in eX-
cess of the contract price.