The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-11-03

Doesn't IL suggest itself that the com.
missioners might better have set about
to securs more economical carry Ing
out of the present system than contract
for new system that is sure to cost
twice as much as the mcst prodigal use
Of the oldY
a.. During his term Of oelce Reed had a
contract with the commissioners to re-
copy the indexes, for which he was to
receive 8 cents per index. The indexes
contain an average Of 90 600 indexes per
volume, and at the above price would
cost 5000 per volume. Reed recopied ten
volumes, which would amount to 50, 900.
He has only collected $4,000 con
account" and the county still owes him
about $4,000.
. It.hss been asserted and at no time
denied that no care has been taken of
the books and that they have been allowed
to. go to pieces and thus require rec py-
log. Had the commissi paid soue
attention to that fact they could have
saved the county hundreds if not in
fact thousands Of dollars. Instead the
old plan WAS followed until the graft
was slipping away, and then It was Cis-
covered that ntw system would be re-
quired in order to perpt tuate in Office the
chief moRul Of the court house ring.
So the condition Of affairs was, up to
the week Of jGne "a, that tie county
was in possession cf a arst class syster
of indexlng, that was giving satisfaction
to the people who had business in the
Office. That it was costing more than it
ought to was urged, but there is no record
that any attempt was made by the
county commissioners to make it
cost less. During the week Of June 90
Recorder c. A. Dougherty was about
the city making comEl.int that the COM
missioners, without giving him amy
opportunity to bid on the work or have
any share in it, had given Joe Reed a
contract to reindex Il the rec, ,rds in the
court house. Some experts started to
figure, and they found that the scheme
would cost the county in the neiRhbor-
hood of $4,000, II in feet the work
could be done for that sum. The kick
that Dougherty made attracted atteu-
ton to the scheme and prominent people
began to look into it. Prompt and brazen
denials had been made as to the fact, and
on June 2, when q News Democrat man
called at the commissioners office,
denials had been made frequently.
- Commissioners Summer, Crawford and
johnson were seen by the News, Dem
ocrat man ard Intercepted as to the con-
tract. Summer dismissed it with the
statement that no contract had been
II ade that was legal. JohL sen equivooa-
ted ard resorted to innuendo. Crawford
said there was such contract and that
II the comm issioners signed it and that
h6. knew it was a bad thing but that be
just went into it because. the other fel,
lows wanted him to, though he said II
was rot on the inutes and was not d
legal contract and be knew it was not
when he signed it, On the same day the
News-Demoorat exposed the fraud, and
the indignation of citizens, when they
learned the truth through these columns
was great.
Then followed campaign of denial
subterfuge and, In many instances, down
right leing on the part of the parties tt
the contract and the Repository and Jh'
organs interested 10 shielding the oour
house rigg. On June "a the RepositGr!
said the while thing. was. an idle rumUr
and in the same issue Conn issione
Simmer and Commissioner Crawford haC
interviews in which they said that n
contract Of any nature had been glvel
for the indexing If the records.
On the very next day Commissions
summer ssid in the Repository: "som
days ago we, the commissioners, maze
contract with G. M. Cott, representiu
the National Index Go. Of Columbus
Ohio, for enough books Of his new syi
tenn to hold half the index records of th
county from It's organization up to th
present time"