Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-10-20
right to be present, and the awards are

right TO be present, and the awards are
made publicly, and each and every bid
der has the opportunity to see and ex-
anime the bids OF his rivals for the con-
tracts. lnasmuch as The material fur
nished and work done is for the state
the rivalry for the contracts is always
spirited
"On last Saturday night in this nall.
and standing on this platform. this
same candidate made the following
charge:
" In Grace church they bought 146.-
900 feet of lumber when only $4,000
feet were used. Those familiar with
their methods say that they had the
lumber carried in by the front door,
charged to the state, and then removed
half of it by back window, but I do
not vouch for this. But that 10000
We're charged to the state while the
amount used was $1,000 | do vouch for.
The bills were regularly O. K, and
would have been paid had we not ar
rested them
1.-THE answer to the assertion is that
1t is not true. The state did not buy
146,000 feet of lumber, as alleged neith-
er did the state buy $4,000 feet of lum-
ber as stated by the candidate. 1t did
buy exactly 1922 feet of lumber and
paid for it the sum of $2,91004 The
total cost of the lumber that went into
the church repairing was $2,910.04. and
the total cost of the planning mill and
carpenter work was $2,3S2.5t making
a total cost of the lumber and the labor
upon it of $5.292.55. Here are the bill
and the voucher for it over the hand
and seal of the auditor general of the
state.
Again, this candidate for governor
has declared in his newspaper and on
the stump that the burning of the state
capitol building was by design and that
1T was done for the purpose of burning
up public documents which might be
used as testimony against certain MEM
bers of the Republican party; and thai
further, there is convicting evidence OF
criminal carelessness and neglect on
the part of the state house custodians.'
THE last sentence, quoted from his
newspaper. contains a serious charge in
no ambiguous terms After this state
ment he was called upon to testify be-
fore the joint committees of the two
branches of the general assembly on
public grounds and buildings. He was
sworn to tell the truth, and then under
Odtu he ultt Hbl III any way, tllHeT Ill
rectly or indirectly. indicate that he
had at any time regarded the building
as having been set on fire by design. He
could give no names of the guilty; he
could furnish no witnesses; he could
give no data; he could do nothing, not
even repeat the assertion made in his
paper. and so at last he declared under
oath: I have already testified to all
hn ttsi+ In, vol Ia5e
in relation to the capitol building and
so far as l can recall them. Any furth-
err testimony would he hearsay evil
dence. as | have heard nothing from
anyone responsible for the care of the
building burned This testimony is
contained in the Legislative Record.
pages 723 and 72s inclusive. and there
is not a scintilla of evidence given by
him or anyone else to support his
charge of carelessness or neglect.
AT n later date. in an article pub
lished in the Pennsylvania Methodist.
of Feb. II, 1898, he intimated that the
building was burned in order that val
liable papers and documents relating
to the treasury investigation might be
destroyed. When called upon the wit
ness stand he admitted writing the arti-
Gle and said that when he wrote 1t he
had in view q statement which he had
seen in the Philadelphia newspapers
bearing on the subject and averred that
1T was made on the statement of gem
tlemen who profess to know of what
they were talking. He refused to give
the names of the gentlemen who had
given him the information, and has not
yet done So although q year and a half
has elapsed since the investigation was
held. Everybody at all familiar with
the facts knows that there was not a
record relating to the treasury or any
other department on file in the building
burned.
"A citizen of this commonwealth. who
is candidate for the highest office
within the gift of the people. who with
holds information from the public.
which he AYERS is Convicting evidence
of the destruction of the capitol build
ing of our commonwealth for the pur-
pose of destroying valuable papers and
documents relating to the investigation
of the state treasury, then being made,
charges an awful crime, and IN with
holding the evidence. if II exists. COM
mits himself a greater crime against
the people. He is constantly repeat
ing the charge but he steadfastly with
holds the proof of guilt which he AYERS
he possesses. No citizen need be told
that if he is telling the truth it is his
solemn duty to go to the nearest mag
istrate and make his information and
furnish the names of the witnesses. If
he fails to do his duty in this regard he
is worse than an assassin.
''He has latterly in his public utter
ances been declaring that he has the
advice of able counsel to the effect that.
under the law, the attorney general is
the only citizen of the state who has the
power and whose duty it is to prosecute
those whom he alleges to be guilty, and
he has, just as often. in his newspaper
end on the stump. called upon the at
tornev general to institute proceedings
of this character.
Il do not know who his attorney Is or
where he gets his advice. The attorney
general has. however. addressed to me
n communication on the subject, which
l will now read to you. 1t is as fol-
lows:
office of the Attorney General