The herald., 1898-01-31

member, 30 do with the original organi-
Zal.ion of the board. The appointment
of the committees. when that organi
zation was perfected, appears 10 be
very significant. The testimony showed
that James Hellman, a member of
the firm engaged in selling hardware
in this city, contributed something to
the election expenses Of Mr.. Adams,
one of the members of the board. The
two great business and patronage COM
mittees of the Board of Education, as
shown by the evidence here and as a
matter of common knowledge. are the
Committee on Teachers and Schools
and the Committee on Furniture Re-
pairs. Fuel and Building Supplies.
THE FIELD FOR DOODLE
These are the two committees in the
business of which. or among whose
members, the scandals which have dis
graced this board. had their origin The
Committee on Teachers and Schools
was made to consist of Messrs. Conrey
Bartlett and Webb. That on Furni-
ture. Repairs, Fuel and Building Sup
plies had the defendant for chairman,
with Conrey and Adams, the director
to whose election expenses Mr.. He'll
man had contributed. as members. 1t
would appear to a reasonable man.
that selections for these two most i'm
portant committees should have been
dictated by one or both of two con-
siderations. The members thereof
having important patronage to dis
pense. and especially of the Committee
on Furniture, etc. having large pur-
chases to make, should have been Sc
lected either for their business ability
or for the significance of their party
representation. We find. however that
the member of the board representing
in his party affiliations. the smallest
political party of the city of Los An
tee on Janitors, while the only Demo-
crat on the board. Mr.. Mc1nerny, was
appointed on committees having infin-
itely less patronage than the first two
geles, to-wit. Mr.. Adams, who was a
Populist was selected as a member of
one of these great committees. and
was also given a place on the Commit
and consequently of a great deal less
Importance. Mr.. McInerny. as COM
pared with Adams. also had the advan-
tage of being evidently much better
qualified for the business of the two
committees in question. and particu-
larly for that of furniture. repairs, etc,
involving, as was said, large amount
of purchases. Adams, as was shown.
and is well known. has never demon
strated in his private life any partfcu-
lar business capacity which would
recommend him for a position on a
committee of this kind; Mr.. McInerny
appeared by the result of his
business dealings, to have achieved
the success of competency in
life. and also of respect
able business position. 1t is evident
also, I may say in passing. that at the
time this organization was perfected,
Mr.. McInerny could not have been un-
derstood as being a close ally of the
defendant; and this conclusion, as we
shall see, is sustained by other por-
tons of the evidence developed in the
course of the investigation. Shortly
after the taking of office by this board
and the appointment of the committees
in question, the defendant here appears
to have made another alliance, which,
in the light of the evidence, has be-
come of some significance, by begin
ming to occupy the same Storeroom
with Director Bartlett. who carried on
the business of a dealer in musical in
struments. This propinquity of loca-
ton, it appears, if not entirely without
significance in view Of the evidence
which l shall advert to hereafter.
ADAMS HIS TOOL
Finding himself chairman of the Fur
niture. Repairs Fuel and Building Sup
plies Committee, with Adams, man
whose character invited every attempt
to control and mould him to any de-
sired end. one of his colleagues on that
committee, it appears from the evil
dence that the defendants first exer-
else of his powers was directed to TAX
ing, with the assistance of Adams, the
purchase of supplies by the committee
of which he was chairman from firm
with which the preceding board had
attempted to make a contract for all
the purchases for the year ending July
l, 1897, and diverted those purchases 10
the company of which Mr.. Adams S
friend, Hellman, was a member a COM
pany which had formerly supplied the
school department, very largely under
a board whose acts in making pur-
chases had been the subject of severe
criticism in the report of a former
grand jury of this county; a firm.
one member of which has figured
extensively in this investigate
in his efforts to prevent the
suppress testimony and defend one Of
the confessedly guilty parties. 1t is not
able, however, that the evidence does
not show any effort on the part of
the defendant or any one else in his
name, to levy blackmail or secure cor
rupt consideration in connection with
the business of the school board, until
di Ter an lncluent tfanSplfeQ Wnlcn gave
the defendant control of AXtell, whom
ii appeared, he found, under pressure
a ready tool to his hands. Axtell was
the superintendent of buildings for the
school board and as such, it was part
of his duties to make acquisitions al
most daily upon the Building Supplies
Committee, of which the defendant was
chairman, for necessary supplies. His
duties, according to the testimony of
both the defendant and AXtell, brought
him more closely in connection with
the defendant than with any other
member Of the school board, and con-
nected with him more intimately in
daily business association than with
any other employG Of the school board.
HIS CINCH ON AXTELL
by taking advantage of the action
up1n Axtell's part, in permitting Di-
rector McInerny to secure the doing Of
plumbing work by certain employees of
the board, whom it is shown McInerny
paid, and which action amounted at
least to an official indiscretion the de-
fendant induced AXtell to put into his
hands his written resignation from his
position, and also a writing giving a
history of the transaction between
himself and Director McInerny. One not
able feature Cf this transaction is that