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

Ou"hoE baiu iurJnSFs ~ Whb IopiO-
sented to us that the entire cost of in
PRODUCING the new system would not
exceed 1900, but upon investigation IL
was found that the expense would some
what exceed that sum-"
NotN outstanding all that, the Re-
pository and other organs Of the ring
have repeatedly asserted that there was
no contract, and that IL was yellow
fake" and all that sort Of rot. Issue
after issue contained contradictions the
purpose being TO so confuse the public
mind that 1t could not decide whether
there was a contract or not.
On July 1 the News-D Democrat re-
printed a special from Columbus to the
Clev Gland Press in which the Cott in
dexing people stated in an interview
with representative OF that paper that
the company Intended to hold Stark
county to the contract made by the
county commissioners. They stated tn at
they had gone ahead with, tie books and
had gone to the expense of making them
and that they would therefore insist on
the pay for them, tte work amounting at
that tine to 81 300 for the books mad o
according to the contract, which they
secured in good faith
In the face Of this it was claimed by
the Republican press and by the court
house ring partisans that there was moth
ing in the whole affair. The books
arrived and one night they were sur
reptitiously taken II to the court house
and into an Office that Joe Reed had
fixed there to carry on the $40, 600 job.
On Saturday evening, October 8, the
News Democrat made the assertion that
the books were in the court house and
that Joe Reed had established an office
there. On the following Tuesday the
commiss toner's net and Commissioner
Summer offered the resolutions thaG set
at rest any question that there was
scheme on somewhere TO get bunch Of
N oney from the public Golfers. The
resolutions stated distir city that Joe
Reed and the National Index Co., which
makes the Cott system, claimed to hold
a contract with the county, and that
Reed, contrary to our oIders," had
fitted up an Office in the court house
and is about to Iegin the indexing of
said aforesaid records" Mind, this is
t he same contact that they said in the
first place did not exist at all, and that
the Repository, wish full Wedge of
the facts, insisted was "an idle rumor."
On the day these reasolutiols were
adopted, the votes Of Summer and Craw-
ford Eeing recorded in their favor,
News. De q ocrat man visited Reed in bis
office in the court house and found that
he not only occupied offices but WIS in
possession of Keys to the whole wing tf
the court house.
After that the people were onto the
court house crowd so strong there was
little further ntten pit II ade to conceal
the fact of contract, and it wes at
tempted to make out that the oontrac
had been aDnulled. Then came the Re-
pository with copy Of the original con-
tract, aid the statement that 1t had been
Cancelled. The people began to ques-
ton whether it could be possible to can
Gel a contract that never existed land they
further made the inquiry how ice Reed,
after N aking the following statement in
the Repository: "I did have a cont tract
with tine commissioners, but have
turned it over to another party whose
name l will not DISCLOSE" had the
authority to annul it. II it belongs to
some one else, as Joe said 1t did, how can
be annul it without the cunsent Of tue
other party to whom he transferred itp
Without the sigr ature of the other party
it cannot be snnulled If 1t were trans
ferred. SO the matter resolves itself in
to this condition of affairs: Either Reed
did not tell the r, pository the facts
when he said the contract was trans
ferred to another party or the Repository
wilfully misquoted i'm or else the "can-
celIed" written across tue face of the con-
tract, as is claimed. might as well not have
been written so far as being effective Is
concerned.
But in the face of all I've lieing that
has been going on the greater part of the
summer, tue court house ring an it,
defenders come out now ard say the In
dexing is good thing but it will not be
done. Commissioner johnson in an in
tervisw last Thursday in the Repository