The St. Louis Republic., 1900-07-30
ceivinG, and was a very tyrant in ruling
the officers and employees
Gnal COnlracta.

Returning to the coal contracts of Billy
L.orim coal firm. i'm July. iSsS. tns sI-
pcrilJendent Of the Kankakee Hospital ac-
VertiSed for bids for $500 tons OF co'ii.
lp.'.D lump, 1o.tpp mine-run anu l""v ped.
When the bids were opened II Is s.eu mt mt
the proposition of the Lorimor hrin was
higher than some of the others. ana thtt
the trustees adjourned their sltuhS Will Will
out lCttipS the contract. In the interim
before the next meeting, OGJra, King N
90. were communicated with, u Is ss,id, ana
a telegram WAS rushed TO kankakce an
nouncing that that firm would bid as
low as anybody" Thereupon the trustees
rt,8sSernDled and awarded che contract 10
This was IN July ard the coal began to
arrive immediately. Along in November tho
trustees discovered that the terms of thy
contract were being violated py the coal
company. OGara. King a Co. had agreed
To furnish pea coal at SIiV, inihe.ruh ..
Sl-5' and lump at sl-s1. The hospilai W W.
receiving all mine-run and was cnatSs"
with lump. The Superintendent MADE the
discovery when h. examined the trei2ht
hill He refused 10 pay the blils OF tne
Lngimer Company and reported the FACTS
to the trustees.
one Of thu coal firm appeared before the
trustees and spoke OF the good politics
in paying hill due Congressman Loriu'e- 5
firm: the question between the mine-run
and lump was too small thing to quibbis
over. O',iara is said to Fave been the coal
representative who handled the mater
When th, political phantom failed 70 WORK.
he related a hard luck story OF row .ils
firm veye expecting To obtain coaceSsiehS
from the railroads through Railroad ana
Warehouse Commissioner Joe Bidweli a
wells sickness mad spoiled the combina-
'ion. He said the firm was losing money on
the kankakee contract and Governor ram
ner was hurt about it He ayerred the
Governor was n tender-hearted man and
did not like TO see good fellows lose money
The coal operator changed his tune when
the hoard still persisted in refusing Ia psS
for mine-run at lump prices Then ne
changed his tune and spoke in the sharp:
hrfisulIs, of real coal nldg1laCsS anu
friends OF the Governor. He informed tne
board than Tanner was not only Ia II met
ancholy mood over the kankakee coal mat
ter but was impatient over the boards an
noying punctilioS on the subject or lump
and mine-run.
To ,iriye his point home he reminded the
board OF a similar condition that once arose
at Anna at very recent period ne
Anna trustees had objected to bill OF tine
I.orimer concern ard refused to pay 1t. when
Governor Tanner stepped in, overruled the.i
| aud ordered ii paid.
Anna trouble for they went into executive
session and afterwards announced that they
would pay $40 ton for the coal Re is Nas
on that basis The proposition was accepted
| and during the balance of the life on that
! I.orimcr coal firm ST. 20 for mine-run coal.
which. under their bid. they agreed 10 iur-
nish for Sl.5J.
perintendent of the institution; that the
Iorimer Coal Company secured compro-
mise with the trustees BY whicn n;, i,s con- con-
| more for its coal than II agreed to pay l
recall the fact that the action Of Governor
| Tanner in oyerruling the trustees o, ,sine tne
| with the Lorimer company in regard TO the
price of coal was discussed informally by
| ing what 1t would do on the similar Ques-
| tion then occupying its attention"
Before Doctor Stearns lett the institution
| here he discovered that the cars were TWO
4 tons short in weight. and ordered an tnveS-
| tgation. Before II was concluded ne was
| summarily dismissed by Governor Tanner.
| an unfit man to be in charge OF any depart,
ment where the duties required ability and
Tanner Confesse..
| The truth s. Tanner makes the bid feat
\ rres of the State institutions an utter farce
There IS not. !; is said. competition in any
article furnished this Institution, unless it
/ is something which Is not sold by favorite
| CT the Tanrer regime.
| The letters of the Governor quoted above
! were printed nearly a year ago ana In
| his Sprin gfield organ the Governor ac-
anowIs.lseI their genuineness. He 1nstfi,
\ II the action takeT by stating he believed
| i'll pat-onizino friends and not enemies Of
| his administration-''he did not pretend 20
be a mugwump or a farmer. nor did ne
| claim any patent upon his integrity OF AAH
| dealing"
That Is John r. Tanners estimate of
| himself. The words in quotation marks
are the Governors. and viii be found in
! the Springfield Journal or september L,
Th;s is the man and thi, is his estimate
| of himseif ard the Peoria convention
points 10 HIM and his work as something
| that calls fcrtf praise from all good citi-
zens, irrespective of political affiliations.
II was notorious In this county that tho
hospital was traded and used to secure
| the nomination of Ed Curtis to the House
in 1898, and that the pay rolls We're padded
| 10 an alarming extent to accomplish the
object. Last spring the same tactics i' Mste
| dent Lsn Small of the institution board
! was candidate for the Senate, as WelI as
The best Republicans in the county fought
| the combination TO the death. ana sue
| ceedcd IL eiecting five delegates 10 the
| State Convention who were opposed TO the
ITanner-Small-Curtis | programme. The Tan.
ner crowd however. carried two-thlrds OF
the delegates. and in the state Convention
they voted for Hanecy as long as there
was chance for him. and ON the third
ballot led the stampede 20 Yates from
The Tanner delegates from Kankakee
| were the pioneers in deserving Hanecy and
pointing the way for the Tanner delegates
| 1 have been favored with a letter written
in August, 1897. in confidence py one OF
the Kankakee trustees to q TREND. o.tds ne
| tells secrets. Of course, and among otner
| good sentences. quote these:
I'VE hesiiated to take action because the
thint II advisable to urge n new man, as
/ nave been the biggest kicker on stufiins
the pay roll. II possible. recon-
| !
Mr. LorImer is In the firm Political
| pull IL all they can get into their heads;
and l will work that line The coal
is from Minonk and at a fair price. De-
| stroy this.
| | believe it quite appropriate to show the
way the taxpayers have been MIXED by
| this Kankakee institution. If there were
no extra expense to the people Tanner
ISM I'm the Kankakee institution wouidn'
! hurt 80 much. Tanner took charge In
! isaI and his letters show II was a year
before lie got down to business. SO the APP
propriatiuns for the legislative session OF
| lsg. can b, presumed to he fair. The total
! for this Institution was $bsS..D Tor the TWO
| wears ending June CO. 1899. Two years later
| in ISq9. with his .'businesslike admins
| tr5tion under fun headway in this institu-
| ton the necessity for more money became
| apparent and the Legislature of that year
| made the total S13i,0Ce-or exactly Sllo.Vt
| more than the preceding legislature.
| 50 much FOR "rannerisni' in the kanka-
L,.. Hospital for the Insane. Let me sug-
seSt that the reader turn TO the plank IN
| The Republican platform referring TO Tan
| ner and read II again. How does II strike
| you? And how about Tanners estimate OF
himself? j. L. PiChERiN".