Arizona republican., 1901-11-07

The grand jury of the October term yesterday submitted its final report after session of just twenty-one days. The final report was awaited with what may be described as a breathless interest, for it was well known that it would embrace the summary of the most exhaustive search ever conducted in this county. It covered the whole field of county affairs and was even carried into municipal. territorial an1 federal matters. The report itself was rather disappointing to those who were expecting something sensational. for there was almost nothing sensational in it.
 There was a censure of the justices of the peace. the board of supervisors, the council and the police department in certain matters. It abounds in figures made up from the different offices. all of which have been hitherto published in the form Of reports. It was stated at the outset that no expert had been employed in the examination of any of the public accounts, the un- derstanding being that the accounts should be gone over carefully, and if there should be a discovery made of anything that was not plain an expert should be employed to lay it bare.
 
 and the county board were censured was in the letting of contracts for job printing. The report was not explicit, hut II was understood that the grand jury committee having the subject Of investigation in hand found that the contractor for both city and county was the H. H. McNeil company. In the case of the city the contract was ap- parently awarded to the Daily Enter prise; that no part of the job printing contract had been done by the Enter prise, but by the H. H. McNeil com pany, whose head is a member of the council. and who participated in the awarding of the contract. It was fur ther found that the bills for the work had actually been presented to the city and collected by he H. H. McNeu com pany. so that the apparent contractor did not figure in the matter after the time the contract was awarded.
 In the case of the county job print ing, it is said that though the con tract was let after an advertisement for bids, the advertisement was influenced or taken advantage of by the H. H. Me Neil company; that a very few of the articles required by the county were mentioned in the advertisement, and they were in themselves of kind which made up a very small and un- important part of the whole contract. The figures in the bid of the H. H. Me Neil company for these specified arti- cles were very far below their actual cost. and on this bid the whole con- tract was awarded.
 The fault found with the justices of the peace consisted mainly in a gen. eral looseness in bookkeeping methods and the prevalence of a system by which it was possible to draw two fees for the same service, one by accepting money paid into court, and then again by a warrant on the county. treasury after the approval of the account by the board of supervisors. It was stated that this had been done at least once by constable of Phoenix precinct. The report also called attention to the fact that warrants had been issued out of justices courts for the arrest of prisoners already arrested by police of ficers, thereby adding an unnecessary expense to the conduct of city affairs. The issuing of warrants in trivial cases and the subpoenaing an unnec-