The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-20

Dickey, Keiki, Kumalae, Robertson and
Wilcox.
Gilfllan, Hogs and Prendergast were
absent.
Superintendent of Public Works Nc
Candless and assistant Rowell came in
for a severe scoring at the hands of
the Committee on Public Expenditure
Epithets were freely used even the late
Captain Kings administration being
.censured. Rowell however was the
recipient of the greatest share of the
stigma.
The Committee found that on the Pail
road contract bids, c. B. Dwight made
an offer to complete the work for
s29,975, a bid just s25 below the $50 1000
appropriation and far below that of any
of his competitors, circumstance that
the jury declared showed that Dwight
knew in advance what the others were
bidding. Furthermore a bond of only
$4,000 had been required at his hands
and even that not forfeited on his fail
ure to complete the contract
A letter from Dwight to Capt King
was quoted in which the contractor
asked for leniency and claimed that he
was losing money.
In apparent response to this appeal,
in 1900 an appropriation of $4,000 was
granted and a further one of s6,565, for
unpaid bills on the Pal road.
| Yet another sum of 500, 900 was spent
making grand total of 5,7SS.13
The report reads:
| Your committee feels a natural deli
cacy in discussing a matter involving the
! conduct of a person since dead. The
/ I,t- -,
ter of the Interior, only followed the
common practice and undoubtedly acting
| on the advice of his subordinate and
! with the consent of his associates in the
| Government permI..ed the bond to lapse
He was what some members of the Gov
| eminent service today claim to be- an
honest man and one possessed Of that
purity of thought which prompted him to
| invest all others with the sterling quail
| ties which distinguished him.
An unsuccessful or incompetent man
| agement makes or unmakes many bus
| mess firm in the competitions of this
/ life, and what applies to the ordinary
| business life applies with more force to
| Governmental affairs. Viewed in this
/ light, it was gross neglect of the public
| interest to continue c. B. Dwight in
| charge of this work, by the Govern
ment. 1t was an unauthorized exceeding
Of authority to permit one who had thus
| brought the Government to severe loss to
| continue the supervision of the work.
| c. b. Dwight was permitted to con-
| tinue in charge of the work and to turn
| what would have been otherwise the
most disastrous agreement of his life to
yield him results hardly hoped for when
he wrote his letter of April 6, 1899. Mr..
Dwight's receipts up to the present time
! have amounted to $4,000.
I'VE have not a word to say against
Mr.. Dwight. He has shown by his ma
| nipulations in evidence in this matter
| that he is cut out for something more
| than working out losing contracts on
pail roads. Such interest as has been
displayed by this man in looking out for
the interests of c. B. Dwight makes the
actions of the Government officials stand
out all the more glaringly in their lack
of those elements which should mark all
the transactions and conduct of officers
of the Government.
"The difference between 5000 and the
total cost of the work as accomplished
to date an amount equal to the original
contract price, represents the perquisites
that have been written over the entire
road by the finger that indicated the
first fault therein. Incompetence, mis-
management and impotence must he
charged against the methods applied by