Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-04-28
BLOOMf|ELO'S
OPEN LETTER
His Reply to Director POwnalI,
of the Board of Freeholders
Hits Back Hard.

plying to the communication Of Direc-
tor Pownall, of the Board of Free
holders, which was referred to in
Yesterdays NEWS, is as follows:
Metuchen, n. j., April %, 1906.
Mr.. f. H. Pownall:-
read in the Daily Home News of
March 9th, ultimo, your attacks on
me, but as it was so very evidently
misleading and as | am a very busy
man, | did not consider it necessary
to reply until | could spare the time.
Your mode of attack on me is
nothing new, the same methods were
adopted by Bill Tweed and his gang
in New York city in 1870, when his
methods were just being exposed.
We all know the result.
But for the dercliction in duty of
public officials like yourself and the
late board of chosen ~freeholders,
there would be no necessity of an,
II bringing proceedings to stol
work or review their acts. And the
fact that | was right is proven beyone
all doubt and every act of mine fully
justified by the Introduction into the
senate by Senator Jackson, of senate
bill 1862, which was backed by Boss
Strong, and which reads as follows:
AN act to validate and make law
full any bridge heretofore erected
over navigable waters by any boar6
of chosen freeholders, and contracts
for the erection of the same which
have been performed by the contract
OrS. and also payments made or TO be
made thereon, and bonds issued tC
provide means of payment for an.
such bridge
That is an admission that the acts
of the freeholders rs to the bridge
were illegal and that being such, the!
had made themselves liable; and
rightfully denominated in al act tt
encourage crime and rob the people
of MiddleseX county of tens of thous'
ands of dollars. Your talk about re
pudiation is all a sham, meant to de
ccivc. Those bonds could have beeI
validated in q few well-choScn, sim
pie words, without in any way refer
ring to the so-called contracts, ant
furthermore, as it is more than fifteen
years before any of them mature ant
become payable. there was and is NJ
immediate haste to take such action
But as it is a wCll-known fact that as
Il taxpayer, | propose to prevent
further payment to SANFORD d
Harris Co., and also to ecove some
of what has already been paid, 1t wa
necessary to choke off such action OF
my part by the passage of just sucf
Il law.
Now. Mr.. Pownall, you, d repub,
lican, were appointed auditor of 2
democratic board of chosen freehold
crs, shortly after the grand jury had
made a ~preSentment against them tC
the court. The people of this county
supposed you had been placed there
as a watch dog and they had a right
to think so under the circumstances
1t is the duty of such public auditor
to acquaint themselves with the law
so as to see that money is not pai(
out Illegally. to learn the lowest mar
ket price of everything that the mum
icipalitieS they represent require, 81
as to prevent OYer-charging, as wei
as to see that bills are properly made
out and it is the duty OF such audito
to refuse to sanction anything tina
is illegal or eXorbitant.
How have you fulfilled the dutie
for which the people of this count,
paid you?
December 9TH, 1904, the Sandfort
& Harris company were paid SD,
6SS, and Thomas n. Macan, $3l3
May Sd. 1905, the Sandford & Harri
company, $12,1S4, and Thomas II
Macan, PA. These four items alone
aggregating $2S,429. all illegal pay
ments, and there are a humber 0
others. -
1t is alleged that the county ha
been paying about fifty cents per tol
more for stone than an individual
could purchase it for, and for irol
pipe, from six to eight dollars per tol
more. | have not looked into tn
latter allegations, but | believe then
to be true. AS to the payments tn
facts are as | state.
Why have you allowed this? Wer,
YOU incompetent? Were you lackin;
in moral courage to stick up for tn
right. or were you the tool of tina
board of freeholders? Your consti
tuents that you talk about would lik'
to know. =.
You write about legal technical
ties? Is the paying of S146,950 0
the taxpayers good money, which
with the interest on the bonds, will
double the amount, when from $50,
900 to 100000 should have bee
all a tecbnicality?