Fergus County Democrat. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-1919, 1907-07-09

less technical question as to whether
or not the commissioners had the
right to exceed the hundred thousand
dollar limit
This matter was threshed out yes
terday end it became evident to the
attorneys for Oliver and the com
missioners that mistake had been
made
There is a general feeling in this
city that the entire proceeding from
its inception has been utterly foolish
and uncalled for. The only possible
effect it could have had is to reduce
the cost Of the building by $4,000
In other words, it means lust that
much poorer building.
Oliver Quits Job.
William Oliver, the man who had
the contract, last night practically
threw up his hands. He left this
morning for his home in Spokane. He
is out over five thousand dollars
which is a dead loss. While there
may be some satisfaction to some
OF those who were instrumental in
seeing the contract vitiated in also
seeing Oliver lose this money, those
who believe in fair play will hardly
see any justice in it.
10 the Democrat, Mr.. Oliver stat
ed several days ago that the con
struction of the building would re-
quire the services of not less than
fifty workmen. That of this number
he would probably bring in five or
six foremen, picking up the remain
der of his force, or forty or fifty men.
among local laborers. He stated that
he had no idea of putting in a side
track but that he would give the
teamsters of the city all of the haul
ing, which would amount to manv
hundreds Of dollars.
1t will be remembered that at the
so called Citizens" meeting, the
claim was loudly made that Oliver
intended to import all Of his help.
build side track and play havoc with
local labor generally The results
show that these gentlemen reached
these conclusions through process of
reasoning i'll which their imaginations
alone were working.
Many Misinformed.
TO be perfectly plain, and will! no
intention of wronging anyone, the
Democrat considers the entire pro-
ceeding to have been based on sell
fshness on the part of some, misin-
formation on the part of several and
a desire to gain paltry political ad-
vintage on the part Of still others.
Very many, we know, subscribed to
what may be called the Attorneys
fee fund.-" from the best of motives
and of these no criticism is assumed.
The entire project is now very
much "up in the air. Presumably,
the only plan left open is to revise
the general plan, cut down the size
Of the building, readvertise for bids,
etc. This will take time and the
present summer will be drawing to
close before it can all be accom-
plished. The spending of thousands
Va ANNALS oihoHS TIC IdDOIlllS IleH
of Lewistown will be indefinitely de-
ferred and, perhaps, Fergus county
will get court house summer after
the next
The decision of Judge Cheadle in
the court house case, rendered just
before noon today, is as follows:
In the District Court OF the Tenth
Judicial District of the State of Mon
tana, in and for the county OF Fer
gus.
George S. Wells, for and on behalf
of himself and others, plaintiff, versus
Julius N. Petersen, William T. Neill
and John M. Parent, as the board of
county commissioners of Fergus
county, Montana. Julius N. Petersen,
William 7. Neill, John NJ Parent,
William Oliver and Newton c..
Gauntt, defendants
In this case the regularity of the
proceedings of the board of county
commissioners is attacked, bad faith
and fraud are imputed to them and
to the other defendants, and it is
alleged that the commissioners have
acted ultra wires in awarding a con-
tract in the sum of one hundred eigh, |
thousand nine hundred dollars for the |
COnt1ntfAd @