Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-11-15
That is the System Followed By
Public Corporations in Polk
County and Des Moines
ONE REASON FOR CORRUPTION
lists Manipulated in Order to Bring
Grand Jury Under Control Of Polit-
ieaI and Corporate Machines - In
ve.tis alton Reveals True Condition
and Explains Some Things.
TO rlmes.Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, Nov. 15.-Political con-
ditions in Des Moines and Polk coun-
" can never be understood and faith
cmed by the people over the state un-
less it is kept ever in mind that the
grand jury is the keystone to the sys-
tenn of protection to political cOrrup-
tion and the grand jury is absolutely
IN the control OF the people who ought
10 be indicted for corruption.
An investigation TO ascertain Just
the ramifications of the grand jury sys-
tenn and to trace out just the relation
of the members of the grand jury to
politics and political corruption has
Just been completed The present grand
jury serving in Polk county was Sc
cared under the emergency law of the
last session of the Legislature. Pre-
ylously to this the members Of the
grand Jury list were certified by the
e.ection judges. The election Judges
were appointed by the county auditor
ard the county auditor has been forced
for some years to seek the favor OF
the public service corporations of Des
Moines in order to be elected just as
the county treasurer has had to seek
the favor of certain banks to get elect
ed and has subsequently had to deposit
the county funds in these banks.
~ ,l1 tor fta prkn nd S1oryy
as we'll as the petit jury was directly
and closely connected with politics. 1t
got SO bad that finally early this year
the grand jury was knocked out as
C. early illegally drawn. Then the legis-
lature passed a law directing that in
case a grand or petit jury Is for any
reason found 20 ioe drawn Illegally the
judges of the district court shall direct
the supervisors to prepare lists Of
names of persons who are eligible and
can legally serve. This was done in
Folk county and the present grand
jury is the result. The supervisors
certified seventy-five names. From
this the county clerk, county auditor,
and county recorder drew by lot twelve
rames to constitute the list that should
serve for the year 1907. From this list
OF twelve the deputy county clerk at
the beginning Of each term Of court
Craws seven names to constitute the
grand jury.
The investigation that has just been
completed has disclosed this state Of
affairs: One of the twelve was a law
Yer and ineligible. One died. This
left ten. One Of the ten was foreman
Io1@ - D~11
president of the Des Moines Street
Railway up to January of this year.
One Is the son of q carpenter in the
employ Of the street railway. Three
are relatives of county employees who
owe their positions largely to the po-
litical influence of the public service
corporations. One is an ex-county Of
floial
Another is very active politician
and in with the political powers. This
makes eight of the ten who are di-
rectly connected in some way or other
with the political system and so close
ly connected that there naturally
arises suspicion that it would be
nearly impossible for them to give an
unbiased vote on the indictment of q
public official connected with the sys-
TEN. Out of this ten the grand jury
of seven has been selected each term
of court this year.
But this is not ALL On the list of
seventy-five certified by the supervis-
ors there were five eminent men Of the
city of such large business interests
that they would be forced to ask for
an excuse and would be sure to get
it, thus bringing the list down to sew
enty. OF this seventy in addition to
those enumerated above there is one
who is father-in-law of prominent
city official who is said to owe his
election to the public service corpor-
ations, each of which Is said to have
contributed $4,000 to his first cam
paign; one is cashier of one of the
public service corporations; two are
ex-county employees, and active in
politics; two are ex-city employees and
active in politics; four others are ac-
tive city and county politicians at this
time This is total of seventeen on
the list of seventy or nearly 25 per
cent of the list that are in some way
connected with the political system or
with the machinery of the city and
county as, to cause the criticism ma
turally to arise against their being on
the list. But of the list drawn for the
grand jury for the year these consti-
tute seven out Of ten, or 20 per cent.
Some months ago eye witnesses saw
an official Of the street railway pay
money as a bribe to an alderman. The
evidence was given to the grand jury,
but no indictment rendered. There
never will be one in all probability.
Some time later evidence was laid be-
for the grand jury to show that q city
employe had grated and not only was
there no indictment but later 1t was
discovered that most of the evidence
of the graft, if not all, had been de-
stroyed. The other day Alderman
Hamery collected evidence in the form
of affidavits that the proprietor OF an