The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-05-29

rendered MN by SAID A. L. Dapy, HoW UT a.
any time in the future and alleges that the
charge so made in said written charges so
preferred against him by the said common
council, is false, sIanderous and criminal
libel in it's nature and is vicious in tone and
isfamous in conception.
And further answering said charges your
respondent alleges, that he now is and for
almost six years last past has been the duly
elected, qualified and acting city recorder, of
said city of Mankato, and by virtue OF his
office as city recorder has during all of said
time been the clerk of the municipal court,
of the city of Mankato, and the clerk of the
board of public works of said city.
That the said offices during all of that
time have entaiIed him vast amount of
clerical work, and the care and preservation
of large volumes of valuable and complicated
records and that he has been the custodian
of large sums of money for said city, and has
in a general way been its financial officer
and comptroller. That among his duties has
been the keeping of the civil and criminal
calendars of the municipal court, the entry of
Judgments, the Issuing of many different legal
processes, and the committing of prisoners to
Jail, the collection of fines and keeping and
transmitting records of all wherein par
ties have been bound over to the district
court. That his duties recorder involved
the custody of election paraphernalia, the ar
ranging for election in the. city, and the
ception Of all election returns and the pre-
servation of the Also the keeping of
all of the records of the board of public
works. relating to all street improvements
laying of and water mains, the i'm
provements and erection of public buildings,
Ievyng of special assessments, and the col
lection of the same, the issuing of annual
reports of the financial and business status of
the city, the making of estimates of future
penditures on which to base tax Ievies, the keep
inn r>yafin Of all nica finnr
ceived by the different departments, and the an
swering of many of them, the keeping of full
minutes of all proceedings of the common
council, the countersigning of all contracts
made by the city, the issuing and counter
signing of all orders for the payment of
monies, and many other duties of more
less Importance.
NEVER HEARD OF HIS DEFECT BEFORE.
That prior to the filing of said charges he
had not heard received any complaint of
his incompetency to attend to these duties to
the satisfaction of the public and of his fell
low officers, and he believes that he is
petent both by education and training to per-
form the duties of his office, and that he is
a fit and proper person to do
That the said order or mandate issued
by said J. w. Andrews May q, 1908, was
and is illegal, and promulgated and
served your respondent without authority
of law, in that there is authority in law
for the making of contract for the gather
ing of garbage in said city of Mankato,
for the compilation of a pay roll such as is
referred to in said order mandate, for
the issuance of an order to the city treasurer
of said city of Mankato for gross to
cover a large variety of claims such as the
said j. w. Andrews refers to in said order or
mandate, and that the said J. w. Andrews
exceed his powers as mayor of said city
in and oid
date, and in doing did wIIfuIy, ynIaw-
fully and maciousIy attempt to browbeat and
J intmidate your respondent into the perfor-
nance of Illegal act.
That the bid of Jacob Effer herenbefore
referred to and alleged in said written
charges, for the gathering and hauling of the
garbage in said city of Mankato, at the price
of SIS month is and extortonate, un-
reasonable and unnecessarily high and the
awarding of the contract to him thereon was
done by said common council without au-
thorty of law, in violation of their
public trust, and was unfair to other respon-
sibe bidders who offered to do the work at
a much lower figure.
CHARGES THERE WAS COLLISION.
That the bidders on said work who bid a
lower price than said Jacob Effer were each
responsible men, and were amply able to give
the requisite bonds, and ready and
willing to do so, all of which was well
known to said common council when they so
awarded said contract to said Jacob Effer
at said extortionate and unreasonable price.
That the bid of said Jacob Etfer at said
extortonate and unreasonable price was pro-
cured and filed, and said Jacob Effer was
induced to make and file the same by and
through COLLISION and conspiracy between said
Jacob EHer and one William n. Gary who
then was and now is ore of the aldermen in
the said city of Mankato and is member
of its council, all with the intent and
design then had by said Effer and said Gary
to place upon the city of Mankato a contract
for the personal benefit of him said Jacob
Effer, at an extortionate and unreasonable
price, and said Jacob Effer made and filed