Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1909-11-18

literary illusions. makes no effort to
disprove the charges of the Record
that the commissioners did their
bridge business in an unlawful man.
ner; that they gave away the coun-
tvs money to a bridge corporation;
that they ordered, in a manner en-
tirely illegal and unauthorized, the
building of bridge near Winona
without the people asking for it.,
without the petition required by
law. and without asking competitive
bids: that they asked for bids for
building bridge already built; that
they paid for the bridge within an
hour after the contract was let;
that Mr.. Sherwood and his side-part-
ners on the board uttered a false
and malicious untruth in their pub
lished statement last summer, in
which they tried to lay the blame
for their lawbreaking on advice re-
ceived from the assistant states at
torney. and were promptly called
down by that officer, who showed
them that he was not in the county
building during their entire session:
and that as to the "cheapness. on
which Mr.. Sherwood wants to bet,
at the recent letting, lawfully and
under competitive bids, the Henne-
pin company was underbid by an
other company. The fact is that
all this bluffing about betting on the
"cheapness" of unlawful bridge-let-
ting is done to distract public atten-
tion from the main question of law
breaking, oath-violating. and the
running of county business in man.
ner that would have enabled ma
jority of a board at any time to
conspire with a bidder for the pur-
pose of defrauding the county by a
graft to be divided afterward be-
tween the official crooks and the
venal bidder.
1t would indeed have created a
fine condition Of affairs if the other
county officers had come to the con-
clusion that it was better to run
their respective Offices in a Cheap
err" manner than that required by
law. The register of deeds, believ-
ing that it would be cheaper" con-
cludes to file papers. but not record
them. The county Judge. in the in
terest of "cheapness, settles es-
tates otherwise than by law provid-
ed. The county superintendent. be-
lieving in ''cheapness." gives per-
mits to teachers who would work
for less than the lawful minimum
wages; the treasurer. to secure
the advantages of "cheapness, does
away with the safeguards sur
rounding the collection of taxes.
And yet all or any of these officers
have just as much right to violate
the laws prescribing their duties as
the Big Three, Messrs. Sherwood,
Kurtz and Cleveringa, had in their
persistent and continued violation
of law in the most expensive and
important matter of the letting of
bridge contracts.
The precedent established by the
board in that respect was also dan
gerous in the extreme and entirely
indefensible.
Mi. Sherwood's numerous literary
shrieks in the columns of the only
newspaper in the county that kept
quiet regarding the county-board
lawbreakers do not alter the fact
that there has been change for the
better. That bids are now called for
by advertisement and basic specif-
cations published. And that.
through the publicity given by
three of the four papers. public
opinion has compelled the county
board to do its bridge-letting as the
plain letter of the law prescribes.
And, best of all in the matter of
doing county business according to
law hereafter, Messrs. CleverinRa
and Sherwood are no longer men,
bers of the board.