The Newark star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1909, 1909-05-08
BRAY
DEMANDS THAT
NAME Be CLEARED
Insists on Appointment of Com
mittee to Probe Statements
Made About Him.

Ithun@ fAUOht AAfliIs
In compliance with the demands of
Alderman James A. Bray. the Common
Council. at Its meeting last night, APP
pointed a special committee consisting
of Aldermen Gaffney. Harrington, Com
gleton, Taylor. Woh,farth and sinnott.
to investigate the statements that were
made about him on Tuesday night in
the Hotel Broad. The implication that
Mr.. Bray had come to the hotel on the
supposition that he would be material
ly benefited if he voted against CITY
Counsel James r. Nugent's opinion re-
j%ecting the W. H.. Shurts Company bid
for the city stationery, was made by
the city counsel himself.
The resolution for the appointment of
the committee was offered by Alderman
John F. Sinnott. Mr.. Bray, in a long
address to the Council, said that he in
tended to fight the charges with all his
power. He was a poor man. he de-
clared, and asked for the examination
for the sake of his wife and children
and his good name. =
hid Is Rejected.
The Bray matter came up for dis
cussion after the bid of the Shurts
Company had been rejected by a vote of
20 to s in tile Council. Chairman Oliver
NJ. Cairns, of the committee on printing
and stationery, moved that the resolu-
ton for adoption of the committee re-
port accepting the bid be rejected.
Alderman Sinnott Immediately moved
to amend the motion and accept the
bids. He demanded a business reason
why the bid should not be accepted,
and was told by Alderman Cairns hat
it had not been properly considered
when before the committee, and that in
looking over it with City Auditor
George Forman they had found that
the figures presented were rather un-
usual.
In caucus before the meeting the Re-
publicans had decided to stand by the
city counsel's opinion. and the cudgels
were promptly taken up in it's defense
by that party.
Admitting that the procedure has
been the same for fifteen years. said
Republican Leader Jerome T. Congle-
ton, that does not justify us in vot-
ing to award a contract for improper
charges against the city. I could not
justify a vote to award this contract
when l can go out n buy some of
these things in small quantities at re-
tail for lower prices than the city
would have to pay under this contract.
ga,,a NJ tha prf,as |
I'm this bid I have selected a num-
Der of items at random for your con-
sideration. For instance, small blank
books which the city almost never
uses, are listed at 80 cents per dozen,
while the wholesale price of these books
is SO per dozen. Books that the city
is using are listed at sf0.75 per dozen,
30 cents apiece, while | can purchase
them singly at any store for rs cents
apiece. Rubber bands that the city Is
using are purchasable for Is cents a
box, w for a quarter. We ought not
to be spending the city's money and
buying even these little things for IS
cents y box.
stamp pads that ought to cost rs or
30 cents each are in the bid at 81 each.
You can notice this plan of cutting
way down on what the city uses little
or nothing Of and putting in a high bid
for the things which are used a good
deal-the inks and pens and pencils.
There are some pencils listed at $3.50 a
gross that you can go buy anywhere
for $2.7 5 a gross. Red and blue pencils,
of which the city uses but a very few,
offered at 10 cents a gross, about
a half cent each. The price of these
be 2 cents.
Copying books are in at Sc and 81 a
dozen, two-thirds of the wholesale
prices. Carbon paper that the city
doesn't use is in at % cents a box and
should be s1.25, while the carbon paper
which the city uses in large quantities.
worth a quarter a box. Is in at Is
cents"
After calling attention to the city
counsels opinion. Congleton concluded:
"And If we vote for this we are, each
and every one of us, parties to perpe-
a fraud"
Fischer said that he had taken the
to ascertain what the Shurts's
profit would be, and was assured that
1t would not exceed 10 per cent. This.
he maintained, was proper. AS was
stated, twenty-three Aldermen voted
to reject and only six were In favor of
the contract. A new mode of procedure
is to be worked out by the committee
and new bids advertised for under new
specifications.
Alderman Frederick J. Fischer also
asked that he be included in the in
vestigation to be made of Mr.. Bray, as
his name had been brought into the
trouble In the columns of a local paper.