New-York tribune., 1911-01-19
COLLINS WON'T RESIGN
Continued from first page.

der. and got the contract for the con-
struction OF a sewage disposal plant at
the prison. These bids were all received
under the direction OF superintendent
Collins The awarding OF the sewag ge
disposal contract was protested. result
ing IN the matters being carried to the
Attorney General for an opinion The
advertisement for the bids stated that
theV would he received at the office of
the superintendent of Prisons until l.
o'clock noon. April :, 1910. The protest
was made by the WeIles Boughton Com
pany. one of the bidders. whose repre-
sentatives charge that after the noon
hour had arrived and the opening Of the
bids had begun three additional bids
We're received and opened with the
others.
When 1t was discovered that one Of the
three was the lowest the Welles Bough-
ton Company protested on the ground
that the work should be awarded only
TO one OF those bidders whose proposal
had been received before noon.
An opinion on this question was asked
for by State Architect Ware. In reply
10 the State Architect the Attorney Cen
eral said the law under which the bids
were advertised did not require the let
ting Of the work TO the lowest bidder
and that in the absence Of such require
ment he did not think that the Superin-
tendent Of Prisons was bound 10 accept
only such bids as were received prior 70
the time fixed in the notice Of the ad-
vertisement. The Attorney General
however added.
The receipt Of additional bids. after
the opening Of those received had been
begun, can. of course, be criticised az
being unfair, and II such practice were
iIrdulged in extensively it might mean
the opening Of a door for unfair and
possibly fraudulent practices. and it
might be that both safety and fairness
in the future would require the adoption
Of a rule that no bids will be received
after the bidding has been formally de-
clared closed"
Because of this comment i'm the At
torney Generals opinion the State Archi-
tect threw out all the bids and directed
that others be advertised for The Hud-
son Valley Construction Company again
was the lowest bidder. and got the con-
tract
The additional money for the Great
Meadow prison was raised through a bill
introduced at the last session Of the Leg
isIatIre. and later amended. AS originally
dropped in the bill box it appropriated
Sq1s. 600. the sum asked for by Mr.. Col
Iirs. and provided that The work be car
ried on under the direction Of the Su-
Of Prisons. However. be-
cause Of the protests OF the State Prison
the bill was amended by re-
ducing the appropriation to S73S,OOO and
giving the commission supervisory
power
Friends of superintendent Collins say
they are quite sure that If Governor Dix
makes d careful investigation he will
find the purchasing power Of the public
dollar under Mr. Collins quite as great
as the purchasing power OF the private
dollar. They point out for instance.
that the reports Of the department show
the per capita expense of care mainte-
nance Of prisoners in Sing Sing FOR 1905
was S123 10. and for 1909 S122 20; in
Auburn. for 1905. S133 9s. and for 1909.
Sl3J 90, for Clinton, in 1905, Sl32 -, and
in 1909. Sl39 60 These figures, they
say. were lower than they had ever been
under a good business administration,
because increase in the number OF pris-
ouers and advances in the cost Of sup
niles demanded undue economy. in view
OF the fact that appropriations were
strictly limited in size As result
buildings in some instances had 10 20
without needed repairs. worn clothing
and bedding were not replaced and re-
serve stocks Of supplies We're exhausted