Weekly journal-miner. [volume] (Prescott, Ariz.) 1908-1929, 1913-03-19

|
vict road camp, and l am informed
by the purchasing officers that no
| favoritism was shown to any con-
! Tern; that bids were exacted month
ly, and exceptionally good prices
secured, not only from the Old
Dominion Commercial Company,
but from all the mercantile esta-
blishments of Globe which were
patronized, without thought, con-
sideration or regard for who might
or might not be so unfortunate,
innocently or criminally, wisely or
unwisely, as to hold stock therein.
The purchases alleged to have
/ been made from the Old Dominion
Commercial Company for the indus
trial school and the insane asylum
may be no less easily or less COM
pletely explained. Indeed they
might have been explained even to
the satisfaction of the committee
on State institutions and public ex-
penditures had that committee re-
quested an explanation-a failure,
have no doubt, due to the ex-
traordinary demands upon the COM
mittee's activities.
By reason of the fact, perhaps,
that l was a stakeholder in the Old
Dominion Commercial Company and
for many years actively engaged in
its management, / am informed on
the subject of merchandise values,
and this information enables me
to discover. upon early investigation
that various institutions of the State
under the system which has here
tofore northumberland which | pre-
sumo would be found satisfactory
to the committee-were being sys-
tematically robbed through the
medium of high prices. / protested
against this, and indicated reforms
which have resulted in important
saving. In the carrying out OF
these reforms, three purchases-two
by the industrial school and one by
the insane asylum-were made from
a large eastern wholesaler, though
the PRACTICE has been, whatever
reasonably possible, to buy from
local institutions Incidentally, the
prices secured in these two instan-
ces, and the savings effected, might
have been interesting to the COM
mittee, If that phase of the matter
had been considered worth while
The purchases were not made at
my direction, but on the judgment
of the institutions. Totally with
out my knowledge or consent-a
statement susceptible OF easy veri-
fication-the wholesale house, be-
cause of its objection to or rules,
common to many concerns, against
having accounts except with esta-
bliShed customers. billed the goods
through the Old Dominion Com
mercial Company, and that Com
pany, ignorant OF the offense in
volved in being accommodating to
the State, and unaware of the mis-
fortune which attached to having
me as a stakeholder, permitted it
self to be thus used; and then, not
desiring to lose the money, made
claim upon the State for the amount
of the purchases.
| regret that my suggestions to
the industrial school resulted in the
laying at my door of an egregious
sin, but ! glory somewhat in the
fact that the sin consisted, in this
as in the case of many other charges
which have been directed at me,
of the saving of money to Ariz-
ona's taxpayers. In accordance with
my pledge to the people, and in
conformity with my business views,
| shall not hesitate to so offend
again and again.
The accusation that "the rule of
the Board OF Control is purchases
under the emergency clause rather
than by bids" and that bids are
not called for as they should be
and running accounts are kept with
firms under the emergency clause"
would be denominated. were it
made by any other than a fair
unbiased and unprecedented legis-
lative committee, as a deliberate
lie. The records of the Board of
Control will show that bids for
supplies for the various institutions
arc regularly advertised for, and
that whenever reasonable prices can
be secured, awards are made and
contracts entered into When re-