The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-21

t. he with eS officio justice of the peace power, as we feel that no man should he given judiciary powers of any kind i Unless elected by the people unless un- 1 der extraordinary circumstances. 1 We recommend that a transcript of
 this portion of our report be mailed 1 10 the governor and to each member l of the legislature from Jefferson county.
 County Officers
 We examined the bonds of the vari-
 Cus county officers and in our opinion they are adequate
 1 We have examined the office and books of the probate judge ard ws cannot too highly commend the pro- l bate judges office. Not only does this office adequately keep up with the in
 numberable details and records required ] by law, but thoy are conveniently filed. 1 Practically all records are written | with the typewriter and taken as q whole we consider the probate judge E
 office is the best arranged and man
 aged public office that it has been our l privilege to see
 | We have examined the sheriffs fec 1 book the books of the county super i ntendent Of education, the county l treasurer, the board or revenue, is we
 are required to do by law It Is man l ifestly impossible for this body t. make more than a casual examination and we wish to be relieved of attest- | ing to the accuracy of various book g of records. As far as we can determine
 the books of the officials are well ard properly kept.
 l The county convict camps we vis-
 ited seem to be well kept and in a | sanitary condition. We wish that our larduous duties had not prevented us | from having time to inspect all the nrx vi iof ur1af,- "a anlt that the county superintendent of com victs is competent and keenly inter- ested in his work. We regret that the records are not available from which we could ascertain the costs of work 1 ing convicts on the road, but the pres ent county engineer has promised this tody that these records will be com piled hereafter in his office Even without the important data as to the cost of working convicts on the toad, We wish to go on record as fayoring
 the working of eonvicts on the road We believe that in due time, with a thorough organization. that the cost would at least approximate that of free labor. Aside from this, the phys ical and moral well-being of the pris- | oner is far better thap having pris- l oners in mines, -sr-t+
 The Board of Revenue 4 the 1act that tho previous grand jury made a careful | investigation of the charges brought against the board of revenue in con- rectlon with the building of what is known as the lower Columbiana road
 and reported that the charges were not proven by the evidence, still as this question has been constantly agitated
 on the streets and in newspapers since adjournment of the previous grand jury, we, the present grand jury. consider it a
 matter of public duty to make a further and more thorough investigation We were prompted on entering into the mat ter again, not only in the interest of the public service, but we feel if they were not guilty of any wrongdoing, that the board of revenue deserved vindication before the people, that the agitation be stopped.
 After reviewing the voluminous evf- dence submitted to the previous grand jury, and after hearing the evidence of about 90 witnesses, some of whom ap- peared before the previous grand jury,
 and other testimony that developed dur ing our deliberation and following every lead of evidence that was developed. we do not believe there has been committed any act involving moral turpitude by the l board of revenue.
 We feel that as matter of public in- | formation, it is our duty to state in this | report that the charges have been | brought and were against what is known as the majority of the board of revenue, | comprising three members and not I against the board as a whole. ..ss. | While as above stated the charges against the board of revenue were not | sustained by the evidence, still we feel | that the action of the majority members | of this board as public srvants is sub- ! ject to censure in the following re- ! spects:
 | 1. As to the letting of the contract for the cherting and finishing the Colum-
 Diana road involving approximately $4O.- | GOO, without obtaining competitive bids | 2. This contract was let not only with | out competitive bids but without pre- vious conference by the board as a whole, | but if the minority members of the board | objected to the letting of this contract to Newell Brothers without competitive bids, as they testified, we feel that the
 said minority could have compelled the
 board to defer the awarding of this con | tract until competitive bids had been received. H
 l 3. After the controversy arose as to 1 the lower Columbiana road contract the | board laid themselves open to criticism | by employing their own auditor to check
 and report on the Newell Brothers con- | tract. While we believe by reputation
 and further inquiry that Mir. Worthing- 1 ton is thoroughly competent, and as | good man as could have been obtained anywhere, and furthermore, being ad- | vised by testimony that the board of revenue has conferred with the governor | as sending a state examiner and found | this impractical, still we feel that with | due regard to their position as officials directly concerned in the controversy,
 that it would have been better had they requested that a committee of local citi-
 zens of irreproachable standing be re-
 quested to engage an auditor, pass on
 compensation for his work and check the
 results of his findings
 | An enormous amount of evidence has | been submitted pro and con as to the | finishing of the Columbiana road, but | it is difficult to determine by any pre- vious contract let by. this board com
 parison with similar work elsewher or ex- pert testimony as to what fair and equit- able price should be for job of this
 kind. The physical conditions were with
 out parallel to this particular road work
 and consequently were uhApie to use any
 other data as a guide for comparison.
 Tn letting the contract to we'll equipped firms or contractors already on the ground with teams and equipment. we
 recognize the desire of the board of rev. | enue to finish this particular road before
 the fall and winter rains damaged the
 grading, the grading having been com pleted by county convicts.
 | In reference to the contract having
 been let to Newell Brothers, it cannot
 be questioned that their strategic po- stion could not even be approNimated
 by any other. contractor. They were
 working on the Shelby county road
 across the Cahaba river, but they had | not finished the approximate two