The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1916-09-11
-. III .0t 81 ) =. ~ E-1 hfJr Ha -
EXAMINER REP0RTSi ||| |;
$4,000 ILLEGALLY i, E; a /. Y .
USED In HlBBINGs :.
IN PAST ? I !; / 5 YEARS I t !! Rs;
,'r ! II. < $ 8 = 1y 1 = q. < =
Public Examiner Fritz Reports Find
ing of Discrepancies, Shortages
and .0verpayments.
MAYOR POWERS NAME z
NOT CONNECTED IN ACTS
1,710 Votes Cast at Election in March
and 1895 Persons on Village
Payroll.
MAYOR POWERS NAME + 2.
NOT CONNECTED IN ACTS

St: Paul, Minn., Sept. ,11.-After
almost year of investigation of the
records of Hibblng, Mimi, "the
worlds richest, village" a.. e. Fritz.
state public examiner, made public
his report Saturday. .3seY2j
he alleges -discrepancies;~s shortages
and overpayments totaling nearly
$4,000. sIg.":...>r ..n,.
None of the alleged illegal acts is /,
laid at the door of Victor Power, the
fighting mayor of ,Hibbing. n.:.,-r
The Investigation, covered the vii
lage records from Jan. l, 1910, to
Jan. 81, 1916. It was begun at the
request of "ten citizens of Hibbing"
whose names have never been d.
vulged. ," ~.. .'~.'3, .. a..
1895 on Payroll
How the village receipts ran up
from $333,85O, in 1910 to more than
100000 in, 1914, is, shown, also an
increase in village expenditures from
$303,OO0 in 1910 to $1,233,700 in
1914. Another comparison discloses
that in March, 1915, 1926 persons
were on the village payroll and t.
71O voters cast ballots for candidates
for mayor of the village. r.
Will Try to Recover. -,
Governor Burnquist, commenting
on the Fritz report, said it would be
filed with the county attorney of St.
Louis county and an effort would be
made to recover by legal process
some of the money alleged to have
been spent illegally.
The report states that Dennis
Haley, village treasurer from April,
1911, to April, 1913, is alleged to
have been short in his accounts $4,-
S38. The statute Of limitations pre-
vents criminal prosecution, according
to the report
The Hibbing Ore, newspaper, is
charged with accepting $13,484 more
for printing for the village than it
was entitled to during 1912, 1913,
1914 and 1915. ..,.
Another Paper Named. ::
The Hibbing Daily Tribune also is
charged with accepting $11,218 more
than it was entitled to in the same
period.
j. o. Davis, deputy public examin-
er, who submitted the report, alleges
these sums make up the differences
between the sums paid and the
amounts that should have been paid
for the printing done. Most of the
money was paid for publication of
council proceedings.
The balance of the $4,000 alleged
illegal payments is represented by
the following items in the report:
Hughes Printing Co., alleged over
charges for printing $704.65.
First National bank of Hibbing,
$1,223.51, alleged overcharge for in
terest.
Merchants and Minters State bank
of Hibbing, $421.11, alleged over
charge for interest.
The interest was fixed as Z per
cent, it was alleged, when per cent
was the legal rate.
Two Orders Cashed.
Joseph Weinberg, payment on a
village order, $1O85O. 1t was al
legged that the original order was
lost by Weinberg, and he was given
another one, but that both had been
cashed
E. w. Coons Contracting Co., $3,-
910.72, which, it is alleged, had been
illegally charged against the village
for work done under the force ac-
count on which the contracting COM
pany is alleged to have collected 10
per cent when village orders were
discounted at 10 per cent during the
time the mining companies refused
to pay their taxes.
No Work Performed. d.,
e. W. Coons Contracting Co., al
legged illegal charges of $1,179.2O,
claimed by the examiner to have been
collected from the village for day
lator on election day when no work
was performed.
E. w. .Coons Contracting Co., al
legged overcharge of $2,936.21 on
sewer and other public works mater
iails: OF this item the examiner
says, Hibbing may be entitled to re-
fundment on some of these pur-
chases." ~ " .:E., >T. d.
Other items which the public OK
aminer says should be considered by
the county prosecuting officials are:
An alleged payment of $50 Oto G.
A. Remington while a member of
the water and light commission for
a car of poles. MIR. Davis was un-
able, he reported, to find any record
of this transaction in Mr.. Reming-
toms ledger. 2~ 4fta q 81. @ea-,
Mine Chief Named, 51-. o.. =, 5s..., t.
w. J. West, superintendent Oliver
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