Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1925-10-23
GOVERNOR ASKS
TOPPING FUNDS
Be WITHHELD
Suit to Cancel Surfacing
Contracts Threatened
by Attorney General,
Mrs. Ferguson Writes
Rv +he Associated Press.

AUS1IN, lex, Oct. Z0s-
Request of Governor Miriam
A. Ferguson that payments to
contractors for highway top
ping work be suspended will
be adopted Immediately,
Chairman Frank Lanham of
the highway commission said.
II shall hasten to comply
with every suggestion OF the
governors letter." he said
just before leaving shortly af-
ter noon for Dallas.
AUSTIN, Tex, Oct. 23.-Sus-
pension of payments to contract
ors for highway topping work
was ordered by Governor Nj
riam A. Ferguson in a letter to
Frank V. Lanham, chairman of
the state highway commission.
The governor said that the at
torney general had openly stat
ed that he intends to bring suits
to cancel certain highway con-
tracts and instructed the chair
man to make every defense per-
missible under the law to pro-
tect the interests of the state.
The text of The governors letter fol-
lows:
Sin view of the fact that it is being
charged that exorbitant profits have
been made in the contracts for sur
facing or topping work upon state
highways during the past summer. l
request that no new projects Of this
character be entered upon and that the
present contractors for the surfacing
or topping work be required to fully
complete their contracts entered into
by the highway commission with them.
II further request that no further
payments be made on this work to
these contractors until your engineer
ing department shall decide that their
work has been fully completed accord
ing to the contract. I am informed
that there is approximately 100000
yet due these contractors when their
work has been completed, but until such
work is completed | request that no
part Of said sum be paid until the work
is finally done.
The attorney general has openly
stated that he intends to bring suits
| am informed that he has entered into
l am informed hat he has entered into
a private agreement with the American
Road company of Dallas, without con-
sulting the highway department, to
withhold any injunction proceedings as
an incident to his suit for the cancel
lation of the contracts.
"The effect of this preceding is to
relieve those contractors of their
agreement to complete their contracts
for topping in accordance with their
agreement, and leave a heavy expense
to be borne by the state. Therefore,
in case any such suit Is brought, | re-
quest that you make every defense per-
nissable under the law to protect the
interest Of the state, and pending the
outcome Of the suit, whether injunction
is served upon you or not, l request
that no further payments be made to
these contractors.
II further request that the work of
none Of these contractors be accepted
until finally completed and that the
commission make no agreement looking
to relieve them of their obligations to
the state. By this method we can at
the proper time determine whether ex-
orbit'ant profits have been made by
these contractors and until they have
performed their contracts it will be
impossible for anybody to determine
just what profits have been made