Sewer Tile Charges

Grave charges have been prefered before the council against President Albert M Clark of the board of public works looking towards hisremoval froni the official position he occupies in this city. The nature and extent of these charges will be found in the official proceedings of Saturday's council meeting publish ed in another column. The committee on investigation heard only a portion of the testimony and desired to refer the matter entirely to the new council. The testimony before them related entirely to conversations of the agents of the Jackson company with the contractors, in which the agents claimed that Mr. Clark had agreed to accept five per cent. of the price of the tile. The conversations vvere sworn to by Messrs. Titus and Herman Hutzel and by Aldermen VVood and Manly, who had been placed by Mr. Hutzel where they could overhear the conversations. The testimony further showed that on February 25, Mr. HuUel had sent a check to the Jackson Fire Clay Co. for $17.72 as his share of the five per cent., that' this check was paid, that within the past two weeks, Mr. Smith, of the Jackson company, had told hirh the check had been placed to his credit as "we are going to get out of this without its costing us anything." In the meantime, it appears the Argus had scored the board of public works and this was given by one of the men in the deal as the reason why negotiations were off. This is as lar as the investigan ng committee went. There was matter enough here to show that it was not mere street rumor they were dealing with, but not any testimony showing that a bribe had actually been offered Mr. Clark, although it did show clearly that the Jackson corapany's representatives so claimed and got money out of the contractors on the strength of the claim. The most important witness in the matter was not called. Capt. Jacob F. Schuh, member of the j board of public works, held conversations with Messrs. Clark and Bullis, last Friday, in which, Mr. Schuh says they admitted that they had been approached by the Jackson men with offers of bribes, just as the Jackson men claimed in the presence of witnesses to have approached Mr. Clark. Mr. Clark and Mr. Bullis, however, denied having accepted the bribe. This admission tallies with the hearsay evidence given above. Bearing this in mind it might be well to give the official records relating to the transaction. On October 16, 1894, Prof. Charles E. Greene filed a report of a breaking test made on the sewer pipe. On October 17, a meeting of the board of public works was held and the following is an excerpt from the record of that meeting: "By Mr. Bullis: "Resolved, That the sewer contractors be informed by personal service of a certified copy of this resolution that the Board of Public Works are not satisfied with the Jackson tile now being used by the contractors as they do not stand the crushing test that the Board think requisite. Also, that the Board are sacisfied with the tile manufactured by the Ohio Valley Fire Co., and if the contractors wish to use any other brand the same may be presented to this Board for their consideration. Adopted as follows: Yeys, Messrs. Clark and Bullis." A notice was personally served on the contractors in accordance with this resolution and the Jackson company was notified. It is between this meeting and the meeting of October 20, that the offers of bribes are claimed to have been made. The record of the meeting of October 20, is as follows: The following resolutioa was offered by Mr. Clark: Resolved, That the sewer contractors be allowed to continue, until further notice, the use of the Jackson sewer tile, made by the Jackson Sewer Pipe Co., that they now have on hand in this city. Carried. Yeas - Messrs. Clark, Schuh and Bullis. After another resolution offered by Mr. Clark was passed, the record shows the following entry: "Mr. Bullis moved that the vote on Mr. Clark's first resolution be reconsidered. Lost as follows: Yeas - Mr. Bullis. Nays - Messrs. Clark and Schuh." The records then show, that a test was made of the tile and the tile was rejected. No further test was made and three days later the tile was allowed to be used. In the meantime, according to the statements made by Mr. Schuh, and conñrmed by the conversations held between the agents of the Jackson company and the contractors, the offers to bribe had been made. Mr. Clark claims they were not accepted. The Jackson agent claimed to the contractors that they were accepted. But whether accepted or not, the offers were not made public and were evidently not vigorously spurned, as the board undid its action rejecting the tile and allowed it to be used. In the light of the above facts, which are not street rumors, the Courier puts itself in rather a ridiculous position in denouncing the whole matter as a democratie scheme. Our poor dear Courier labors under the delusion that no one bearing the name republican can do wrong, and without taking the trouble to investígate, charges representative men of the city with hatching a scheme to blacken an innocent man's character. If such a scheme is concocted, it is one of the most damnable that could be conceived. Th ere is no politics in this matter, and the quicker the Courier can get the political cloud off of its train the betteritwill be forit. The question resolves itself into the question as to whether in the light of facts developed it is proper to allow Mr. Clark to rem ai n upon the board of public works. It is a question as tq whether his actions have been unbiased and in the in terests of the public. It is this important matter that the tiew council must determine, and if they allow politics to get in the matter, so much the worse for the men who so drag it in. And as we stated last Friday, no pains should be spared to arrive at the exact trut h of the whole matter.Messrs. Clark ar.d Bullis with Attorney A. J. Sawyer went to Jackson yesterday in regard to the matter, and a vigorous fight will be put up on that side of the case.