Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 101, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1910 — INVESTIGATION SHOULDN’T STOP [ARTICLE]

INVESTIGATION SHOULDN’T STOP

In the Bridge Bratt Matter In Jasper County, SO SAY MANY TAXPAYERS. Competent Engineer Should Be Efhployed to Measure Other Bridges and a Grand Jury Called to Inquire Into Their Findings.—Money to Pay Expenses of Further Investigation Is Assured.

A great many prominent taxpayers of Jasper county have in the past few weeks urged The Democrat to use its influence in creating a sentiment in the county that will demand a further investigation of the bridge graft conditions here which were developed to some exttnt in the recent prosecution and conviction of C. L. Bader, superintendent and general manager of the Winamac Bridge-Co., and these people who have urged this have not been all democrats by any means. On the contrary, many of them were republicans who came to The Democrat because they had no place else to go— The Democrat was the only paper demanding that the matter be further looked into. The April term of court will convene one week from Monday, and we believe that..we but voice the sentiment of nine-tenths of the taxpayers of the county in saying that the court or prosecutor ■ —which ever is the proper source —should employ competent engineers of known integrity to investigate and measure up and compare other bridges in the county with the specifications for same and have them report their findings to a grand jury called for the purpose of sifting this bridge graft business to the very bottom. The expense of making such investigation should not be very large, and the county council could be called to appropriate the necessary funds or, if it could be done for SIOO, the court does not care to call the council in special session at this time, The Democrat will undertake to guarantee to raise this amount by popular subscription in a week’s time and»turn it over to the court or prosecutor to pay for the work of the engineers. More thjm a score of our citizens have already told The Democrat that they would give $5 each to such a fund, and we have confidence that the court or prosecutor would see to it that an honest and unbiased investigation would be made under these conditions.. No man tvhose skirts are clean has anything to fear from a thorough sifting of this matter, but none of the guilty ones should be allowed to escape, no matter who they are *or where they hail from. Jhe offer of The Democrat to raise this money and turn it over to Judge Hanley or Prosecutor Longwell is made in good faith and with the intention only of bringing the guilty to justice and informing the taxpayers of the extent of the swindle, and we stand ready to make the offer good in every way. K .