Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1910 — MR. BLODGETT’S SECOND LETTER [ARTICLE]

MR. BLODGETT’S SECOND LETTER

To the Indianapolis News Regarding Bridge Graft, Etc. ■ > • INTERVIEWS CO. ATTORNEY, And Latter Said Everything Was Rosy and the Goose Hung High—Hadn’t Collected Fees Reported Due. Jasper County by Experts Because Commissioners Had Not Ordered Him to Do So.

W. 11. Blodgett, the well known staff correspondent of the Indianapolis News, who was in Rensselaer recently writing up the bridge graft matter for his paper, sent in a second article that contains much that has not been touched upon by The Democrat in its reference to this matter during the past few months that bridge graft has been a live topic among the taxpayers of Jasper county. For the benefit of our readers we copy this second article of Mr. Blodgett’s in full: Rensselaer, Ind., May 6, —This people is not a vindictive people. They do not take a delight in the fact that a man such as Clinton L. Bader, superintendent and general manager of the Winamac Bridge Company, who had always borne a good reputation, should be convicted by an unbiased jury and sentenced to the penitentiary by an honest judge. The people here do not rejoice that a man like Bader should have the heavy iron doors of a prison swing behind him. The people regret that these things have happened but they believe that the guilty, though arrayed in fine linen, should be punished. And it is not in a spirit of vindictiveness that the people of Jasper county are demanding that if there are others engaged in a systematic plan to rob the taxpayers in the building of bridges that they, too, be punished, and the people do not believe that the punishment should be warded off by an executive parole. After Bader was convicted Judge Hanley considered the question of suspending his sentence. He, had made up his mind to do so if it were found that Bader had made a mistake or even fallen from the straight and narrow path of business honesty in a single instance. For that reason he caused an investigation to be made, and it was found that the four bridges built by Mr. Bader's company, examined by the county surveyor and Devere Yeoman, were all short—-a petty swindle had been perpetrated in the building of the entire four-.—and then the court declined to suspend sentence. And that is why the people have employed an expert to examine all the bridges ana the grand jury will indict any man or set of men who have been engaged in the same kind of a swindle for which Bader was convicted. >- This people here are firm in the belief that a system of grafting in bridge building has existed, not only in Jasper county, but in the adjoining counties of White, Newton, Laporte and pbrtions, of Lake. There is no positive evidence of this general system except in Jasper county, because this is the only county in which an investigation has been made. The evidence before the grand jury and in the trial of Bader showed that it existed here all right. In the early history of these counties large tvacts of land were reclaimed by the building of ditches and large drains, and wherever these ditches crossed a highway it was necessary to put in a bridge, and so in the counties named a great number of bridges were built. In Jasper county, since January 1, 1904, there were bui'lt fifty-nine steel bridges and numerous- wooden ones. The largest of these steel, bridges was ninety feet and the others run down to small sizes and cost from S4OO to $1,700 each, the average price of -the Jasper county bridges being about S9OO each. The firms that erected these bridges are the Winamac Bridge Company, 18; the Attica Bridge. Company, 10; the Joliet Bridge Company, 1, and the PanAmerican Bridge Company of Newcastle, 25. In the laet two years the Winamac Bridge Company has

been awarded the greater part of the contracts.

Professor Smith, of Purdue, who has been employed to make an examination of the bridges, has found numerous instances where the bridges have been “scaled down”- 2 that is, they have been built with less weight of iron and of smaller dimensions than required ‘by the plans and specifications. The graft in individual bridges is not large, but when the aggregate is taken the extra profit for the contractors amounts to a pretty sum. It is on this basis that the grand jury is at work. The grand jury is anxious to find out just what has been done in the way of bridge graft, and it is probable that the grand juries of White, Newton, Pulaski, Laport and Lake counties will hold an investigation. What these grand juries will find out is problematical, but the common belief is that if bridge grafting existed in Jasper it existed in the' other counties. The changing of the Winamac Bridge Company’s bid is receiving considerable attention from the grand jury also,. The public is anxious to know who changed the bid, that was read off at $ 1,240, to $1,4 00 when the contract was paid.

There is another matter in Which the people of Jasper county are interested and are watching. A committee of accountants a year or so ago was employed to make an examination of the county books and reported fees ' due the county of about $1,600 —for which the county, by the way, paid the experts $1,900. The ownership of these fees was in dispute, but no effort has been made to collect them from the county officers' against whom they were charged. The field examiners sent into this county by Chief Accountant W.. A. Dehorlty, of the state board of accounts, caused one trustee to return about $775, c and for this the field examiners were paid a little more than S6OO. The partisan band of politicians that has managed the public affairs of Jasper county for years is, of course, bitterly opposed to the public accounting law, and the newspapers they control have misled the taxpayers in regard to thte real purpose of the law. State Senator Abe ilaiteck, of this jriace, voted against the law with five other Republican members of the senate. Senator Halleck is also the county attorney appointed by the board of county commissioners, and he is the officer whose duty it is to collect for the county the fees that accountants say belong to the county. And he is the officiaj, too, that is supposed to look after the legal part of the bridge contracts. “Since you have been county attorney, or while you were a member of the board of County commissioners did any of these bridge contractors offer to bribe you or ’to attempt to influence you in any way? was the question asked of Senator Halleck. The senator laughed at the abruptness' of the question and answered: -

“I should say not. No one ever approached me in any way,” he continued, with considerable emphasis, ‘‘and I do not believe that any officer of this county was ever approached with a dishonest proposition. I am satisfied that there is nothing in the reports of attempted bribery.” “It is reported," senator, that after Bader was indicted some one -from Jasper county Went to Lafayette to see Wallace Marshall, president of the Lafayette Bridge Company, with the suggestion that if he would drop proceedings against Bader, his company might stand a better show to do business 4n this county. Do you know anything about that?”

“Not a thing. I saw a squib in one of the local papers intimating such a thing, but I did not pay any attention to it. However, I shall call the attention of Judge Hanley to the report and ask that Mr. Marshall be brought before the grand jury and asked concerning it. I am just as anxious to learn the truth as any one else. I do not think that Mr. Marshall ever said anything of that kind—if he did we would like to know who the man was that went to see him.” “You have not made any effort to collect the fees the accountants said was due the county from certain officers?” “Not yet,* but it is likely that I will do so before long. You undeistand,” continued the senator, “that I can do nothing until ordered by the county commissioners, and the# have not yet given me any instructions to proceed. It is a legal question as to the ownership of the fees, and I think it ought to be determined, by the court.” ---j “How long has it been since this report was made?” “Oh, I suppose a ; little more than a year. Something like that.” “You are opposed to the- public accounting law and voted against it in the senate. Have you changed your mind any about it?” “I am not opposed to the system of ppblic accounting,” replied the

senator, ‘‘nor am I opposed to the principle of the law. In fact, I believe that the system of a uniform, accounting for public officers is a good one. Nor am I opposed to the examination System. My opposition to the law is that too many examln-' ers are employed, the expense is too great for the results obtained. A few examiners would be aill right, perhaps, but there is no. need of having an army of them burdening the. taxpayers.” Senator Halleck explained that at the time the Milroy township bridge contract was let to Deader, the contract that caused Bader's IndictmenLghe was in Indianapolis attending to his duties as state senator and knew nothing of it until he returned home, and has no knowledge of who changed the bid, if any change was made.