Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 June 1910 — THE WAY IT’S WORKED. [ARTICLE]

THE WAY IT’S WORKED.

Benton Review Tells How Swindle Is Worked On Railroad Road Tax. Concerning the indictment of C. G. Mauzy, late chairman of the Benton county republican central committee the Benton Review, among" other things says: - Far a number of years Mr. Mauzy has been engaged in contracting this wcrk and it has been a rethis work and it has been remunerative source of income. For the benefit of those who do nor understand how these things are dope we will sketch the situation briefly. The contractor enters into an agreement with the railroad officials to work out the road tax of the company in various townships, he to receive, say seven v y cents on the dollar for the work. He then proceeds to sublet to other individuals, getting the work done as cheaply as he can, and the difference in the two prices is his profit for looking after the details. When the work is completed the road supervisor gives the original contractor a receipt in full for the amount of railroad tax in his district, the contractor turns this receipt over to the railroad company and gets his money and the railroad people then turn In the receipts to the county treasurer in payment of their taxes. That is the way it works when honestly conducted. On the other hand it would be an easy thing <for the dishonest contractor and the dishonest supervisor tfe get together and split the money received from the railroad. Mr. Supervisor can receipt th£ contractor for the full amount, the contractor will get his money from the railroad company and the little incident of doing the road work may be omitted altogether. Under such circumstances it is highly profitable graft.

Nor is this the first time that Mr. Mauzy has had a grand jury after him on the gravel road question. The December, 1902 grand jury was furnished with evidence by James Hawkins that while Mauzy had drawn S4OO as gravel road superintendent of the Hawkins gravel road as did his “deputy” for 200 days’ the road itself was constructed in 76 or 78 days and the bill was allowed Mr. Mauzy the day before the 1902 election. In the heated controversy that followed the discovery the Commissioners set up the plea that they did not pretend to use their judgment as to whether a man filing a bill before them had performed the work or not, but if he swore that he did, filed a bill for the amount and no citizen discovered the fact that the treasury was about to be raided and protested befoic they got him paid, they had done their duty to the taxpayers who had elected them as their business agents. This argument was the ultimate cause of the downfall of the republican party in this county, and ever since the people have kept 9 set of democrat commissioners in charge of their affairs, and vast sums have so far been spent by them on the building of gravet roads, without even the breath of scandal attaching. Indicating that this was good judgment. The Review cannot let pass this opportunity ,of “pointing with pride” to tire fact that Fred Longwell is a Benton county boy who is making a record that cannot fail to put him up among the big men of the state. His prosecution of the bridge grafters in Jasper county is the first time that bunch of grafters has ever been caught red handed and' started for prison. While their work was as well known that r legislature after legislature passed lawl trying to protect the people, the _bridge trusts continued to get around them. On top of that he has stirred the animals up again in this ca§e, which is no doubt a typical one of the railroads trying to hire a “fixer” to load the taxa--1 tion they ought to pay onto the poorer people. ; "