Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 April 1907 — MONUMENT TO FRAUD. [ARTICLE]

MONUMENT TO FRAUD.

Grnft Reached It* Zenith in Bnildinjt of Pennsylvania** Capitol. Pennsylvania’s investigation of its magnificent new State capitol is on. and the indications of graft in the $13,000,000 edifice are overpowering. * * The building, which was estimated to cost $4,000,000 complete, has cost more than three times that much. Over SB,000,(KK» was spent alone in "furnishing” it. It stands as a gorgeous monument of mismanagement and fraud, more ornate than a Hindoo temple, more gaudy than a Russian cathedral, more barbaric in its ornamentation than a mosque, and parts of it are as false* and artificial as a temporary show palace on an exposition Midway. 1 * It is crowded with bronze and mahogany paid foa by the pound and the cubic yard. , It is a dream of Rabylouic prodigality. There are telephone booths that -f>ost -s3Altlft enr'h, piaTd Tdr I>y tlie cubic yard, including the air. Massive chandeliers weighing tons were paid for by the pound. Some fixtures cost $20,000 apiece. All bronzes cosy the State $4.83 a pound. Here are some of the extravagant charges for “furnishings”: Marble wainscoting, etc S27S»SO9 Flues, fireplaces, etc 21.237 Hardwood parquetry flooring... 142.412 Cement flooring ?..... 25.117 Telephone wiring 17.008 ,Carved panels, eta 889.940 Thermostats, etc 30.403 Most of these furnishings were supplied by John 1.1. Sanderson, contractor, who let out the work to subcontractors, some of whom are testifying that they supplied them at prices ridiculously less than what the State paid Sanderson. Here are some instances: Painting and decorating walls. $789,473; one firm offered to do it for $184,473. Parquetry flooring, $1.27*4 a foot; coat contractor GO cents a foot. Mahogany rostrums, $90,748; contractor paid $2,060 for them.