1914-11-15po

“When the judicial inquiry was resumed today before Judge Snider after three weeks’ adjournment, a large crowd was in attendance, and once again, the chief item of interest was the confession of a young man, a frank and decent-looking chap, to the effect that he had robbed the city.”

Hamilton Herald.          November 15, 1914.

The Civic Inquiry into disturbing allegations of massive corruption at the Hamilton City Hall had been on recess for three weeks, but widespread interest in the matter had not subsided in the least.

The focus was mainly on the operations of the Works department, and involved contracts for gravel, oil and other materials to the works department, contracts which were paid but for which no materials were delivered.

Such was the type of interaction that was brought to light in the resumed session of the inquiry on November 14, 1914:

“The witness, Ronald Charles Mason, swore that he gave about 100 gravel checks to John Jesse, an east end gravel contractor, for loads of gravel that were never delivered on city work, and that he received for these checks $1 each.

“The witness also told that John Jesse had promised to give him the $100 he had profited to repay the city if he would shield him.”¹

¹ “Says City Was Robbed on 1913 Gravel Contract” 

Hamilton Herald.    November 15, 1914.

The Civic Inquiry dominated the pages of all three Hamilton daily newspapers with testimony carried in lengthy detail. For those who found the sensational testimony riveting, not only in print but in person, the inquiry was besieged by citizens wanting to see the drama unfold in person.

The inquiry had been the result of the efforts of Alderman Chester Walters whose suspicions regarding corruption in the Hamilton Works department  he could not ignore.

After weeks of effort, Alderman Walters managed to get the inquiry established, and, with attorney M. K. Cowan, brought all manner of disturbing evidence of malfeasance to light. As well as pouring over the city’s financial statements , Walters and Cowan even set up an elaborate system of espionage among city employees and the contractors the city dealt with, in order to gain details of illegalities.

At the session on November 14, 1914, the City Engineer W. F. Macallum was a key witness. The matter that garnered considerable attention in the course of the questioning was the lack method employed by the City of Hamilton in overseeing payments to contractors:

“ ‘I want to know who was checking these things,’ said Mr. Cowan. ‘Because I am told that tens of thousands of dollars were stolen from the City of Hamilton in the supplying of materials to street jobs. Not thousands, but tens of thousands. Not all told, but every year.’

“ ‘I want the man who should have checked these things,’ said Mr. Cowan. ‘I want to see if he connived at the theft of money from the city.’

“Mr. Macallum could not help anymore and was allowed to stand down.”¹

While it was too early to charge any specific individual, the Hamilton Herald noted, “a feature of the investigation was the absence of Mr. Brennan and his lawyer. Mr. Brennan has not been heard of about the city hall today.”¹

Sensational revelations came from the testimony of Ronald Charles Mason, a 27 year old teamster, who previously had been in the employ of the City of Hamilton in the Works department.

Mason was hired to haul gravel from a gravel pit on the Beach strip to various construction projects, mainly road construction. In the course of his testimony, Mason admitted that often he was given receipt tickets for gravel, gravel that he had actually not delivered:

“ ‘ Now, a lot of gravel has been charged to streets that never went to them’ attorney Cowan stated. “Did you ever give receipts for gravel that was not delivered?’

“ ‘I did,’ answered Mason.’  As I needed money, I approached Mr. Jesse (a foreman with the Works department) He said that the tickets must correspond. I asked what he would give me for tickets.’

“ ‘What did he say?’

“ ‘A dollar a ticket.’”

‘So Jesse would give you $1 for every ticket for a load not delivered?

“ ‘Yes.’

“ ‘ You don’t impress me as a boy who would initiate crime. It was suggested by an older head.’

“ ‘It was not.’ Said the witness.

“ ‘Gravel was over $3 a load in 1913. You knew this was a deal to defraud  the city to the material benefit of yourself and Jesse ?’

 ‘Yes.’ ”¹

 

(To Be Continued)