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Show BISHOP GIAUQUE ECONOMIST If the action of Arnold J. Giauque in regard j to tho placing of the boiler insurance awarded by I the board of education, or rather by the' committee com-mittee on buildings and grounds of which ho is chairman, is to be taken as a criterion of what kind of a city commissioner he would maue, the promise is not very alluring. Acceptance of the bid of the Hartford company represented by He-ber He-ber J. Grant & Co., is just one of those little things put over now and then without tho public knowing anything about it. But the action of the committee in such cases would seem to require re-quire an explanation, or at least a certain .amount of publicity so that taxpayers may know how their affairs are being conducted. To go back a little, a week or ten days, bids were called for the insurance on the boilers of the school buildings for the ensuing three years and the board made the award to the London Guaranty company which subsequently withdrew Its bid. Then It was suggested that another company com-pany which was not aware that bids had been called for previously, be allowed to put in its bid, which precipitated a fight which unmistakably unmistak-ably showed the hands of some of the members of the committee. It was moved and seconded and carried in open meeting that this bid be returned to the bidder, a bid by the way, which was six dollars less per boiler than the bid of the Hartford company, and Mr. Giauque was very zealous In demanding that the bids of the companies already al-ready represented be referred to the committee on buildings and grounds for action. Then Mr. McMullen of the same committee made the motion mo-tion that the matter be referred, and was immediately im-mediately opposed by two members of the board, neither of whom was on this committee, their contention being that the matter stood exactly as it did before any bids were asked for owing to the withdrawal of the company which had received re-ceived the award. The conversation became somewhat peppery ' and a member said: "It looks as though you are trying to railroad this thing through for the Hartford company." Then Ledyard Bailey in the 'Chair remarked: "It's a ten to one shot they will get it." However the- other member persisted in warning warn-ing them to be careful of their action. The vote to refer to the committee, with power to act, was carried, two members voting "no," and apparently, appar-ently, after they had given the matter consideration, consider-ation, bids were accepted from all companies which wished to put one In. In calling for the new bids, the committee asked that a certified check for the full amount of the premium accompany accom-pany the bid in order to guarantee them from any further withdrawals. When the bids were opened by the committee, the award was quietly made to the second highest high-est bidder, the Hartford company, their bid still being six dollars higher than that made by a local lo-cal company which keeps all of its money in Utah, and the explanation made to the writer who asked why it was done was that this company com-pany had no boiler inspector and had previously not been in the business of insuring boilers. The acceptance of their bid would have meant the saving of nearly ?300 to the city, and in this connection it may be authoritatively stated that a letter accompanied their bid saying that the inspection would have the greatest care, and that the inspector would be competent in every respect re-spect and satisfactory to the board of education. The grounds for turning down this bid were flimsy to say the least, and It is absurd to think that there are not just as many competent men to fill the position of inspectors right here as may be sent here by an eastern company. But the whole point is this: this man Glauque who poses as a friend of the people and as a civic economist, with his associates, deliberately threw away several hundred dollars of the people's money and gave it to an outside company that takes the money away from the state and can render no better services than the company having hav-ing its interests here with a constantly increasing increas-ing payroll and with its funds conservatively invested in-vested in this state. By all means nominate Glauque for city com missloner from the west side. |