kio' ON THE LOCAL TAXATION OF THE CITY OF DUELIN. 73 Are you aware, that the . judge may call for all contracts into court which are tendered to the grand jury, for the supply of any article?— I have no doubt of the fact, but I do not recollect that I ever heard any instance of its occurrence. You stated, that you supposed or heard, that the contract was taken from Manders, in consequence of an observation made by the judge of the court, that he was too constantly the contractor?— I have heard the circumstance stated repeatedly. Are you aware, that the judge might have satisfied his own mind, that Manders was the lowest contractor, by calling for the different contracts into court, and examining them himself?— I have no doubt of it. Are you aware, that the judge has no power to deprive a person of a contract, if it appears upon the documents admitted to him, that he makes the lowest offer ? •— I believe such is the law. Then does it not appear to you, that the observation of the judge as to Manders being too constantly the contractor, would have been worse than absurd, if it appeared that he offered the articles at the lowest price to the public?— If it so ap- peared ; but at the same time I have not the smallest doubt that the observation was made, I have heard the fact so repeatedly stated, and from so many different quarters, that I cannot doubt it. But you think it was a suspicious circumstance, the contract having so frequently gone in one channel, and that being a connexion of a grand juror?— That I am persuaded was the opinion of the public in general on that subject; and it was, I believe, also the substance of the observations of the court. It appears that contracts were advertised for in the paper, for the supply of the public establishments; and that in some cases, those contracts were not taken, and thattherefore, the inspectors furnished the articles; do you know that any con- tracts advertised, were not proposed for ?— I believe I have stated already, that I have no knowledge of the facts; but I am perfectly certain, that if any second advertisement had appeared, stating that no proposals had been made, and calling upon the public to come forward, there would have been abundance of offers for such contracts; they would then have been evidently open to fair competition. Do you know from your knowledge of the dealings in the city of Dublin and any other capital town, that there are not a great many persons looking to means of making profit by sales of different commodities?— I certainly never knew competi- tion in every line of trade, so active and so busy as it is, and has been for some time in Dublin ; the difficulty of making money, or even earning a livelihood is felt by all the middle and trading classes of society. Under those circumstances, how can you account for there being no proposals for those contracts?— I can account for it in no other way than that the impression upon the public mind, as far as I have any possible opportunity knowing it, is decidedly that the grand jury contracts in Dublin, are not so open to public compe- tition as they ought to be ; the impression may be erroneous, but I certainly feel that it does exist. v Do you think, or have you heard, that if any person who was not in the usual habit of taking the contracts, were to bid against any favorites of the grand jury, do you think that person would be dealt with in the same way as those persons in the usual habit of getting those contracts; would the gaoler receive it in the same way from a stranger as from a favourite of the corporation ?— I can only state the impres- sion on my own mind, and that is most decidedly, that a stranger would not be dealt with on the same terms; and 1 beg further to explain, there are many articles and necessaries, such as sheet, shirts and ticks, which it is quite in the line of my own business to supply, and for which I could take a contract without the slightest inconvenience to myself, if I had been aware that such contracts are frequently not taken, or that I could have taken them with any rational expectation of profiting, even in a small degree by them ; in such a case I should possibly have proposed for them, at all events I know many, who I am sure would have done so. Why should you think you would not profit by them ?— Because the decided impression on my mind was, that I had no chance of obtaining those contracts, under such circumstances as would have enabled me to profit by them, while the usual contractors were so closely connected with the grand jury. Have you any other reason; did you conceive you would in the supply of that contract, be more hardly dealt with, than a friend of the corporation ?— I did suppose, that in the actual supply of those articles, I should not be dealt with on the same terms as those who are considered to be the favourites of the grand jury. K4Q. P Are