People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1893 — PUBLIC PRINTING. [ARTICLE]

PUBLIC PRINTING.

W*jr ike 'ini P»jer» are Babko* kjr Party Organs. Uoodlsnd lloralU. (0»p.) We would like to hear some good and sufficient reason why j the legal printing in the various counties of this state should not 'be let to the lowest bidder, j Why isn't it just as nonsensical jand extravagant to pay *I.OOO for printing that could be done ; for S3OO as to pay SI,OOO for : building a bridge that could be i built for *300? True, political I “organs” do a great deal of. gratuitous work for their parties, but then it is hardly fair to compel the general tax payers to renutperate them for it. It is but just and equitable to the tax payers that legal printing be given to the lowest responsible bidder in the county, circulation of the paper to be considered in deciding upon the bids. Of course, newspapers that have a “pull” at the crib, and whose perpetuity rests upon its continuance, will favor no retrenchment of this character; yet no fair-minded man, no matter what his political convictions may be, can say that the populists’ demands that the legal printing be let to the lowest bidder, made to the legislature, is anything but an honest step in the direction of retrenchment and reform—a policy to which all parties are always committed by platform pledges. Kemington Press. Several of our exchanges (party organs of course) are doing good deal of worrying over the agitation of the question of let- 1 ting legal advertising, stationary supplies, etc., to the lowest bidder. Several of these papers were taking on terribly a few months ago over the fact that the tariff was a robbery, saying that people should be allowed to buy their goods where they could get the best bargains, but in the case of public printing, where the matter comes home to themselves, they think the present plan is all right. If one is robbery the other is legalized stealing. Why should a newspaper charge so much more for doing public advertising than for advertising for its home merchants or others? And if it is right to let other contracts, consistent with good work, to the lowest bidder, why not let the public printing? The White County Democrat says “the law regulates the rates to be charged and the work belongs to the paper that made the fight for the party candidate.” The facts are that the “party organs” usually “bleed” the candidates for office, and get all the pay they are entitled to for making an angel out of an ordinary man, before the election occurs, and the tax payers should not be ..compelled to pay three times as much as the work is worth simply because the editor of that particular paper “worked” for the party candidate. There are several papers printed in nearly every county in the state, which have as large—and in many instances larger—circulation than the “party organ,” but they must have nothing to say about the manner in which the work is done. Now t , an ordinary country newspaper, such as are printed in this district, receives from S6O to SBO per year for a column of ordinary advertising —and the most of them are glad to get even that much—but when it comes to public printing or legal advertising they of course charge the full price allowed by law, *1 per square for the first insertion and fifty cents per square for each additional insertion. Nearly all legal advertisments run three weeks, and a paper having one column of 21£ inches—the length of the Press’ columns—for a full yeai‘, making the necessary changes every three weeks, would receive for the column of 28 squares an average 6f *18.66 for each issue or $970.32 for the full year. While this kind of work is worth about double what ordinary advertising is done for, it is not by any means worth the outrageous prices as shown above. The people would get just as good wrork and save thousands of dollars each year to themselves if public printing was let the same as other public contracts.