Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 December 1900 — Reformers Come High. [ARTICLE]

Reformers Come High.

Especially the Self-Con* stituted Sort. Whose Peculiar Brand of Reform is Always for the Other Fellow, Not For Himself. Reformer Babcock Files a $l5O Claim For a $75 Job. Editor Babcock of the Jasper County Democrat, is a Reformer with a great big R. but his kind of reform is always meant to apply to the other fellow. Never to himself. Thus he has devoted many columns to the unselfish duty of denouncing other people for their charges for public work, but when it comes to making out bills for himself, against the county, he forgets all about his reform principles. Thus, early in the present year he charged and was paid $l5O by Jasper County for publishing the rules of the State Board of Heath. The Republican, which is one oi the institutions Bro. Babcock is specially anxious to reform, published somewhatsimilar rules, some years before, and which though not so long, were required to be inserted more times, and on which the legal advertising rates would haye been about as much. But for our work we charged only S4O. We charged less than half legal rates, but Reformer Babcock charged not only full legal rates, but from other printers way of figuring, from sls to $25 more than that. But a more modern and more striking instance of how greatly the “reform” element adds to the value of work done is found in the bill our eminent Reformer, F. E. Babcock, publisher of the Jasper County Democrat, has filed against Jasper County for “printing, counting and packing” the ballots used in the recent election.

He furnished a total of 8,630 county ballots, 8,500 constitutional amendment ballots and 10,280 township ballots, or 27,410 ballots, all told. For these he charges $138.27, or a fraction more than $5.00 per 1,000. He also furnished 240 county sample ballots, 240 amendment sample ballots and 650 township sample ballots, and charged enough for these to make the total bill $151.37. To illustrate how much the “Reform” quality adds to the cost of these ballots and sample ballots, we will cite the case of the White County Democrat, of Monticello, published by Clark & Simons. They run just a common Democratic paper, without any overwhelming yearnings and screechings for Reform and “opening the books.” White county has move voters and requites more ballots than Jasper Co. They printed 12j000 county ballots, 12,000 amendment ballots, and 11,000 township ballots or 35,000 in all, compared with 27,410 printed by Reformer Babcock. They also furnished a full supply of samples of all the ballots, for all the precincts. They charged $lO2 for the whole job. Thus the Jasper County Democrat with Reform attachments, charges 50 per cent, more for a job 25 per cent, smaller, as compared with the White County Democrat, which has no double action Reform attachments. Practically, the Reform principle doubles the price. It should be added here that after the White County Democrat

had printed the 12,000 county ballots, a mistake was discovered, but not theirs, and an entire new 12,000 had to be printed. For these they addeds4B making their total bill $l5O Thus they printed 47,000 ballots for practically the same charge as our Reformer, makes for 27.000; and when allowance is made for the fact that the extra 12,000 were the large county ballots, it stilk leaves the comparison about where it was before, namely twice as large a charge for the “Reform’ element.

A special instance of how Reformers “move in a mysterious way their wonders to perform,” when they have a good chance, is in Reformer Babcock supplying 650 township sample ballots, and charging $6.50 for them. Now, the election commissioners did not order any sample township ballots, at all but if they had they would have ordered only 240, which was all the law required. But the Reformer who believes in ‘‘gittin plenty while your gittin,” printed 650, or more than twice as many as there was any possible need for, and charged $6.50 for them. Id 1898 The Republican printed the township sample ballots, similar in all respects to these the Reformer printed at the recent election, and charged $2.50 for them. The difference between $2.50, our charge, and $6.50, the Democrat’s charge, is all owing to the Reform element in the latter’s work. The ballots are worth $2.50 and the “Reform” $4 00. Nearly two thirds of the charge is for ‘‘Reform.” The “Reform” element in the constitutional amendment ballots also comes very high. These ballots were small and very easy to print, and any competent printer could set up the form and print the whole 8,500 in one day, including the “counting and packing,” and make big money out of the job for $lO, or even SB. The Reformer charges $25.50 forjthem. Fully two thirds of this charge is for “Reform.” The Reformer’s bill for township ballots is also deserving [of notice. He claims to have furnished 10,280 of these, which was over three hundred more than the election commissioners ordered, and he charges 70 cents per 100, which is $7 per 1,000 or $69.65 for the whole number. In 1898 we printed 8,000 township ballots and charged S2B for them, which was just $3.50 per 1,000. In this case the Reformer was quite moderate, as only hqlf of his charge is for ‘Reform.” In his charge for the county ballots he is quite too moderate, for a Reformer of such high degree. He furnished 8,630 of these ballots and charged for them only $43.15. That is at the rate of only a little more than $5.30 per 1,000 ballots. Now as in 1896 anc 1898 we charged $3.50 per 1,000 for county ballots, it will be seen that Reformer Babcock has addec only SI.BO per 1,000, or only a little more than one third, for his superior brand of Reform. To sum the whole matter up then, it is evident that one half of the Reformer’s charge is for the ballots and the other half to help the Reformer “open the books,” The only fear now is that our unregenerate county commissioners may be bigotted enough to place the interests of the tax-payers above those of the non-taxpaying Reformer, and pay him only for his ballots, and allow him nothing for Reform.