Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1850-10-19
SUBSTANCE OF REMARKS
OF HON. JAMES J.. ORR,
OF SOUTH CAROLINA,

Saturday, September %, 1850,
On the proposition 10 release the
present Contractors for the Public
N Printing.
Mr.. ORR said:
MIR. CHAIRMAN; | propose TO sub
init few observations on the subject
now under discussion, and commence
by stating some facts, elected by the
investigating committee on the pub
lie printing. do this more readily,
since the House this morning refus.
cd to allow that committee the privi-
lege of reporting, and thus bringing
the result of their labors officially be-
fore ii. The testimony taken devel-
opes ii series of facts which the
House ought 10 know, before deci-
ding upon this proposition. The
facts / am resolved shall not be stiff
fled, when disclosed, if the House
takes the responsibility of not only
relieving the present contractors, but
of paying them a bonus for the non
performance of Their contract in con-
torlnity with written ipulations, be
it SO; our constituents will be prepared
10 pass the proper judgment on our
votes.
Until ls46 the printing for Congress
was executed by printers elected by
the respective Houses, and the com
pcnsation was fixed by the Joint reso-
luton of 1919. The great improve
ments and discoveries in the art of
printing, made the prices paid by the
resolution of 1919 enormously high,
for several years passed. The rapid
development of the country and its
augmented legislation, required con
siderable increase of printed matter,
and the heavy expenditure in that
department directed the attention of
CONGRESS TO the necessity Of some
radical reform.
1t will be seen that the annual ex-
Eendlture for printing was swelled
from $4,000 in 1880, to $2OO,OOO in
lS46. To remedy this growing a.
buse, Congress, by joint resolution
passed in August, 1856, established
the contract system. BY this reso-
luton, the public printing of the two
Houses of Congress was to be exc
cuted by the lowest bidder The
contract for the Thirtieth Congress
was assigned to Wendall g. Van
Benthuysen, and for the Thirty-first
(the presently Congress, one class
was assigned to John Trenholm, three
class to William M. Belt, and one
class to John Il. Towers. The con
tracts of Trenholm and Belt have
been transferred to Thomas Richie,
it is alleged, for his protection, he
being one of the sureties to the bonds
OF these contractors, respectively, for
the faithful and prompt execution Of
the work. AT this point, / wish TO
correct mistake into which the gen.
tleman from Maryland MIR. Nc
Lane] has fallen. He appealed elo-
qneptly TO The sympathy ofthe House
10 relieve MIR. Richie of the losses
he has sustained as surety. But it is
a fact which cannot be denied, that
the contract were taken originally
With assent, and for the benefit of
Mr.. Ritchie. BY referring to the
memorial which the contractors had
printed and laid upon,our tables some
months past, praying relief, letter
from Mr.. Ritchie, dated March lS49,
addressed TO Mr. Dickins, may be
seen, written only few days after
the contracts were declared, in which
he acknowledges that he was is prin-
clpally interested in the contracts.-
Mr.. Ritchie's friends cannot, there
fore, claim that sympathy which the
world Is usually ready to extend to
surety suffering loss by the failure Of
his principal. He acknowledged
himself the principal before the exc
cution of the work was commenced,
or could be commenced He has
proceeded in the execution of the
contract, and now comes in the
names of Trenholm and Belt, to
Congress, and asks to be relieved
from it. Nay, more, sir: not salts
tled with relief without loss, his
friends demand for him net profit of
ten per cent. on the W ,le of the in
yestment, as a gratuity, / presume,
for the non-performance of his con.
tract. f
The gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
McClerland] bases the application
for relief and compensation on anoib-
er and very different ground. He
assumes that Congress has violated
the written contract, by taking the
printing of the census returns from