Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1851-03-01

and never authoritatively denied,
that Ritchie 81 Heiss realized net
profit of more than 100000 on the
twenty-ninth Congress. With what
justice can he now ask to be paid
losses on the printing of the thirty
first Congress, without rendering 10
the Government a portion at least of
the enormous profits realIzedl There
is Just as great prOprlety in Congress
one of the contracting parties, de-
manding that Mr.. Ritchie should
disgorge n part of his former profits,
far beyond the legitimate earnings of
the labor and capital employed, as
that Mr.. Richie, the other one of the
contracting parties, should demand
compensation for losses sustained in
second contract. If Congress un-
willingly paid exorbitant prices for
its work for the Doth Congress, and
afterwards adopted different sys-
tenn Of letting it, by receiving sealed
proposals from all the world, and the
contractor finds the job less profta-
bic than the previous one, is that a
reason why he should be relieved?
Surely not.
But what do you propose shall be
the douceur given 10 the contractors
by this bill? The answer must, in a
great measure, be merely coniectu-
raj. My own opinion, founded upon
the closest investigation / have been
able 10 give the subject, is, that the
passage of the bill now on your ta-
BILE will enable the contractors to re-
alize a nett profit of at least $25, 900,
and perhaps it may reach $4,000.
The net profit on the Patent Office
report alone, under this bill which
you are asked to pass, will be $59,
949 4S. The actual cost TO the con-
tractor, including labor and materials
is $32,760 42. The amount which
he will receive, deducting the fifty per
cent from the prices fixed by the
joint resolution of 1919, will be SOL
100 81, giving him the net profit be-
fore sta ed. If he is paid according
TO contract prices, ne will receive for
the same work $3S,242 02--his profit
at the existing prices being $5'49l-
60.
The House will! perceive the eff
Iect of changing the compensation
from the contract to the prices of I8-
10 on this document. The profits
are equally great in proportion for all
such documents, as large editions
have been ordered by Congress. For
example: the Presidents message
and accompanying documents where
fifteen thousand extra copies were or
dered; the California messages, &c;
and it is these large editions which
swell SO much the printers account.
tits due to candor that | should say
that when the edition is small, only
embracing what is termed the regu-
lar number, (about two thousand FIVE
hundred Copies the compensation of
the printer is not so great in proper
ton under tho resolution of 1919 as
for the long number. ltis the press
work which runs up so enormously
the cost ola large edition. For ex-
ample: two thousand FIVE hundred
copies of document worth $4,000,
requires as much labor in compost
ton, proof reading, &C., as ten thou
sand copies, for which the printer
would receive $4,000; and the only
additional expense ir finishing off
the seven thousand five hundred ad-
ditIonal copes would be the paper,
press-work and folding. But the
question may be propounded, why
the prices of 1919 for press work are
so unreasonable nowl The inven-
tions for facilitating the press work
have been most extraordinary since
then, and am not sure that the la
Dor saving in that department of the
art is not greater than in all others.
A steam engine will drive almC ST az /,
number of presses. In the Union
Office there are six presses, which re-
quire the services Of twenty-five boys
and four men-'n all twentyAsix.
They will dispatch as much printing
IN the same time as seventy-eiGht
presses and one hundred and fifly-six
men would have done in 1919. Now,
sir, can the pricesof that day be the
proper basis of compensation for the
present printers to CoRgressl five
were dssirous of making a contract
tor any purpose, would we have re-
ference to existing prices, or to those
that ruled thirty years agol 1 ap-
prehend, SIR, that the reason why
these antiquated prices are pressed
with so much pertinacity upon us, is,
that the, printer expects to line his
pockets with Government: geld a5p,5diis a5p,5diifs
the reasonable assumption that this