The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-05-09

| The Buchanan County Guardian, (Indepen-
| dence,) calls us Democratic stickler for State
economy, and then accuses us of leading the
! laws of the Board of Education and the State
Laws, and says " this is fair sample of the
public economy which these Democratic gentle
men practice, although it differs materially from
what they when out of power, usually preach.
1t is true, Mr.. Guardian, that We are an advo-
cate of the strictest economyin the administra
ton of our State and county affairs but not
that economy that metes out to the printer the
small pittance of 80 cts. per 900 ems for pub
! fishing the laws, and then squanders over
/ S 100000 ostensibly to erect an Insane Asylum,
but really to enrich its party hacks; not that
economy which Expresses one class to fatten an
other not that economy which gives the Re
/ publican State Printer nearly double what re-
sponsible Democrats offered to do the public
/ printing for. 1t is notorious fact that the
State Printer gets over twelve times as much as
we for performing the same service in regard to
| these laws. But, lest the public are misled by
| the Guardians remarks, let it be known that we
receive in County Warrants 35 cents per 1000
ems, for publishing these laws, and pay the
! iourneyman 80 cents in cash for composition.
/ The warrants are worth 3315 per cent, which
reduces compensation to about half the ac-
tual cost of setting them up. Verify, we are
getting rich Fl. Dodge Sentinel.
@ 1t seems to us this defence is
very lame one, and fully sustains our
criticism. How man can be sincere
advocate for public economy, while he
admits that be is endeayoring to get from
his county more than the law allows for
the labor performed, is past our compre
hension. If the price fixed by law is too
little, the Sentinel man is under no COM
pulsion to accept the terms. If the pay
is not sufficient, refuse to do the work
but don't endeayor, by a trick, to get
double pay, and yet keep up a constant
cry of extravaganza and peculation
against your neighbors. Itspeaks badly
for your consistency and sincerity. 1t is
no great deal to the credit Of Democratic
management that Webster County war
rants are only worth onethird their face,
but if the Sentinel pays its journeymen
80 cents cash per 1000 ems, we cannot
see how its present course helps it, un-
less it deprives the journeymen of the
benefit of the leads-considered, among
printers, very mean operation. Lead
ing the matter simply increases the num-
Der of ems, and if the journeymen are
paid by the thousand ems, they alone are
benefited, showing this part of the Sen
tinel's excuse to be invalid.
The editor says that the State Printer
gets twelve times as much as himself for
the same work, but forgets to say that
the Democratic paper at Des Moines re-
ceives the same compensation as the State
Printer. But neither Of them charge
an unlawful price. 1t is because the
Sentinel man endeavors to evade the law
and make the publication cost his county
double what il ought, that we refer TO his
Inconsistency. If he thinks that the
State Printer is oyerpaid, what has he TO
say of his Democratic cotemporary at
Des Moines, who was furious because
the Legislature reduced the price from
one dollar to some 80 or 40 cents square
HurcHINs is another Of these blusterers
about economy, but raved and swore
prodigiously when the principle was ap-
piled 10 his own operations. He and
the editor Of the Sentinel seem to have
about equal love for this kind Of economy.
In common with his Democratic breth-
rem, the Sentinel man is now much in
favor of letting out the State Printing to
the lowest bidder. But no such thing
was heard of under Democratic rule.
That party established the office of State
Printer, and SO long as they remained in
power, gave it 10 their fayorites, allow
ing much greater prices than now paid.
The trouble now is that Republican
Legislature insists upon following Demo
cratic precedent in electing one Of their
own party to the office.