Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1860-04-20

anu talTd per cent.
Q. He gives that amouut to Mr. Bowmans-
I 4. Yes, sir.
@. Do you know the aggregate cast of the
Senate printing during the 34th Congressl A.
II was about 100000; think one buudred
and four or one hundred aud ige thousand
dollars; it was trfe over Que hundred thou
sand.
@, by Mr. Somes. | want to know what the
net profits DOW are. a. | am informed taat Mr.
Rige4 testified before committee ct the Senate
that lie gave Bowmon thirty-threo aud third
per cent, Of the gross amount, bu; that he could
not make ii, and that his object 10 doing that
was to break Wendell down. SO have been
told by the reporter Of the Senate committee.
Ia speaking of profits gentlemen must bear ia
| mind that it ought to Be calculated upon the
aggregate amount of work done. For instance
give me the Senate, House, and executive print-
ing aad binding, and, with the facilities | have
fer doing the work, should say the profits
would range about fifty cents oa the dollar,
oil arJunG--less interest on investment, per-
hays.
Q. Do you recoiect the aggregate amount
paid Tor printing post Office blanks during the
Both Congress-? A. ttink it averaged about
| $40 600 per year
q. Do you know the profit on that to the per-
son who was paid by. the Government for doing
| the work! A. One half, sir.
Q. DO you know what their several interests
were? a. | understood that Mr. Banks inter-
eat was one half, Mr. McLeaR's one third, and
Judge Walker, think, Informed me tbs, he
had quarter interest.
q. dad Mr. S;eadman, at the time of bis
election, any facilities here 10 Washington for
doing the work which the public printer would
be compelled to dog A. None wbstever
MIR. Clopton. | wculd like to ask Mr. Wen
dell what per cent would be reasonable profit
on the cost of the House printing. | take il
at what you have said about the House printing
is applicable 10 the Senate printing! A. Yes,
sir. Take the average all throug ugh-SeDate,
House and executIve-aad the work costs about
dfty cents on the dollar. As an evidence OF
that, did the SorS, | think for two years. for
| fifty eeuts on the dollar, and made money by il.
| took it, think, from the estate of General
Armstrong, who died while be was printer -
That was the House printing alone. had fac
| titles tbeu, for was doug the Senate printing
as manager for Tucker, aud took The work from
the Armstrong estate aad from Judge NichoI-
sou, who succeeded Gen Armstrong
/ Organ.
O., By the chairman. Was thera any con-
dillon afixed to your dong the work of the 35th
Congress, by which you were TO own aud con-
dGct the Government organ, The Constitution
\. No, sir.
Q. That wss voluntary enierprisel A. Yes,
sir. The editor Of the organ ia generally sup
posed to command the patronage of the Presi-
dent. There is good deal of this work at the
disposal of the President-say an aggregate of
one hundred thousand dollars per year, more or
less.
Q. At the disposal of the President? A.
Yes, sir. Tha: patronage the organ has eoDl-
manded for years, it beng impossible to keep
paper up here without Government support
Q. Is this one hundred thousand dollars worth
of patronage you speak of at the disposal of
the President personally A. The Law provi-
des that it shall be under the control of the
heads of the departments but if the President
signifies to his Cabinet that he would be pleased
to see A, b, or q get it, as matter OF course
they will obey his wishes. Ii has been mat
ter Of custom for the President TO dispose of 1t.
Mr.. Buchanan has done it and his predecessor,
Mr.. Pierce, did it. | never had any inter.
course with the Cabinet in the matter my in
tercourse has been direct with Mr. Buchanan,
and SO with Mr. Pierce.
Q. You say the aggregate amount paid for
the executive printing per year is 100000?
A. from 900 to 10000. l think it will
average 100000.
/ Q. Do the profits on that printing average
fifty cents on the dollar? A. A portion of il
averages much more bat the average on the
whole of it is about sixty 6ye cents on the dol
lar.
@. Was there ever any understanding with
you while you had that printing that portion
of the profits should be used towards sustain
ing the organ A. Yes, sir Il was given for
the purpose of sustaining the organ.
G. Was there ever any understanding be-
tween you and the president as to what portion
of the profits should go towards sustaining the
Government organl A. No, sir; l cannot say
there was direct understanding understood
it, and / suppose he did
/ @. There was no distinct sum fixed upon out
of the profits A. No, sir. The understand
ing was that the paper should 60 on.
Q. And that that patronage should support
1t A. Yes, sir. | never had anything to
say about editing it,
The President Changes His Editors Often
Q. Who was your editor? A. Mr.. Apple
ton, Mr.. Wm A. Harris, Mr.. Simeon johnson,
and MIR. r. w. Hughes. They were changed
often.
Judge Black and Assistant Secretary of State,
.dppleton, wr'te for the "Orgdn'
@. ask whether you can state. from your
own knowledge, that any Of the heads of the
! executive departments wrote editorials that
we're Published in tbs Un'on!
A. Ny impression is, | may say, Judge
+ Blsck wrote for it. think he wrote several
artclss, but do not know positively that any