, 1869-01-13

W 0&A4kk5boA %AkJ 40 TIL p7AANf9E VI
blank book and bil1-hcld makers. There
are about halt dozen firms of this sort
On Pcnnsy lvania nvenuc, which keep up
an ornamental shop front, sell an enye.
lorc OF bottle Of ink twice week, ami
Ter the res! exist, or rather prosper, upon
government contracts. The latest take
tbexc worthless have Is the Interior De-
partment, whore Secretary makes his
stationery contracts blindiolded. l.
couple Of c1-Commissioncrs Of Patents
secm to have sccorded him 10 the extent
Of ordering about ten thousand dollars il
stationery every month, and wheo, sJme
time ng', Hon. Elisha Foo,e took charge
of the efflce, and found that thou.
sand dollars month would be an ex.
travafant outlay for this material, the
combiped cohorts Of Browning, the Sta
tionc1s, the Patent agents aud the cor
rupt clerks OF the Patent Office in collu-
siDn with The ewindlCrs, charged homo
upon Lin.
The suhjcct.matter OF this collision
was thc merry contract OF Dfmp.
Fey md O'Too'e. n ppir OF gentle
| snon whcsc 1osEcs in the lost cnusc
oi j. Davis l. Go. naturally inadu them
ohjscts offympathy. They were award
cd thu contsuct far Rtntinncrv nj print.
ing Tor the entire Interior Department,
being tho lowest bidders, nccordtng 10 lhr
cxtrntEd!nnry description Of blI0ing In
| vnpuc In Washington. 1'hls tnhnner Of
bidding n something liko thls Thu B.s.
s!oner seta that aiming large nnmhcE Of
articles there aro needed gold pans, a,ccl
psns, txpenHlve bound hoo|ts, and enve.
tnpcp. lie maieRa mental gucts ihxt not
mnic than twenty llyo gold rcps will bo
needed by the whole department; there.
tore, hc oigcsa to furIish these At scyen
cents sp(ccr, the price of tho samc bclpgt
perhaps. three dollars apiece. Hut stcci
!nrs, he gucsscf, will be required tn
amount Of hundred thousand the
price Of these he BOT. at five
times their value. Sn witt, tue few. cx-
pcnstvc lcdeers. Thcso ho bids for ut
half their value, white he charges 800 pei
cent profit upon common cnv.lopce, the
demand for which Ia enormous. By tax
INK Tho average Of an audnc!ous bid like
thss IL will b. found in the aggregate
Il wcr than an honcat contract; tor the
department. Is unable 10 specify precisely
the amount Of each article 1t may wish
to use, md The stastoner exprcts 10 7egu.
latc this use by coliusion with psrl.cs In
sido the of.)ce.
| When Mr. Elisha Foo'c, thu Commits.
elcncr Of Patents, csnlc to his tfllcc, be
found that under Ibis fraudulent contract
he was burdcncd with useless stutiouc,y
st cn1rnous ratcs. Bind paper, worth
Two cents sheet, charged eight cents,
lay In the vaults OF the Pa4ent Office,
cntngh to last twenty years. Neycrthe.
less, the contractors demanded to furnish
$4,000 woria more at the Same cx!rnva-
Eunt rate, and claimed that YER
bal contract to that effect had
been made with A. n. Stout,
Reconnaissance. Mr. Fo,te then,
10 test the honesty OF tho contract,
ero.rca three huudled gold pens at the
low rate annexed In the scnedule q,
This the statiorers raised the cry that
Commissioner Foote Was pref gatelJ
buying gold pens for all bis clerks
Snail psper~coVercd ent1y-books, as big
as q boys copy-book," worth: twenty
iyc cents, were charged twenty-five dol
larsl Fifty thousand strips Of paste
beard, three inches square, worth mil
apiece, were charged Tour cents api.ce.
bill was exhibited, paid by one of aIr
Foote's predecessors, TO? twenty-e;gh
thousand Patent Office hesds and forms
whereas Only eleven thousand hed bee1
delivered. 1nterrogate0 upon this, The sta
TONERS, appearing by Richard Msrrick
their counsel, alleged that they had beer
permitted 10 collect in advapcc and us
'he government funds in their business
ASKED why the additional heads wcr,
not f"rthcomine, they acccustd Ill
!, Foote Of taking away the pglpu.g pla.f
In brlet, Mr. Foote refused TO pay th
bill OF $4,000 without an inves,,ga1o1
Ibis Was ordered to take place bctor
,, three patent officers, 3. F. James, OF Isli
! nois, Norris Peters, Of Delaware, aud F
". W. Griffin, Of the District OF C,luu
bia- This report is one Of tne most ex
'raordinsry pieces Of whiscw.shing i
the history OF Washington ud4c1sy.
. "The terms and conditions Of the contrat
.sa, AZ, lsqagy into IL en.rseteI O. ufis u Il
Etcen stipulated 10 be paid, uGlcsa fraud
, "Ard VIC also arc Of the opinion tcat hills N,
; eented 10 the Patent once. accep.vd, aad psi
hte also n csioppel On The pasl Of lhs olce ~
. patd then for. tuch pnfeha.es may os cuu.,aesc
Q amsucr Of conttsct'' .o1her ma
,ers that rtsr e tAt uttT<tft Of 1st oze in wh,e
c ruuJ pt en Implicated, and which III tac,T natal
th9uld MT be made pnollc bJ tuis com ntss1vl