Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-10-17
THE PUBLIC PRINTING FRAUDS.

provide for the publication of the Supreme
Court decisions we aked ''what it meant
and ventured guess that it was further
attempt to feed from the public crib few
partisan sheets. On Sunday the Press and
Herald explains the nature of the bill by
publishing the letter of the Supreme Court,
Judges accompanying and favoring it.
From that we learn that the bill proposes
to restore the statute as it existed prior the
sitting of the last Assembly.
A short history of some features of these
public printing laws will just now be of
interest and enable our readers to Judge
for themselves of the desirableness of such
statutes. The Press and Herald and other
like partisan sheets published last
year the decisions of the Supreme Court
for the benefit of the people," We are
advised on high authority that they re-
ceived from the public treasury for such
publication, twenty-five cents per square,
or about six dollars and sixty cents per
column. If the decisions were published
in minion the cost to the paper publish
ing for composition would be about two
dollors and forty cents per column. The
Press and Herald and other papers pub
fishing the opinions made therefore a prof
it from the State, of four dollars and
twenty cents per column for eUely column
printed. A few of these opinions were
perhaps of some public interest, but those
would have been published for nothing,
as Noes matter, or in some other way by
the press at large. Supposing that there
were two hundred decisions published,
which we judge to be about the number,
and we have the people paying about
thirteen hundred dollars IN East Teen alone
for this purpose, two-thirds of which goes
as a profit to such partisan sheets as the
Press and Herald, a paper that would have
no existence if it were not for such pat
ronage from the public crib, and its extor-
tionate charges from helpless patrons.
Take the other divisions of the State into
and every reader can see the
cost to the people of such publications.
Now, it is no answer to all this to say
that these opinions ought to be published
fer general information, for such opinions
as are really of public interest will be pub
lished gratis by every paper of enterprise.
The CHRONICLE has published some of
them free, and will continue so to do, be-
cause such of them as announce new prin-
ciples or decide questions of public
Importance, are of interest to our
eaders, and we do not wait for the
State to pay US for it, But if the Legis-
lature thinks these decisions ought to be
published, let them frame the law so as to
give the time, place, medium and terms of
publication to the Attorney General of the
State or the clerks of the Supreme Court.
If this law is in fact framed for ''the peo-
ple,u the dear people, let it be enacted so
that the people need not pay into the
pockets of few partisan sheets of limited
circulation, thousand or two thousand
dollars profit every year. Let the law
provide that the decisions shall be pub
lished in the paper that will give them the
greatest publicity and at the forrest price.
We suppose such law would be salts
factory to the Supreme Court and Col.
McGhee, but we have no idea it would be
10 the Democratic papers who expect to be
profited by the proposed law. We do not
suppose Mr.. McGhee has any interest in
Iegislating money into the pockets of the
Press and Herald, and upon this SUPPOSE
ton we desire especially to call his atten-
ton to the suggestions we have made.
We dare say the Legislature, if it wants
to do so, can have these court de-
cisions published for One-fourth the
sum paid last year and for less than it
was paid by the former law it is now pro-
posed to re-enact. The same is true Of all
other kinds of public printing. The
present printers to the State, for example,
get five and one-half dollars per volume
for each of the 600 volumes of Supreme
Court decisions furnished the State. The
present Attorney and General and Report
er is now furnishing his second volume of
decisions. For the two volumes the pub
lie printers get from the public treasury
about $1,000. The same work could be
better done by contract for 1000.
Now why should the people, already
burdened with heavy taxes, pay the
partisan newspapers who make up this
swindling ring $1,000 more for printing
these 200 volumes of reports than first
class publishing house would ask? Are
the ded. people interested in keeping up
such papers as are parties to these extor-
tons? But we have only given few fig
ures. Col. Baxter not long since demon
strated how, in this way, the public treas
ury has been defrauded of so, 900. The
whole business of printing for the State,
as now conducted, is fraud upon the peo-
pie. The question now is, will the Legis-
lature, with the facts before them, stop the
leeches draining the peoples pockets or
shall it go on?
In the matter more particularly now
l.