Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-11-10
1RICAN,. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10. 1871.


rfVin SOo AInens Post.
The Joint COMMITTEE appointed by the
Legislature to investigate the CHARGES made
against Jones, PurVis & Co., by CoI. John
Baxter, reported last week, declaring an the
charges unsustained and fully exoneratino
the parties from anything wrong in their
accounts for the public printing. Senator
Gibson, Of Campbell, made a counter re-
port, which INDUCES in some special plead
ing and talks of ems, tokens, and perhaps
other terms familiar to practical men, but of
which the honorable gentleman is presumed
to know very little. For the informationo of
the general reader,an en- is the square of the
type used. Inthe type in which this article is
setup there are twenty ems TO the Iine,so bv
counting the number of lines in a column
OIL solid matter of the Post any one can tell
the number of ems it contains. This
article, however, is 'leaded" -Four sleadsr
are equal TO line, and column of s'leaded
matter measures Just the same number of
ems as column of ssOlid NATTER In
book and pamphlet work, the "folio.n the
blank line between that and the matter. and
the toot-line at the bottom of each page are
generally estimated in the measurement, by
both compositOr and employer. All blank
pages are counted; all rule and figure work
is charged at "two prices" that is, a thou
sand ems rule and figure, is estimated as
equal to two thousand ems of sEstraight mai
ter" Figure work, without rules, is "a
price and a half" one thousand being
counted as equal to fifteen hundred straight
matter. This, we believe, has been the
universal custom where work was estimated
and paid for by the piece or thousand.
In regard to press-wOrk: A token is ten
quires of white paper, which when worked
on both sides counts and is always charged
as two tokens, and justly too, because it is
handled twice, goes thrc ugh the press twice,
and when ''worked and turned" contains
two copies of the Storm" being printed. If
the paper designated by law be medium
then eight octave pages are worked in
form, which when turned and printed on
both sides, gives sixteen pages or two copies
to the sheet, and requiring four hundred
and eighty impressions to every token of ten
quires Of white paper. Or, to make it still
palmer, two hundred and impressions
constitute token, and in printing tiUe quires
of white paper both sides that number is
obtained. If the contract says medium"
paper, and the printer procures ''dOuble-
medium" and prints sixteen pages, instead
white paper, 'double-medium' size, printed
on both sides, will count as four tokens
medium named in tha contract, though
in estimating the number of tokens from the
signatures or number of pages in the print
ed book the party making the calculation, if
not practical man or familiar with the
rules and regulations of the trade, would be
likely to fall short just one half
About the four compositions for portion
Of the printing which enters into the appen-
dix, the printer ia clearly entitled to three
of them, because the matter is handled three
times and is made up in three different
''fOrms''; the fourth, we think, is an over
charge, though perhaps in accordance with
practice in this State.
In regard to paper, wastage, ETC., "a
sheets make a quire, 20 quires constitute a
ream, and it used to be the case that of
every ream two quires, bottom and top,
were allowed as broken paper; " so that
in a hundred reams delivered from the
mill there would be two hundred Guires
or ten reams Of broken OF waste paper.
We refer to these things in detail, because
we have been frequently asked what Col.
Baxter meant by ems and tokens in cOnnec-
with his charges about the public printing,
aud to show how easily he might be led into
error in some of his calculations.
In regard to the election of Public Print
er, both reports agree that there was moth
ing very bad or hUrtful in that. If there
had been, it isn't likely that we would have
had anything to do with il in
view Of the small consideration in
vOlYed. A good deal has been said
about the profits Of the printing. OF course,
there is liberal margin enough, but, all
things considered, we don't believe it is
any too liberal; and we can't see why the
State should be charged less price than
private parties. There may be some loose
ness in the law in regard to public printing.
If such be the fact, it will be the duty of the
Legislature to remedy the defects, and we
hope it VIII be done, and that there will be
no more public time and public money frit
tered away in fruitless and proftless inves-
legations.