Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1871-08-23

use MS position Tor sintSterand Illegal pur-
poses.
But l have not time 10 follow out
this train of thought BY the means
aforesaid, Jones, Purvis & Co. secured the
contract for the public printing, under
which they had about two months since
drawn eighty thousand, tUo hundred and
Si.cty-onG dollars, of which / am prepared
to say from personal examination of a
portion of their accounts aud receipts, that
gfty thousand of the eighty thousand so
drawn by them from the public treasury,
Is fraudulent and ought not to have been
paid.
This declaration will, / know, create
some surprise with the people of the State,
but IT is nevertheless true. AS above stat
ed, the prices to be paid for public printing
are prescribed by law, and is to be paid ac-
cording to the amount of "compositionn
press work. paper" "binding,r &C.,
each item to be charged and paid for sepa-
rately. The charge for "composition,' is
the same whether the types are set for one
or for one hundred thousand copies. The
Secretary of State and Comptroller of the
Treasury, are by law authorized and charg-
ed with the duty of auditing accounts for
public printing. But these have no prac-
teal knowledge upon such subjects and
have generally, in the past history of the
State, relied on the honor of the contrac-
tors and paid their accounts, when present
ed, without scrutiny and without question.
such has been their course with the
present contractors. But | charge that the
present contractors have grossly abused
the confidence reposed in them by the of
fcers named, and that they have over
charged in every instance. A few in
stances will illustrate the truth of this
| allegation: For LIST Heiskell's Reports thew
have charged for one million eight hundred
and eighty thousand ems of composition,
three hundred and thirty tokens of press,Oork
and SoUcnty-SeUep Te0nlS of paper; where
as, by estimates carefully made by compe-
| tent practical printers, | have ascertained
that there are only one million t,cO hundred
ana Strty.foW thousand ems of composition,
| ono hufldrod and ffty-Sir tokens and-in-
| Guiding the usual wastage-thirtY-cight
! Let them understand and recognize the
fact that the public printing is public plum
! ger! to be seized by a partisan press and
divided among the craft, and their inhu-
ence, which is almost potential in party
affairs, Will be infallibly eXerted to secure
| the election to the General Assembly, and
! other offices, of men who will tolerate
! their depredatiOns to the greatest extent
! What better strategy in such contin-
| gency than the election of timid vain
| ambitious, inefficient and corrupt instru-
ments to the Legislature? While the leg
| islatas has the sight to, investigate aud
/ revise the accounts of Public Printers
Public Printers have the means OF eX-
! posing the weaknesses tickling the vanity
and uncovering the frauds of legislators
! rms mutual power TO dCStrOY makes them
| fast friends Their interest and sympa-
thies being the same, they will act in con-
| cert to provide against common danger.
| They are naturally drawn together by the
! cohesive power of public plumber. Silence,
| in such cases, is the watchword, and the
public press and legislative halls are fire.
quently used to suppress the truth, de
fame integrity and cover up and advance
the dissolute and corrupt.
Organized corruption is endangering the
purity and threatening the existence
of our institutions. Its machinery is per-
feet and its working most successful 1t
stuils the ballot box, invades the precincts
ofLegislatures State and National, polutes
the Executive departments and is fast cor
rupting the press and every department of
the public service, and must unless thor
oughly checked by the people, consummate
IFS fatal end-thc extinction of popular
government.
The parties implicated will endeayour, ifthey
can, TO suppress what have written Ifthis
can't be done they will by defamation, by ridi-
Guile, tallacious reasoning, tilsehood and mis-
| representation, attempt to parry its force But
| ! say 10 the people and to the people repre-
| sentdtivcs, that the facts herein stated are not
only true, but they are evidenced by the rec
OfU> OF ine OulnplfOllcfs once ana are OF
proof They cannot, and | presume will not,
be denied. The defence most likely to be
adopted finds precedent in domestic incident
| which occurred near me few days since. A
| servant was detected in q candstine and unau-
thorized appropriation Of some syrup Being
/ accused and confronted with evidence that
could not be gainsad REPLACED II an
| not the only one that fuEcg SUyUD." With
| equal truth and FEASIBILITY the accused public
/ pr ntcrs may inteTpose the plea that their pre-
| decessors took syrup too ! admit the fact
/ but deny the legal suflicicncy of the defense.
| Others have plundered, | know, but none have
| for the same amount Of work taken anvtbinr
/ like the same amount of'syrup' thatthcse gen
| tlemen have taken. Their REGULATIONS exceed
! any and everything Of the kind ever known in
| the previous history Of public printing in Ten
| nessec-aHd they k1le,0 it, The amount of ''com-
! position susceptible Unreasonable approXimG-
| ton the press work and paper of precise ascer-
| tainment; and no excuse or eXtcnuHtion can be
| offered for these parties, claiming to bG honest
| men and gentlemen, leaders of Il great party,
| conductors of metropolitan journals, protcsscd
guardians of public rights and defenders of all
public interests familiar with their own business
! and thoroughly competent to estimate ems, tokens
| and paDer-but concerted and premeditated
! fraud on the public treasury. Parties capable of
| deliberately preferrng an account, and demand
! ing and accepting pay for one million one han
dred and screen thousand ems Of cOmpOS' ton, and
! claiming and Tcceiclng IL four times, when there
! were only sir hundred and SirtcCl thousand;
| charging for tJcO htGldred and Thirteen tokens
| and for FORTY TcaDlS Of paper, when there were
! only serenity Of the former and sCrcntcgH and
| hait of the latter and who made similar over
| charges for all the work done by them, arc un-