The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-02-08
The scandaIous Printing Jobs Mt Albany.

| The ScandalOus Printing Jobs mt Albany.
The HERALD has already exposed some of
the operations of the venerable Thurlow
Weed and his partners in tina printing bust
ness at the State capital. In single session
these political Pecksniffs managed to get into
the Supply bill for the amount Of one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars for extra printing,
worthless books and bogus claims, in addition
to their regular jobs, while all the time affect
ing more than ordinary indignation at the
Tammany frauds and rendering themselves
conspicuous as blatant reformers of the Cheap
Jack order. Our Albany correspondents
now supply another chapter of this history
of shameless and brazen plumber. So
far as can be traced the State was
bled to the tune of nearly four
hundred thousand dollars in 1869, and over
that amount in 1870, by these leeches of the
State capital. The pretended investigations
now going on before legislative committees
have shown that one of Thurlow Weeds part
ners paid out last year to q single lobbyist ten
thousand dollars to induce the insertion of his
claims in the Supply bill, and that he has been
in the habit of paying clerks of the Legislature
and persons who have controlled the depart
ment printing percentage varying from ten
to twenty-five per cent for all the jobs they
could crowd into his hands. His partners
turn up their eyes in horror at the
discovery that he has thus been brib-
ing officials and others to aid him
in his grabs at the peoples money for, as in
the case of the well known firm of Spenlow &
Jorkins, there appears to be an independence
of action, although community of interests,
in the famous firm of Thurlow Weed & Co.
But it is certain that large sums of money
have been paid out by this Parsons for the
purpose of unduly influencing legislation on
claims amounting to hundreds Of thousands of
dollars in the last three or four years; and
this is proper subject for the attention of
officer, if he has any desire to prove himself
an impartial reformer, should institute pro-
ceedings for the recovery of the plumber and
the punishment of all who have been guilty of
taking or paying brides to influence legisla-
ton.
IL ID prODaDG tuab WulteWdSuiuS report
will be made by the committee. Yet it will be
curious to ascertain how ''reform" Legisla-
ture will be able to slur over the fact that bills
once made out for three hundred dollars have
been raised to twelve hundred dollars by this
enterprising firm, and paid by the State at the
larger amount. To ordinary persons this
looks as much like fraud as does the raising Of
the amounts of the Ingersoll, Garvey and
Keyser bills by the Tammany thieves. As,
however, the guilty parties in the present case
are not of the adverse political stamp, the
Cheap Jack journals will not find out anything
about their populations, and the reformers will
remain in ignorance that any such plundering
has been going on at Albany for q number of
years. Our correspondents predict that there
will be as much printing plumber this session
as there was last year before the Legislature
adjourns. The present aspect of affairs seems
calculated to warrant the belief In the mean
time, will the investigating committee find out
how it was that the State Engineers Report of
1869 was twice printed, and who pro6ted by
that Job?