Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1873-07-12
A TtkPEST IN A TEAPOT.


crumbs of official. patronage to. his ro-
litcal enemies, on the solepiea Of econ
omy. OF course We were somewhat per-
s6ially interested, but having expressed
IN opinion n thousand times before,
when we were not, and as our comments
in this instance were calculated to forev-
err debar us from receiving any favors
from the Office of High Sheriff of Thurs
ton county, as long as it is held by Mr..
Billings, we maintain that we were not
arguing for dollars and cents but for
principle, and We intend to show That
fact in this article.
A communication in Thursdays Cou-
rier embraces so fully the loud-mouthed
utterances of Sheriff Billings, that we
presume it is his, although he may have
employed a scribe to tone down and con-
ceal his rather fervid style. He starts
out with the assertion that the publish
ers of the STANDARD and Transcript con-
stitute ring, formed solely to enrich
themselves out of the enormous patron
age of his Office amounting at legal
rates, to less than 5000 year,; that he
broke up this ring by running from one
printing Office to another and finally in
ducing the Echo which, he says" does
advertising for about half nothing" to
publish nearly page advertisement a
whole month for the pittance of 800.
lie is welcome to all the glory or capt.
tai he can make out of the transaction
The people, however, who are now suf-
fering the ills incident to cheap labor,
do not.expect or desire, anything done
for them at less than fair price. The
published rates of the Echo are precisely
the same as our own, and when Mr..
Billings invited us to bid, we declined
to enter into competition with those who
have invariably manifested their parti-
san spleen by charging Starvation prices
whenever they could thereby damage a
political opponent. Had the Echo been
offered the advertisement without COM
petition, its charge would have been
sl65, just what Every other paper in
the Territory would have charged for
that service. The rates are uniform,
and that they are not too high is proven
by the fact that there is not publisher
in the Territory whose profits pay inter-
est on his investment or journey man
wages to the hands employed by him.
The cry of ring influence comes
with poor grace from those who but
few months ago were so signally de-
feated for their nefarious combinations
to perpetrate their power and rob the
people. They doubtless maintain q
lively remembrance Of its potency, and
adopt it as the pick-rocket does the cry
of stop thief" as the easiest means
of diverting attention from their own
misdeeds. The temperance crew who
run the Echo are clique who scruple
at nothing to put money into their own
pockets or to keep it out of somebody
else's pocket, the twin-ambition of their
existence. So the Olympic Hall, in it's
management, gives employment and
Different to portion of the ring; the
Territorial Auditors printing (although
ostensibly let to the lowest bidder)
yielded fat profits, and probably q div
idend besides to two of the chief fu-
glemen in the ring, and the Industrial
Fair Of last year furnished fat pluck
ing not only for Neph, but his Uncle
besides, and the handsome sum of $500
of the peoples money went into their
capacious NAV, without any "compe-
tition." '"
Nobody has taken SO narrow a view
of public services as to propose to re-
duce the fees of county officers, although
real saving of thousands of dollars
might be effected annually by employ
ing just as competent men at one-fourth
the comfortable salaries now allowed to
them. II the "starye out" policy lis
to prevail, ii should apply to county
and Territorial officers as well as those
who depend upon their daily labor 70,
bread. Probably men with sound bus
mess judgment would then stand some
chance, and the public interests would
not be entrusted to those incompetent
to manage their own affairs. If the
Sheriff desires to wear the crown OF
martyrdom, he should make better
showing than he, has thus far. He
must not claim that he is under no Oh
legations to his party friends, or for
bearanco will ceosa IN 10 n v;,.t,,o and