The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1873-12-10
THE PUBLIC PRINTING--.mR'
WALKERS DEFENSE.

in general are heartily tired OF the PUB
lie Printing controversy and anxious to
have the matter banisbcd from the
newspapers, and impartially settled in
the courts. We must crave the indul-
gence OF the public, however, for the
the presentation OF another chapter on
this subject this morning. Having
published in full short time ago Gov
ernor JACoDs special message to the
Legislature, in which certain specIhca"
tons OF fraud on the part OF the State
Public Printer were presented, we
would do less than justice to Mr.. WALK
ER did we fail to publish at least the
main points of his reply. Thus
far the controversy has been
waged only before the bar OF public
opinion and there is LEFT to the accused
no other means OF defence than that
afforded by the public prints. Mr..
WALLER has accordingly published in
supplement to the Charleston Daily
Co.uisr reply to each specific allega'
ton in the Governors message, the
whole occupying nine columns OF the
newspaper. We present below some OF
the points made in the answer, and we
invite to them as much attention as
has been bestowed 10y our readers upon
the legislative message 20 which they
refer. Mr. WALKER says:
THE attention OF the legislature is
fret called to my charge for an edition
OF the laws in relation to the duties o!
county ofliCers, printed in 1871.
This account, the Governor 'an&ly-
yes at length not as he tells us, be-
cause OF any special importance to be
attached to it, but because it is an illus-
tration OF radical errors which, unfortu-
uately, appear in too many Of Mr.. Wal
ker's accounts In the same spirit, |
now propose 10 analyze the analysis,
not because OF any special importance
to be attached to it, but because it is
an illustration of radical errors which,
unfortunately, appear in too many Of
the executive deliversnCes concerning
Mr.. Walkers accounts.
The Governor says that Mr.. Walker
charged $4,000 ems composition on
this work: whereas he finds it to con-
tain but 253, 3S6; but the correctness
Of this latter measurc,he assures us, en-
tirely depends upon the accuracy Of
the printers measurement" Governor
Jacob examined four or five printers on
this point, (see record Of evidence be-
fore printing commission) rejected the
statements OF every one OF them and
substituted an estimate OF his own. ]
proved before the House Printing Com.
mlttee last wi nter'that the face measure
mcnt OF this book was $4,000 ems, and
that part OF it was taken down
changed and reset by order, bringing
the composition up TO the
amount charged. Governor
Jacob says there were but 63
tokens OF press work in the book, while
my account charged for l2j; that this
book was printed partly on eight and
partly on sixteen page forms. Here
the Executive zeal runs away with the
Executive discretion. At the time |
printed this work, the largest form
which our book press would take was
one OF four pages. (See testimony be
fore House Printing Committee last
winter) | proved, and am ready to
prove again, by printers who will not
reiute each other, that the press work
on this amounted to l25 tokens. On
the other hand the Governors witness
90 contradict each other so badly that
His Excellency rejected their testimony
(see his former report,) and used his
own calculations.
Iureierence to tue assertion that Mr..
WALKER had charged Improperly for
proof reading and making up" he
shows that charges OF this kind had
been sustained by custom, that their le-
gaiity was sustained by the opinion o.
the Attorney General Of the State, and
that in April and in June 1871 Cover.
nor JACOB himself certified to the cor
rectness OF accounts containing these
items and ordered them paid. Here is
another extract:
IN discussing the various accounts 10
which he calls the attention OF the Leg
islature, the Executive introduces my
recent bid for public printing as q
standard of calculation; and labors to
proIe that charged too much as Pub
lie Printer, because | have since offered
to DO similar work for less money, as a
contractor. When was Public Print
er, the prices | received were fixed by
law aud custom. Under a new law,
providing for awarding the work to con-
tract, @ different standard of prices and
measurement prevails; in some branch
es higher, and in others lower rate
OF maximum cost is fixed by law. To
test psst prices by the late bids, is so
manl!estIy unjust, that such PROPOSE
ton, coming from any other source,
would have been regarded as unnatural
and preposterous. But if to defeat the
manifest purposes OF Governor Jacobs
assaults upon me, and 10 thwart bis
effort to use the patronage OF the State
for personal advancement Ichoose to
do the public printing, at rates so low
as TO render it impossible for him to re.
ward his favorites and followers, do
thereby, become guilty OF fraudulent
purposes? Admit the current theory