Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-05-07

teapot about the public printing, growing
out ofla bill recently fled in The Chsncsry
Court In this city by the Public Printers to
secoro thsif legal rights. Tshs facss as We
are informed, are theses The Public Print
ers were elected and sqssliied as sucbin
NpSsnaber, 1871, for the tern of two Years,
thsf is, until Novempar.- lsvS. Whenfh
schedules directed by the Assessment law
4 to be farnishsdlby The GSaapsrollerto shs.
tax assessors we're e ready fog printing, the
copy was furnished to the Public Printers
and pat in type Information was given
BY the Pablo Primers to The officers At the
Capitol that upon such paper as was de-
-siPedzAit Awoala- ~=be very costly
job, 4apd.typoita LIVES a suggested
by the Public Printers that there should be
soIAe saving inothe paper A rough est.
'fnete was rhade-ahd Information was gwen
blythe Pnplic Printers that on. such paper
the work would cost, at the prices fixed by
the Legislature, about $500. We under
stand that Messrs. Wheeler, Marshall 6
Bruce proposed to publish the schedules,
containing less matter and on cheaper and
smaller paper at $500, which doubtless
could have been done and more money
made by the printer than would have been
made by the Public Printers on the first job.
TIE Comptroller then sent a note to each
publishing house in the city, stating that
sealed bids would be received for "printiDg
blank schedules authorized by act Of the
last General Assembly for the Assessment
Of property" and that forms and specifca-
TORS could be had upon application. No
Advertisement was sent 10 the UNION AND
AMERICAN, and the note upon the subject
sent TO this office was directed to HEditors
UNION AND ASIEHIcANsS 1t being bus
mess with which they had nothing to do,
and about which they knew nothing, it was
thrown aside. There was no mark nor in
indication about it TO indicate that it was
intended as an advertisement, and the fact
that the same note was sent to the several
publishing houses in the city is evidence
that the Comptroller did not intend it as an
advertisement. The Banner, however,
published it IS such. The Public
Printers then informed the Comptroller
that they intended to endeavor to enforce
their right to do the public printing until
their term of Office expired, that especially
they did not intend to allow him to take
from them that for which the law gave
them double composition. They infor ned
him that he had the right to select the size
snd quality of the paper, but that the
Legislature fixed the price. As there had
already been delay in preparing the sched-
ules, occssioned by the illness of the Comp
troner, and as the comfy clerks and tax
assessors were daily writing for them, the
Public Printers proposed to the Comp
troller, In order to avoid the future
delay which might be occasioned by
the litigation, that they would print
the schedules, aud il the courts de-
cided that it was not a part and
parcel of the public printing to which they
we're entitled, they would charge the State
only the amount that might bid by the
lowest bidder; if the court decided that it
was public printing to which they were en-
titled, then they would receive the prices
fixed by law. This proposition the Comp
troller declined. Then it was that the Pub
lie Printers sought the intervention Of
court of chancery and had the Comptroller
enjoined from giving the public printing to
any other than the legally elected Public
Printers; then the Comptroller accepted this
proposition of the Public Printers, aud the
work Of publishing the schedules was i'm
mediately begun. No suggestion was made
in opposition to the legality ofthe confirm
ance in Office of the Public Printers until
the term for which they were elected ex-
pred. The position taken by the Comptrol-
Ter was that the assessment schedules were
not, in contemplation oflaw, public printing.
These are the facts as we are informed and
believe.
This is not the first time that efforts have
been made for political or malicious pur-
poses to connect the editor of the UNION
AND AMERICAN with the public printing.
He has nothing to do with the business
management of the UNION AND AMERI-
CAN. He has nothing to do and never had
with the business of the public printing. He
never saw one of their accounts except those
produced at the investigation before the
General Assembly in 1871. He never had
any interest in the Public Printing
except that coming to him as stock
holder in the UNION AND AMERICAN as
part of the Public Printing firm, and the n
terest Of the UNION AND AsERICANi is less
than one-fourth. The little interest which
he did have he disposed Of when the Gen
eral Assembly met here in January. Now
he has neither part nor lot In il.