The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1873-11-26
The Fairfield Herald.
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EF'ERY' JVEI .NESDHT.
The Public Printing Job.

The Public Printing Job.
we extract tLetf,dlvwiug. remarks
onlthe printing JOB uow before tho
Legislature, taken from tho .Cplum-
tia correspondence Of tho News and
Courier.
The lI,use is now
... IaIMEDIATELY ON TRIiI..
atd must say that although they
displayed con,mtndable desire in
tho discussion of and action upon tho
tlIl to mako appropriations to pay the
cXpcnccs Of the extra Session, to act
more r'udcntly in voting away the
po"rlc's money, yet they exhibited a
weakness upon one pom. which is
alArming aud which merits tho sever
est repl chcnsion. TAo 'b,H originally
eontem!,i"ted d the .pProlriation Of
$3S5.000, divided as fuliows.: f0ne
hundred and fifty thousand dollars for
the payment Of, the nom oors and EN-
ployces, one huudrcd Thousand dol
lars Tor outstanding pay certificates
OF last session tlirty-fvo thousand
dollars for contingent expenses Of the
Senate, forty thousand dollars for
contingent expenses of tho House,
and fifty thou>au. dollars for print
ing. Tho seotivns providing for out
standing
PAY CERTIFICATES,
and for contingent expenses, were all
stTickon out, and the appropriation
for the pay Of members and EN-
ployro. was reduced from $500
to $4,000, with incidental expences
embr>ced in tho latter amount.
This was all very we'll, thoaeh, as
was shown by llvlmes (colorcd) and
other members upon the floor, there
would be margin in even $4,000
OF some $4,000 to meet the con-
tlnscnt expenses, which is out of all
reason. But when it came to the
appropriation for printing, the House
gave way completely and voted the
entire aurou"S Of fifto thousand dol.
lara. There was not more unau-
tho:iz:d and rashly cxtravagant item
in the bill than this for printing
Iut it Is evident, both from tho &C.
tfon in tlis instance and from the
passage Of the special printing bill
making ncw appropriation of $l25,
ouo, ih"t the members we're as thor
o"E''iy IN the control Of the Rcpubli
ca" rr'n' ing Company, whoever thai
mythical firm may be, as were the
members of Congress tied up in tho
Credit Mo'ilier fraud. Indeed, a:
l have suggested before, there is {
str'Slng resemblance between CroJi,
Mobllicr and
THE PUBLIC PRINTING
Of this State. In the one, as in tby
other, tho stock has been distributed
among the lawmakers ewhore it will
DO most good" and one might an.
rarehtly fight the wind with as much
chances of being abe to tell whence
it came and whittier it goes, as array
hmscl: against the public printing,
Mes<rs. Woodruff and Jvncs, tho
clerks respectively of the Senate and
the House, and who ore reported to
be the heads of the Republican Print.
Ing Company, arc very affable and
polite, it is true, but no dcgroe OF
personal popularity could elicit such
extra agant apprt priations without
there were some very much more
solid inducements behind. This
public printing is unqucstionably the
greatest job connected with our cor.
rupt State Government, and until
its abuses arc remcdied there will
never be chance of bringing about
genuine reform or q resemblance OF
1t in South Carolina. It has not vet
been ascertaincd what the expenses
of printing for the fiscal year, which
has just closed, were, but for the year
before they were in the neighborhood
Of $780, 900 more than the cost OF
the entire State Government before
the war; ncarly y twice as much as it
est in 1867, the last year of Orr's
administration, and as much as the
cntiro State of Georgia, with with
three times the population, three
times the area Of territory and three
times tho amount of taxable property
cost during the last year. A stor
will have to be to be put this leak
or talone will eventually drag The
State into even moro inextricable
FINANCIAL CONFUSION
than that under which she is nov
laboring.
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