The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-08-27
OILY JENNIsON I

! prove that the law of last winter, regu-
lating the public printing, reduced the
prices Of work.
Jennison, it will be remembered,
claimed, soon after the Legislature adj
journed, that the present law was a
! measure Of economy and great i'm
provement on the old law, and that we
had acted very sinfully in our capacity
as member of the State Senate, when
| we refused to vote for that law. And
forthwith all the little creatures took
| up the cry: 'sDonnelly is fraud he
wouldn't vote for Jennison's great
| mea sure of retrenchment.'
In little while thereafter Jennison
came out in the public papers with an
invitation, all hoofs and ears, to the
world, including "George Washington
Donnelly," to come in and take the
State printing under the law, and make
their everlasting fortunes. And forth
with all the little Republican dogs
Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart-little
dogs and all-yelped together in cho-
rus 'sCome in Donnelly-take the con
tract and make your fortune -
The meaning of this dog concert was
soon apparent. No one would take the
contract under the new law. Then
Jennison, and the Republican papers
generally, conveniently forgot that
they had just denounced us for refus-
ing to support that very law-that
great wise measure Of economy-and
threw the whole burden of it's parent
age on our shoulders. And again
Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart yelled
in chorus: ''Donnelly did it! He re-
duced the rates so low that no one
would take the contract--hc has ruined
the State!''
Then we showed that if the bill did
all this, that ne had nothing to do with
it; that it was Jenniso71's bill; and
that he had purposely reduced the
rates so as to prevent the work being
done for the purpose Of bringing ridi-
cule and discredit upon the efforts of
the people for retrenchment and econ
| omy.
Jennison replied that his great meas
ure Of pretended reform did not reduce
the rates-that it did not reform to the
amount Of one dollar, and that he would
give us 800 if we would show that
| it did
1t would have been sufficient for us
to have replied by asking: "Why then
did you put the State to the expense Of
enacting and publishing law which is
not one whit better than the old law :
Is this republican reformation -
But as we desired to earn the $40O; OF
to show that Jennison would not have
the manhood to pay US FIVE did earn it,
we. showed that the charge for figure
work was reduced in the present law
from seventy cents per thousand ems to
sixty-seven and one-half cents. What
! is Jennison's answer. This
| Mr.. Donnelly claims to show that we did
propose to reduce the rates allowed for print
ing, because the present maximum rate for
composition of figure work is 81 X cents per
| thousand ems, whereas, he says under the
former law it was 10 cents. Not SO FAST
There are two sections relating to the COM
pensation for figure work. The later and
controlling provision is in Sec. 10, that all
1 chon 10 oil ~
half" Now the maximum price for plain
composition was and is As cents per 900
ems. Add to that half price or % y cents,
and you have the utmost that could be al
lowed under the former law for figure work
So it had always been held by the commits
sioners of public printing.
See the shabby prevarication to which
this great man resorts:
Sec. of the old law said that figure
work should be 70 cents per thousand
ems; and Sec. 10 said that ''all figure
work requiring additional justifco-
ton in each line,
shall be allowed one price and
and half" That is to say, as Jenni-
son now interprets it, plain figure-work
shall be 10 cents, but figure-work ere
quiring additional justification" shall
be g. IL cents. This is very much as
if one would say that brown sugar shall
be eight cents per pound, but clarified,
purified white sugar shall be six cents
But whether this is so or not, pre-
cisely the same language is employed
in the new law as in the old. Section
10 Of the new law says:
Sin any class all fgure-work requiring
additional justification in each line, and all
rule work requiring the fitting in Of rules
shall be allowed one price and half"
What does this meant One price
and half Of what! Clearly Of Figure
work. for the rate has been, in pre-
ceding section, already established for
| that kind of work. Now one price and
a half under the old law would have
been 81 .05 per 1000 ems one price
and half under the new law is $1.01
1-4-clearly reduction.
But Jennison will not pay the S4OO.
We die not expect he would. We sim