Port Royal commercial and Beaufort County Republican. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1873-1874, 1874-03-26

Total. OOO w
The permanent printing consists Of the daily jour
nails and calenders Of both houses The permanent
printing consists Of the Acts Reports Resolutions
and Journals of each house, in regular permanent
form.
The legislature In December 1872, made an appro-
pration Of $3.50 for permanent printing and ad-
vertising the laws passed by the General Assembly
ss follows:
For Permanent Prnting........... ......S25OOoO oO
The Permanent Printing for which
the above appropriation OF s2oO,O0O
was made consists OF the following:
Five volumes Of the Statutes of the State viz Vols
10 IL, 12, 1S and H.
Three thousand five hundred copies of the Revised
or General Statutes.
Five thousand copies Ku-Klux Trials.
Five thousand (extra) Reports Of Special Inyesti-
eating Committee.
Two volumes Supreme Court Decisions.
One thousand extra copies OF Reports and Resolu-
tions Of the General Assembly OF 1s7172 and sundry
books and documents ordered by the Executive de-
partments
The printing Of the above was ordered by the pre-
vious General Assembly Of 1901, and 1S71-72 and
not by the present General Assembly. which only
made an appropriation to pay for the work ordered
by itspredecessor.
In the above extract Cardozo makes
the explicit and circumstantial statement
that the permanent printing for which
the S25O,OO was paid consisted of the
documents therein named. 1t is fair to
assume that he had just examined the
vouchers upon which the payments were
made and ascertained precisely the items
enumerated in them.
We have taken the trouble to examine
the work done, and arc not at loss to
divine the reluctance which the treas
urer feels in showing his vouchers. This
document is death to the last slim frag-
meut of his reputation for honesty.
We have carefully counted the pages
Of the list Of documents named in the
schedule furnished usand give below the
result Of the figuring. We have compu-
ted the work at the prices for which the
Republican Printing company contracted
to do the work, exceptin the cases which
we will subsequently refer to.
WHAT THE VOUCHERS OUGHT ToBE.
Three thousand FIVE hundred copies Re-
vised Statutes, 1862 pages at si.S6 per page
for first 1000 copies, si,G3O 90
Add for the $500 extra copies, 5000 90
Two vols Supreme Court decisions, 1910
pages at sII3s per page. 1906 90
Five vols. Statutes Of State from vol 10 to II
inclusive 4452 pages, at sI36 per page. 1910 70
Five hundred extra copies Special Joint In-
vestigating Committee Report 1900 90
Five thousand Ku-Klux trials at $50 1900 co
One thousand copies Reports and Joint Res
olutions, 1900 90
sundry books and documents of
the executive departments allow same rs
paid by the State of Ohio, as shown by re-
port Of State printer for 1872, 6,257 90
Total. s5i,7O2 ~
We have no doubt that one mode of
arranging the bills for swindlc in all
these documents was to assume that the
contract meant so much per page for
each thousand copies. Every one who
is familiar with printing expenses knows
that it is the first copies which cost most.
After the type is set up and the first edi-
ton is printed off, extra copies
can always be had at a large deduction
from the price of the first. As the
persons who were intrustcd by the
legislature.to contract for the work on
the part of the state were the same per-
sons who con racted to do it; who meas
ured the work, rcceipted for it and were
paid for IT, of course there was no dis.
pute about the construction Of the con-
tract. The effect of such construction
would be to double the cost of 2O0O cop
les ofa document instead of only increas.
ing it by the cost Of paper, presswork
and binding. This is q plain swind!C,
and one that if fattempted in the case Of
an individual would never be enforced or
allowed.
Such a swindling process we believe
has been perpetrated by the Republican
Printing company and allowed by the
treasurer of the state, +. L. Cardozo.
The effect of such Tweedisms has been
to'raise the cost Of the $500 Revised
Statutes from SO, 9,6SO.32 to SIC, 2O6, II; a
difference ofS6,575,S0.
The same swindle was, we are conyinc-
I'd, perpetrated in the 5000 extra copies
ofthe report of the special joint investi-
eating committee, so othatthe bill for them
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