The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1874-03-27
AIRING THEIR DIRTY LINEN.
a Pretty Quarrel, Showing How the
Radicals Spend the Peoples Money.

NAA>'i ANS NAAhNcAl, iNNiioCS 'oNs<NS -AeAN&
itor, recently recommended the cam
ceiling of all printing contracts with
country newspapers, which authorized
sucl, papers to publish the laws and
the legislative journals. To this re-
coinineudatioIl, the Hon. w. j. Black
burn, Kellogg Senator from Claiborne,
took exception, in Il letter criticisin.
Ciinton's devotion to the Radical party.
70 Mr.. Blackburn, Clinton published a
reply, the material portion Of which we
append, supplying the italics:
You huce at$c,1 yoau' position in the
Senate to procure for yourself the print
ing OF the House journals in your pa
per, ct o,h e.speise Of some $4,000 or
$4,000, ,ccN h7eoaring Mot the benefit
Mcreof ttcciWoG soleIy to yoauSc!f, the
work to be done being OF no earthly
use or advantage to the State, either
directly or indirectly.
In addition to this, you had sundry
appropriations made for yourself
amounting to six or seven thousand
dollars--for old printing bills, the great
er part, if not all, OF which was, in my
Judgment, Il s'gratuity." You are now
unwilling to dcsist from printing the
laws Of the late session, being we'll
aware that such work is neither neccs-
sary nor valuable to the State, and is
beneficial to you alone.
1t is; not a great stretch of imagina-
ton to suppose that while you were
having these gratuities voted to your
self, you were placed under some obli-
cations to assist other members to help
themselves in like manner. This effect
is apparent, among OTHER things, IN the
sshs2ber Of heary bills ttheaely presented
f,,' payment for atsetess c0ad aro'fhlcss
publications Of the House journal. I
hold it to be gross violation of trust
for members of the General Assembly
to vote into their own pockets the peo-
pies money without consideration, or
to possess themselves Of doubtful claims
against the State with :: view to f;lvOr:,-
bic legislation thereon to their own
yet many members of
both houses of the General Assembly
who avowed themselves in favor of
economy and reform were guilty of
one or both these things at the last ses-
sion. Such conduct ought to consign the
doers, of whatever party, to contempt
and oblivion, and Trust the time is not
so f1l' distant ache'e Louisiana Repub1i-
cans rW cease to return mens5el;s achO
use TIER positions so1cIy to '::fH things"
as they say, to their own advantage,
and to the detriment Of the State.
oppose these unnecessary expenses
for printing on the ground that it is
bad faith to our creditors as we'll as to
the people. While we are asking our
creditors to discount $4,000, 900 of their
obligations, every dollar that is cor
ruptly or carclessly given away for
purposes not necessary to maintain the
State government, is 4 morally crimi-
nal lnisapprOpriation OF funds. 1t is
just possible to go through with the
year before us, and pay with the reve
nuc received the necessary expenses of
the State government. The printing
contracts now out will, unless Cancelled,
require more than $1,000 I could
see 70 way to provide for such debt,
and felt obliged to request the Cover
nor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker
of the House, who constitute the print
ing commission to relieve us from it.
I dO not agree with you that this in
wolves the destruction of the country
Republican press. Those papers have
the other state printing and all paro-
chial, municipal and judicial printing
and advertising, and they must be seri-
ously lacking III ability and enterprise
if they cannot sustain themselves with
such help. But the truth is q Itt,:ge
H''3Hhcr Of HtJa are not newspapers in
any just or proper scnsc of the word.
They are UityC n0chi'scS through which
to ,I'r}r appropriations from the State,
and If Il considerable number of them
should expire, the loss to the State and
the party would not, in my Judgment,
b" i.1"i}orUbfe.
70 this letter of Clinton's, Black burn
responds in a lengthy letter, Il part of
which We copy, again supplying the
Italics:
And first, as to your charge that as
Senator l have procured printing con-
tracts and obtained for myself appro-
lriations, and have also lent myself to
like jobs in the interest of others. This
is Il very serious charge, and one which
no Christian gentleman should make
without having at hand the proof pos
tive. But there is no proof that have
done any such thing, but quite to the
contrary. AS Senator, the record will
show that l worked harder to pass a
law TO take away from the State print
ing board the power to give out con-
tT3ct. TnJ. he pulIicat io,, of the laws