Port Royal commercial and Beaufort County Republican. [volume] (Port Royal, S.C.) 1873-1874, 1874-01-22
MORE ABOUT THE r. p. co.

| am in receipt of your newspaper of
Sth, which has the first install !. ent of
Public printing statistics. You don't
state the amount of cost high enough.
C;rlozo shows 1881, 942 20 paid, and the
amount of Sll7,054'34 due, making a
total expense of $l4S, 99954.
That makes more than twelve times as
much as the State of Maryland paid for
her printing; but the total represented
here does not begin to represent the act
ual cost of the public printing to the
State, or the sum paid and to be paid, to
the Republican Printing Co. That Com
pany furnishes the stationery for the
General Assembly, by no means an in.
considerable BILL. They have in times
past furnished clocks, watches, dia-
monds, gold j;wclry, pen knives, gold
pens and pencils, bronze statuary and
almost every conceivable article of lux
ury in the line of fancy articles usually
kept in jewelry store; to say nothing
Of furniture dry goods and groceries, and
sometimes libraries, carriages, &C., &c.
A printing bill and sometimes legisla-
tive certificate was made to answer as a
voucher in the Treasury.
Latterly, | presume the public print
ing has been so loaded down, that much
ofthe material herein named comes un-
der the head of Legislative expendi-
tures," or "claims passed." which are
never acted upon by the General Assem-
blY, only ordered by the accommodating
clerks; but the Republican Printing Co.
can be justly charged with a cost to the
state of a much larger amount than my
total.
Take the special session, which was
mainly within the current or fiscal year,
just closed, and we find that they paid
$4,000 for an emigration report which
was never printed, S25, 900 believe for
Auditors books and blanks worth S25,
600 or there abouts, and S126,OO0 be-
sides, making total Of S226, 900; which
added to the S444, 999.59 makes S674-,
999.59. This aprropriates the cost of
that gigantic swindle the Republican
Printing Company. and it is not large
enough.
They will say, that portion of it
was for the previous year. 1t may be
so, but l doubt if they had 100000
charged up at the close of the last fiscal
year. Even if they had, does it follow
that there was anything due. They made
up their bills just as it pleased them.
There was no Auditor to examine their
bills or accounts. Oh no, the legislature
would not admit such monstrous thing
to be done. Let me give you an item
which is known by many. The Company
wanted money. They had bills made up
for $40, 900 year ago last June.
There was no money in the Treasury.
Money they must have; the whole Com
pany was clamorous, senators and all.
Then the figure heads looked around for
man to find $4,000; they found him,
but he figured the terms. Give me, he
says, 100000 of bills Of the Company,
or demands upon the State instead of
$50, 900, and see that the State Treasur-
or takes all the bills and claims and
pays them in Blue Ridge Scrip. If
these terms Were complied with they
could have $40, 900 Cash; so the matter
was arranged 100000 of bills of the
Company or demands, properly approved
claims for printing were made out, the
State Treasurer paid the Blue Ridge
Scrip for them, and the Printing Com
pany had $4,000 cash to divide.
Now there is something more to add.
Among those claims was one made out
by the Republican Printing Company for
$50, 900 for printing the Blue Ridge rail.
road scrip, the history of which is this ::
When the state treasurer engaged the
American Bank Note Company to print
or engrave the scrip, the Republican
Printing Company through Woodruff,
their president, who was in New York
agreed in the office of the American
Bank Note Company, to see the bill for
engraving paid, to the amount of 1000.
This in the presence of the manager of
the American Bank Note Company, the
state treasurer, Mr.. Palmer, president Of
the Central National Bank of Columbia,
Mr.. Childs, president of the Carolina
National Bank, Mr. Wesley and John j.
Patterson, president of the Blue Ridge
railroad.
Woodruff collected $4,000 in Blue
Ridge scrip from the stase treasurers,
which actually netted him $1,000 cash
and has never paid the bill for engraving.
Wait a little while and you will see in
some form or other Cardozo will intro
duce bill into the legislature to author
ize him to pay this claim of the Ameri-
can Bank Note Company.
A .L.aox.I -. Z. G IL IL IL. LII u