The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-12-10

The system which has prevailed for the past
three years is utterly incapable of defence OF
excuse. The looseness of the system in theory
is only equalled by its extravaganza in practice.
Under this system the clerk of the Senate and
the clerk of the House of Representatives
were empowered to contract for the public
printing, and the drafts or orders for the pay
ment of printing expenses were made payable
upon the certificates of those officers alone,
"out of any moneys in the treasury not other
wise appropriated" No limit was fixed to the
amount for which the contracts should be
made. Under the system of making general
levy of taxes, no specific funds in the treasury
at any specified time were considered as specif-
ically appropriated. The result was that under
this new system it was in the power of the
clerks of the two Houses to draw on account OF
public printing to an unlimited extent upon
the public funds without reference to the suffi-
cheney of those funds to meet the demands of
other appropriations. More recently how
ever, the General Assembly has made definite
appropriations for payment of printing &C.
counts.
A few statistics will show how such system
has resulted in practice. The cost of the per-
manent and current printing from 1868 to the
present time was S843 3073.59. The cost of ad-
vertising the statutes, that is, of printing them
in the newspapers for the same period, was
$261 1862, making total cost Of 81 ,l04 569.-
| 81. During the past three years the cost to
the State of permanent and current printing
was $743, 1890, and the cost of printing the
| laws in the newspapers for the same period was
| S174,696.66, making total cost to the State of
| $91S,629.86. Deducting from this last amount
such items of printing as may be called extra
ordinary, including the republication of GER
tain volumes of the Statues at Large, the print
ing of the Ku Klux trials, immigration reports,
tax duplicates and Supreme Court decisions,
amounting to $375, 900, there remains as the
cost of printing for three years the sum OF
S543, ,629.S6, or an average annual cost OF
$181, ,209.95.
offer no comment on these statistics. The
only appropriate inquiry is, how shall such re-
suits be prevented hereafter? answer, by
! exterminating the present system, root and
branch, and substituting safe and economical
system. Such system can easily be pointed
out. Let advertisement be made by order of
the General Assembly for proposals for doing
the necessary public printing of all kinds for
the State for fixed period, specifying the va
rious kinds and amounts of printing required,
with the option of ordering more work of any
specified kind at fixed rates, and requiring a
suitable bond to accompany each PROPOSAL for
the faithful execution of the work according to
the proposals. Let these proposals be presented
to the General Assembly, and the most advan-
tageous ones be accepted. In this way the
State may remove the present abuses and secure
an honest and economical result. In this con-
nection I cail your attention to an act passed
by the last General Assembly entitled can act
to regulate the public printing" to be found at
page TOY, of the acts of 1874. This act
doubtless would have accomplished good re-
suit but for insertion of the last four lines of
the first section 1t is evident that no pro-
posal can ever be made under this act since
the amount of work required to be done can
never be estimated. If the lines referred to
were expunged from this act, it would serve
as an illustration of the system which | have
recommended. 1 consider the cost of adver-
tising or reprinting the acts of the General
Assembly in the newspapers OF the State
wholly unnecessary expense, and l recon-
mend the total dscontinuance of the practice.
If any laws are enacted which it is impor-
tant should be published at once for the infor-
nation of the people, it will be the interest of
the newspapers to publish them as matter of
public information If this is not DONE a num-
ber of extra copies can be ordered by the Cen
eral Assembly from the public printer at q tri-
fling cost and be sent to the clerks of courts or
other officers for distribution.
Another reform which urge upon the General
Assembly is the keeping of the expenditures of the
State within its receipts Very little regard seems
to have been hitherto paid to this obvious require
ment of good administration. The existing de-
fciencies running back to 1883 are simply enor-
nous. The deficiencies for the fiscal year ending
October 81, 1874, were S472,619 81. The dcficien-
ces for the fiscal year ending October 81, 1878,
boho 4 have
paid during the last fiscal year, leaving about $780,
600 still unpaid. The levy of taxes made the
present wear for payment OF deficiencies for the
last fiscal year will not be sufficient to pay more
than one-half the amount of such deficiencies.
The evils of such a practice are serious. The
amount of money needed should be first ascertain
ed and then a levy should be made adequate to
raise that amount.
During the past year 4 class of State obligations
called Certificates Of Indebtedness, were issued 70
the amount of 1921 ,996, and the State Treasurer
was directed to make other issues of the same OBJ
LEGATIONS 10 the amount of about $40 900.
Fortunately the right of the General Assembly
to authorize such issues has been contested in our
Supreme Court, and thence carried, by writ of
error to the Supreme Court of the United States,
where the cases are now pending. Without dis
cussipc the constitutional question involved feel
called upon to express the hope that the General
Assembly will not, under any circumstances, resort
again to such an expedent. At a time when the
national government is embarrassed with the great
problem Of restoring the national currency to a
sound basis, let not this State further compicate
the evils of an inconvertbe paper medium by the
introduction of another paper medium, which Will
necessarily circulate as money at rates greatly be-
low its par value, but which has none of the quail
tiles which belong to money, in its proper sense
To say that the people have gladly accepted the
certificates of Indebtedness does not prove that II
them IL en- Another wide departure from correct ad-
ministration has obtained for several years past
the issuing of orders certificates and warrants for
the payment of money from the State treasury
when no funds are on hand for their payment L
am not prepared to say that this practice can be
Immediately forbidden by law without too serious
embarrassments to public interests but | recon-,
mend the matter to the attention OF the General
Assembly. The evils of such practice are great
It has already been forbidden in the admnstrl-
tion of county affairs, and effort should be made