Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1876-05-06
The County Printing.


the people, still, in a spirit OF accommo,
dation, we will answer it. Its moral OBJ.
liquily suggests the idea that there is nc
responsibility resting upon us, and all
that we have to do is ito pocket the
money and keep num-" We do not see
it in that light. If the court does wrong
in paying us five cents a line for printing,
we do wrong in taking it. But we claim
that neither is doing wrong. and that. on
the contrary. both are working for the
interests Of the county. In the first
place, Lafayette Is a strong democratic
county, ove two-thirds of her citizens
being democrats the lntelligencer, hav-
ing a circulation fifty per cent. greater
than the Register, is therefore entitled to
the county printing at a fair price.
These citizens are the owners of more
than s~eventy-ive per. CEN Of the taxable
wealth Of this county, and they will not
soon forget that The Register was the
apologist and defender of the county
court and railroad board which swindled
the county out Of hundreds of thousands
OF dollars, and which, when they at
tempted to stem the tide Of extravaganza
and corruption, abused and ridiculed
them. They do not forget, either, that
that paper endorsed the policy of dis
reimbursement, which tied their hands
and rendered them helplessly at the
mercy OF a band of sharpers, who came
very near to bankrupting the county.
When,a little over 4 year ago, a conven-
ton was organized, for the purpose of
seeking some means by which the coun-
tvs indebtedness might be arranged SO
that it might become possible to pay it,
the editor of that paper was made Il del
egate, but his sudden respect for the law
and the power of the courts, caused him
to withdraw from it; when, if he had
really been interested in the welfare of
the county, he would have shown it by
working in its interests. Now, all at
once, we find him in what he claims to
be an effort to a v the county three
cents a line on its public printing, but
which, as we showed in our article of
April 18th, is nouhing but a lame and
impotent attempt to make political capt.
tai against a democratic county court.
We have no taste for the political tao
tics which seek, by specious pleading
and sophistry. to avoid true issues, and
to manufacture material for political
out of nothing, and we have
avoided speaking harshly of the Regis
ter on this subject, hoping that it would
its foolish assault; but as it seems
to desire to keep the subject up, we shall
endeavor to do it strict justice. To show
the utter and shameless hypocrisy which
actuates it. we have only to say that a
few days before that paper put in its bid
Of two cents per line, its business mana
ger called upon the business manager of
his paper, and endeavored to get him
% break u contrac ct, and go into a COM
oination with him; telling him that he
already had q bid made out for that pur-
pose, at 20 cents per line, and that the
'wo papers could do the work together
and divide the proceeds. Now, as the
register has been INDUCING in a little
iguring, it will be interesting to figure
his out. The receipts and expenditures,
IS published by us, made 1920 lines,
which, lat 20 cents per line, would amount
0 S6O4; at 8 cent per line, as charged
y US, it footed up $151. By the gouge
proposed to us, and urged upon us by
visits of the business of
he Register, the county would have
cen compelled to pay s453 more than
amount Of our bill, and 1874 25 more
Or this single job Operating than was
aid us for the entire gear of 1875. The
ounty court has no confidence whatever
! the professions of that paper. Itknows i
nat in 1873 it put in a bid on the delin- :
uent tax list, and being the lowest, it $
as awarded the work, but forfeited its q
id, II did the work in partnership o
18th the Caucasian at a higher price land
lat its managers laughed at the collec-
II when he insisted on the performance L
their contract. It further knows that
ere are a thousand ways to get ever on =
in the paper, where the job
ork can be charged for I'D LJitem, and I
has no idea that the county's printing H
ould be done cheaper than five or six ii
inbred dollars per annum by giving it II
the Register, especially as it is ad- IL +
sed that we would not do it for less.
e wish the Register to understand that
e do not depend upon the five or six \
inbred dollars per year which we get l.
county work, to sustain this paper, M
d that we do not propose to "rat'' to de
t it. The most unblushingly impu- q,
mt assertion made in the Registers co
It article, is, that the people will have Ia
look to that paper for information of do
lat the county court expends, when 10
TACT IS that the Register has uniform tn
copied the proceedings Of that court e,
m this paper, thereby saving itself Va,
: time and expense OF writing it up. e ca a
disingenuousness is further shown in KIN
: statement that it expected us to tell lin
fore this issue how much the county Gu
id for the printing of the re- i
pts and expenditures, when it
ew as well as we do that the b
could only be presented this week.
r the benefit of those who did not see
: article of the 10Th ult., we will again
e the cost ofIhe county printing under w
curt after the Registers own heart W
%, S2,703 10; 1870, $2,262 45; 1871, w
239 u; 1872, s2,737 O5; 1873, 81 hay
10; 1874, 81, 173 46. ina
n the fall Of 1874 a strictly democratic HA
rt was elected, and that accounts for Wv,
of the reduction in that year; and tina tina,
-S75 the county printing amounted to RIA
sum of $500 10. 1t is by the aggre- don
E sum, and not by specious figures ca;
b as the Register presents, that the T Wii!
pie found their judgment of the man. goo
OF public affairs. The Register lou
find out, sooner or later, that in at beIo