, 1877-01-22
An Investigation Of the Subject by the
"staats-Zeitung."
The bills Of Cameron, Amberg & Co
Gono Through and Summarized.
Grave Charges Made Against tho Con
tractor and the County Board.
And Figures Given to BACK Up the
Aforesaid Charges.

,ounty, anil prints tnls morning tho following
tatc,ncnt* a. the result OF Its Investigations. It
makes the following rlargcs:
ffr,f-rhat thc firm of Cameron, Amberg d
Co. In. s}annclcs.Iy leifauded the county dur
ig the fiscal year VI fS'5-'1) out Of sum
which, rs fnr ns We can non see, amounts to at
least $lu,G0i -...
tempted tn critically exnsnine these accounts,
,ntl tl,cscby nude itself an aceomrltee In tic
: 3zrd-Tf.at in some offices there has hecn
l,ouudless and criminal eItsayarance III tile Or
ictlng and use Ut writing materials.
"a merely superficial Inspection Of tue b!llsof
tls t!rIs, a.i,lftcd BY the County Board, will 1t
once convince cverf business man that our
now THE HILLS wEEE EXAMINED.
"Soue nf The bills show the 1enst sign of nnY |
rcrsun acquainted With the subject having tnkct
The Ieast trou,le to: ascertain thsr correct, ,t.
the certificate of the hcnt vi t1le division that
thu articles were furnished, hut in many even
tn!s il lacking. Even where It tloes appear II
.luc. NOT a|,ow how the person WHO siensd tue
certificate learned tho accuracy ot The Dill, 10
Iar a. the number and quality ot the articles
furnished err cutcerncd. The charges ere ofteM
ln,lcfin.fc. Tile contract often coutains, for IN
stauce. eight different Kinds n1 stes! pshs, ln
is alllu+t always waut!nC, yct the charge is ap-
parcntlY audited BY the add!tun of the nulnoeF
Of 4 roatrslct Hem. ....,
"rhe cxan,!nattonof the bills is done BY mark.
inr IN The Item with blue+lcad ncllcil col-
trnct number, or the remark, ny e. WHICH
means. nut in tho contract Most OF the
articles furnished ase outside III the contract,
AMI especially the more expensive ones are not
Iis ur1cr, whereby the fixing af The price
Il left entirely to the contractor. 4 cslf'ory IN
ktn:vtlu1, Ut number IT bills soon shows US The
reason for thts The person w!o nad!ts .,o,;. ti's
" tl,e arstrle, hut Looks at the contFact to scc
whether such vi. Item appears In II. II docs,
he marks lown agatnst Tie Item n the o!ll tte
sotrnet 11er; G dosa uaf, +, r. H. fh1.1my h.1 =
Nuy. Il Is tbs tc1n for tho county Clerks otllec:
uuc quirc med. marriage register, sc.
"This Is marked No C. No. q In The con-
tract IL:
.s sa!,s 1sys' tt down. printed marriage
'.I.at since tl4c price ,lil not agree tho auditor
simply fixed up TIL. ttcn. by marking It 40
delivery nutsiu of ts,p contract, while It was Ills
luiy III have objected to the charge anl to haze
cut tlown tho prize to -. Mnny stch instances
"slt.ev tie contractor knew ct this
way 81 dins bnsuces, Il WV
| ea>y for lin, without apparently breaking his
cou,racs, tn par no attention! wtateyer to L."
figures IN lltt Hf the articles furnished, and to
| charge prices which garc profit Of more than
lUU per lent. !. Is casy to sce how profitable this
enfse l'as tce,,, w!len "n' earns TINT the Articles
furnished during The year outside tile cuutrace
amounted to attIs'st $i4.UD. The Items marked
with cont rart numbers. atuoltnt to the handtolnc
sun Ut $lD,s71.43. But II must nut os uNdcr.
s.ood TINT ali these charges arc made in co1npli-
anee with tho contract. III innNy ttcnlS tor
blanks fur t1!e Tax Collector and the courts thc
rt,,ltrart gives only thu lkss* fur eampntAtioti.
| For cn,st blanks the cuntrMt gives the follow.
| Ing rates:
! PRINTING rouMr BlASKt.
AM f'anfpOsttpH !a.shert flrI 6c
;H);l. camro*t!un ,4.rhcct fotm....."...".:9
:Dt. Comuo-it!un u i'shcet orm.'.........-..ia
N st Faesf rnss"nrs tf n 'vr 'vns" ID: own IA Il
Sonc Of tl.csc r.tca pceur in The bills. Il
rra,la snply AZ IN tto bill for the Criminal
Court for March !:
I'M I'M ssgasr vsaite. aist aonisy. ......... !.
ms a regular yeHIrr. third A0ntlxJ B.:t
"Aeeo1tlIng to the e,ntras, ths quality af.t
weight Of the paper shon,a " rast i,aso - 1ss. @
rot thu yhargc. But the Clerk did ,lut trounls
himself about this. lie simply. added to th'
ilguse out The ra.e. II THU Instance the rate
snail, tic Increase amounts 70 LIZ ier cent
which, s,,, hlal.ks to tho amount .
SUN, It Ii als" very likely that in examlnatIo
difference brtwecn tho contract rrIee anA th
figures o!l tho bill
"Thut no trnlt IL ut nil was taken III the ca
animation 1T the hills. "a manifest from the IL:
| that a cl,rsury inspection ahDws III that Their
are hills there whtr1I should have been BiThQh
enrtl before they were pail. In ore ease MI
take wus made to thu benefit Of the county. l
. The bill for lie County Clerks oilce Ut Dec.
IL the following item:
.. :.-: ~. - i,eu,y Il ba. q 3.75-s73.7a.
The chnrgc should llaya been 4l9.
| All tla slltlwa that the bills ncyGf were e1aH
.. ! incd w het!cyc that tie coatEact number
. were A.lirtt to tho itrms ut the contractors o
t!ec, and that al that the PRINTING Conlnlltlt
: dtd with them was to recommend tlclr pay1ucs
i ! without examination.
: nLANK-DonKs.
= The county llas bcen 1nost shasnelcssly sw!
= ttled In the delivery IT -books. Tie tD
r tract prizes arc yrfy low, perhaps often mix
a below thu real value. Uut no attention wha
i ever bus hccn pail to them III furnishing Il
i bookH.
!. si1 blallk l,ooks fur the County Clerks Office
:. = cost Ut $.9I.4h Hut thirty-clgl,t b.,,kA We
. delivered to The sanlc ol'lce At cost II s1s
J. All thu latter crresp"la with Items IN tho 10
/ tract and charging lor them at oler t'lan q,
:. trart prices h shunclcss sWlndc. All Il
i. bo,ks furnished fnr the iaw courts weru outs'
i, uf The cnhtrHt. although the ConraCt furniah b.
aa!'eient bass LILLY "n w'tsh M to tF4ss g. "at th'
Il illustration gwen above of charging $2b for
marriage register lnstra,l II! q, gives tair ii
II. of the wuy III which tllis,Et VETS done; but
II / 1H!lbHlnI 1hhtaNtta VIII @IsAkG tHc NlaEuHu
Of The xwl,Mllr ,uucl palmer:
Tic. price q acknowledgements On III
t!ze, the 4nant!ty Df papcr, the composition =
printing Ut thu necessary headlines alIl r1ll1
an,l this binding. Tic bfmilpg sn1 t'upcr uu t
ID blank. boka Used BY the county 1ltliur!tcs
h, mains nearly tho same, hD thAt a AtglIer-pric
1T Lonk OF tho satlu ssze eau nnly conle frotu !
~ printing and r.iuG Ut tho SANE. For
nc ruling of un ordinary ledger nt eight quires |
q, rlarge Is usan,Iy lfo.n 81 to x1.5J, Tie rull
Il, Of 1,Ht,u II the hunks u the County Building
i. worth nure than 81 f"r each hook. Ths q
Of !'o.ionof blank -ts'ois, ,yludins ihe priutl'
ny rents Iur cael. additional htad. For Instance
r. my uisc hu,k had four heads to tue pagr
tlc w6utl cost ya.o95 llo1e than hook ot the sa
'ts tizs with uuiy one lead. besIes, books
as which nre.ad,leu tables VI contents cost #
Y $!3O to s. nnoYe. In the contract, the prie.
~ also very uniform, but not H., thu bllls
1a Mok ch!cny Furnished to the different dep
~ ,nvntA IL at ci3ht-au!ra medium, VII
u appears eishtecl. times in tl1e suntr
~ vi al average prize vi less than s. The lII
81 tl,lrtuatcs between ~ ut,ti ~. Outside u 4
~ tract there WIRE furnished stxly.seyen b.
~ vi the sar.e SIC, ol wh,h nono should 10 NJ
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