The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1878-11-08

oA course tney coulu 10 notulng 10y
themselves. They might as well have
been instructed to compute the mum,
Der Of inhabitants Of the moon, or the
exact number Of years since the last
mastodon in the Willamette valley, a.
to investigate the manner of the State
printing or to report upon tho correct
ness of tho bills presented by Mr..
Brown. The committee was doubtless
well aware Of its inability to perform
the duties thus imposed, and according
( ly called in the assistance Of an OK.
pert. They selected Mr.. p. ii Darcy,
a very intelligent young man Of this
city, who Is at present practieing law
with every prospect Of becoming one OF
the brightest members Of the legal pro-
fession in this State. Mr.. Darcy,
while attending school in this city,
worked on the papers in Salem to OBJ
tain the means Of defraying his cxpen-
ses as a stndent, and became a very
fair newspaper printer. We accord
him all the praise for his industry and
and energy in thus supporting himself
while prosecuting his studies, and also
for the proficiency he attained in 80
short q time in the art OF printing.
But he IS not, and does not pretend 10
be, book or job printer. Ills knowl-
edge Of printing is confined to newspa-
per work alone. 1t is but justice to
Mr.. Darcy to say that he did not seek
the position Of expert to tho commit
tee. We are informed that Il was
only after urgent solicitation that he
accepted it. OF the persons who urged
him and their evident purpose We will
have something to say in the future
The committee set Mr.. Darcy to
work measuring and computing the
bills of the State Printer. How nuch
he may have done we know not, bat at
the first meeting Of the committee and
all subsequent meetings another per
son virtually acted as expert lie APP
peared to be both committee and ex, /,
pert, and with the assistance Of two or
three persons who have we'll known
enmity toward Mr.. Brown, managed
matters so that the committee should
makea report unfavorable to Mr.. Brown.
This report was made by the person to
whom we allude, and not by the CON-
mittee, because the committee were in.
competent to make a report upon "A
subject which they could not possibly
understand. This single individual
put his own construction upon the Law
defining the duties and regulating the
pay Of the State Printer, and made his
report to suit himself. He and AIr.s
Darcy, the expert probably through
his influence, construed the law in the
manner which would give Mr.. Brown
the least possible payLcontrary to the
customs of book printers; contrary to
the customs Of all former State Prin.
ters; contrary TO the measurements Of
all former printing experts contrary
to the expressed opinions Of the lead.
ing printers in the State, and contrary
to all the precedents in this State from
the first to the last. The manner in
which the measurements have been
made for the State Printers must be
well known. Several committees have
investigated the state printing and sew
eral experts have made lengthy reports
upon the manner Of measuring and
compiling the work. In 1872 Mr..
Urban +. Hicks, at present foreman Of
the Epeziag Telegram, at Portland,
made an exhaustive report Of the meas
urements, charges, ETC., Of the State
Printers. He found all this committee
has found, but instead of reporting
these things as "frauds," he honestly
stated that the law permitted il, and
and that the State Printer had simply
done as any other person would do un-
der the circumstances taken what the
law allowed him Mr.. Hicks recon-
mended the passage Of law which
should specify the manner in which the
work should be done, and correct some
of the abuses which the law then in
force permitted and which every State
Printer had taken advantage Of. Such
a law as he recommended was passed
in 1874. Whether that law could take
effect during Mr.. Browns term of
office is question for the courts to de-
eide. We do not think it could, and
the committee which reported such
"gross frauds" has decided the question
as far as it is concerned, by stating the |
new law reduced the compensation
"about II per cent, +" and the Constitu-
ton proves that the State Printers
compensation shall not be reduced dur
ing his term of Office; As to the man
ner of the printing under Mr. Brown
we leave others to judge, but as to the
spreading" of the matter to which |
the OTegOgaiam alludes with so much Sc
verify, we will state that we have in
our possession work done by Mr.. A.
Bush for the State which is made much |
1sfatter" than any done by Mr.. Brown,
or in fact by any other State ,Printer,
and Mr.. Bush received under the law
more than twice as much as any State
Printer since. 1t is to be regretted,
perhaps, that previous to 1872 no item
lied bill for printing is in the Secretary
of States Office. No amount of inves-.
tigation can ever fasten upon any State
Printer before that time the proof of
fraud. This is no doubt fortunate for
some of them. The sums paid may be
known, but not what they were for.
If any one has time to. do o little. fg-
uring he can find out something near
the immense amount of printing done
for the State in its infancy, by compar-
ing the bills paid then and the billsi
paid now. There must have been lots
Of printing done in those early days Of