The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1878-01-26
.RuaaRR BANDS. !.

RUBBER BANDS"
OFFICE OF COUNTY CLERK, OF ALLEN Co.,
| lola, Kansas, January -, 1875. !
| EDITOR REGISTER: In your last issue
you call the attention of the commis-
sioners and people," to q certain bill
allowed At the last meeting of the COM
missioners, namely, &c. B. Hamilton h
Co., blank books and stationery. $l29..
So" As to the purchase of blank books
Of foreign deslera, you find no fault (so
you say) for the reason there are no
manufactures in the county. But the
stationery, all the stationery, this you do
find fault with. Can it be that there is
. mandatory of that article in the
county? But what wish is that may
be allowed space in your paper to rise
and explain, and if you will allow me to
do 80, l will consider it . favor, if not to
myself, to you. have desire to place
yOn right in this matter. When you
penciled that article ("penned would be
. proper word there, but l know that
local editors don't use anything but
penciD think the only reason you had
was scarcity of copy, As certainly, it had
no foundation in fact, and by this l mean
that there was not stationery enough in
the bill to make q foundation for any
thing, and it is we'll founded principle
in this world, that man should not un.
dertakc to build anything-even so light
. structure As an ed;torial-except upon
stationery foundation. The bill you
refer to is, I think, entirely for goods
that cannot be bought in the county,
except by ordering through local dealers
and paying them profit for so doing.
The only article in the bill that I have
heretofore been able to purchase in the
county, is four gross rubber bands. The
last rubber bands that ! purchased for
the county (before this lot) purchased
in this county, paying therefor $l.5O per
gross, these / purchased of Mr.. Need
ham, agent for Hamilton Il Co., for SOC |
per gross, thereby saving zoe per gross |
You say the indiridHal members of the |
board would. if asked for their opinion, |
say keep this money at home. Now, |
think they would say they were satisfied
to have it remain in the county treasury
1t is the usual custom, think, in all |
the counties in the State, for the county |
clerk to purchase the county supplies. |
This is generally the practice in this !
county, although not entirely so. have,
as . general thing, purchased the sta
tionery, and l will also say that make
it q rule to purchase az home all station
cry that can be purchased here as cheap
a elsewhere, and no more. charge
nothing for purchasing, neither from the
county nor the dealer. see no reason
why, in "the case at bar" Gas they say
the county should have paid
some local dealer margin of nearly 100
per cent. for ordering q few rubber bands
when they could be purchased without
this margin. And I don't think the in.
members of the commissioner
board, or the board collectively, will
bear you out in the statement given to
the taxpayers of this county, that they
wish to pay "middle-men" to order their
supplies, when they can as well order
direct and save money.
I wish to say that SO long as am au-
to purchase the supplies of the
shall buy them where can
get them for the least money, let that be
1t home or abroad.
If you really have a desire to examine
The expenditures of the county, come
up some time when you have lots of
spare time. and look over the docket, 4
You will find a fair field for an enter
prising young man, and will not require
10 stretch your Imagination on a rubber
band. am, Mr.. Editor,
Yours, very truly,
T. 8. Slower.
County Clerk.