Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-09-05
The State Printing.

preenback House could not be brought up
10 vote tor Pillsburys bid. the members
not daring to put themselves squarely on
record for it because they knew it was the
highest. There was scarcely pretence
made in the Legislature that pillsbury :
bid was the lowest, except 10y Perry OF
Camden. who was laughed at and despised
by the decent men of the House for taking
such position. The chairman of the
committee on printing, when interrogated
in the Senate, acknowledged that the bid
of Sprague, Owen d Nash was the lowest.
Mr.. Pillsbury's organ whined about the
printing, and virtually admitted that the
bid of the Kennebec Journal was lowest,
and declared that Pillsbury & Co. did not
want it at such low rates! Why did not
the House accept Pillsbury & Co.'S bid if
his was the lowest? The record shows
that the House never accepted it, but
sought to do ii in an indirect way-"bv
reference of the matter to the Governor
and Council-what they had not the cour-
age to do squarely. The leaders tried to
bring them up to the scratch by urging
the necessity of giving the patronage to
their own party, on purely party grounds,
even if the bid of Pillsbury was the high
est, but could only bring them to adopt the
dodge of reference to the Governor and
Council. In order to see the arguments
as used last winter for Pillsbury a. Co. we
republsh some of them:
From Reformer Pickards (of Bangor
speech.
Can we Justify ourselves before our con-
stitucnts for refusing to give this work 10 our
friends at fair rates? shall re feed our enc
mics. simply because of unlawful gains they
are able to underbid our friends If any
member of the greenback party in this House
imagines it his duty to vote this patronage
to the kennebec journal because its publish
ers put in the iorer bid, let him suppose for "A
moment that while his election was pending
some republican (who had become rich upon
public plunder.) had come forward and Of
fered to the people to serve for nothing and
leave his salary in the treasury if they would
elect him. what would he have thought of the
greenbacker or democrat who had voted for
him for that reason! We are undoubtedly to
have one of the most severe political contests
in this State this year that we ever had.
Shall are discourage and disgust our friends
By strengthening our enemies Shall zee use
our patronage TO encompass orr orn destrpc-
tion do not believe the proprietors of that
paper expected this House to take any such
suicidai o0ioa-did not expect to get the
printing, but put in the bid AS they did, sim
ply to lay the foundation for "A cheap political
capital. They want to harp on the charge
that IRE pay highe, rates than they offer. For
one am not cowardly enough to be fright
oned from the path Of duty by any snch trick
cry. My constituents are too intelligent and
too true to Mei, poiitieai obligations to be de-
ceved in that manner; on the contrary.
would expect them to denouncc me if I me,e
TO r0te 10 put the patronage ne control into the
hands of those who would use it knock their
brains out with.
From the Bangor Commercial. Editorial. ]
''GIvE IT TO ANiBopi.'
An indignant ''greenbackcr" thus addresses
the Legislature through the columns of the
National Democrat, on the question of the
public printing:
'If You, gentlemen of the House of Rep
resentatves, do not wish to give the printing
to +. f. Pillsbury 4 Co., it does not follow
that your only alternative is to give it TO an
enemy. Give it rather to the Argus-give it
to the Bangor Commercial-give it to Scion
Chase-give it to the Bangor Tribune-give
1t to either of the greenback papers in Port
and-give it to anybody, not an open and
deadly enemy to your cause. Do not show
your constituents that you are incompetent
to preserre the fruits Of a popular rictOry
after they have achieved it at the polls. and
TINS discourage all future Efforts to establish
and perpetuate honest rule"
From the National Democrat, Editorial.
The most serious charge brought against
the times of the revolution was that of fur
nishing "Beef to the British" Let the
friends of reform in the Legislature see to it
that they are not guilty through weakness
or timidity of like offence. TO furnish he
enemy ruth the sinners Of war IS high treason
Of The rankest sort.
From the Progressive Age Belfast u
The republican press of the State are dis
playing good deal of cheek in their attempt
to tulldoze the legislat ire into awarding the
state printing to the publishers of the Ken
nebec journal because, in consequence of
their having made large amount of money
out of the State during the twenty odd years
which they have enjoyed the exclusive State
patronage, they are enabled to undeybid the
publishers of the National Democrat In
their new born zeal for retrenchment those
papers vCciterate, "See the inconsistency of
this self-styled reform, retrenchment party !.
the fusion committee awarding the printing
contract to the highest bidders instead of the
lowest.'
4 just and true principle of public econo-
my dictates that persons who perform servi.
ces or furnish material for the government
should receive a far compensation. II is as
UNJUST to underpav as it is to overpay ; and
1t is esp' cally uni nst to extend favors to per-
sons who by frand or sharp practice have OBJ
tanned from the government what has not
rghttully belonged to them
The remarks of Reforner Pckard. of
the Bangor Commercial. and the Progress
sive Age, as found above, ought to be ac-
cepted as authority by greenbackers, and
they it appears made no pretence that
Pillsbury's bid was the lowest, but urged
giving the printing to him at higher rates
in order to patronize fusion printing es-
Enlistment.