Omaha daily bee., 1881-07-21
THE PEOPLE.

first of August. The council, in this
as in all cases, reserved to itself the
option of accepting or rejecting any oil
all proposals.
Bids were received from the
publishers of three papers, THT
BEE, the Republican and Telegram.
They were referred to the committee
on printing and that committee on
Tuesday night reported unanimously
in favor of awarding the contract tc
The BEE and the recommendation o.
the committee was adopted by the
council. Thereupon the council is
charged with defrauding the people,
which means the tax payers, because
they did not award the contract fol
advertising to the lowest bidder. Now
the tax payers of Omaha expect the
council to transact the public bust
ness of this city in the same manner
that they would transact their own
business. When a merchant pays
money for advertising he usually Sc
lects the medium that has the widest
circulation and the council has acted
on the same principle. Hadthe council
decided to put its advertisements
in readerless papers or in q mush.
room paper that affords no guarantee
for its continuance, just because they
offered to do the work cheap they
would have defrauded the taxpayers.
The main object of advertising by the
city is to reach the largest number OF
people. Nearly all the advertising
during the active season consists of
proposals for various improvements,
such as grading, building crosswalks
and sidewalks, bridges, sewers,
and proposals for various supplies
purchased by the city. Some years
ago, when the Republican was made
the official paper because its bid was
very low, the city had to print hand
bills and have them distributed every
time they had important proposals to
advertise, if they wanted bids TO,
grading or wanted to invite pro.
posals from transfers or laborers.
Furthermore, very frequently the
city was compelled to advertise
in all the other papers and pay full 10.
cal rates. BY advertising in THE BEE
they reach four times as many people
as can be reached by any other daily
in Omaha. And nobody knows this
better than the disappointed young
men who are crying fraud just now.
They were in the employ OF
The BEE and they know that it has
no rivals as an advertising medium
in Omaha or Nebraska. There
was another reason why the
council did not award the contract to
the lowest bidder. The publishers Of
that mushroom concern had the au.
dacity to furnish the council with tht
name of a prominent merchant as
their surety and That merchant per
sonally served notice on the city clerk
and on the chairman of the committee
on printing that the 8 of his name
was unauthorized and he would nndeI
no circumstances become the bonds.
man of these parties. This made il
q straw bid and the committee had to
reject it ever if they did not for bust.
ness reasons find it to the advantage
of the city to recommend a contract
with THE BEE There is nothing unus.
ual in rejecting the lowest bid where
a difference in quality and quantity
exists. Two years ago the council
advertised for proposals foi
fire department hose and
bids were received from half a dozen
parties, varying in price all the way
from five to forty cents per foot.
After testing different samples the
council awarded the contract to the
highest bidder, because it found il to
be most economical rs well MS safer to
use the best hose rather than the
cheapest. Again, a few months ago
the council advertised for proposals to
light the city.
A party from st. Louis put in a bid
for lighting our streets with gasoline
at $40 per lamp, and the gas com
pany's bid was $50 per lamp. There
are two hundred lamps in the city,
and this made a difference of over a
thousand dollars per annum, but the
council rejected the lowest bid very
properly because the gas work were a
permanent institution, and gas is bet
ter than gasoline.
Suppose the city should advertise pro-
posals for hay and half a dozen bids
we're received, the lowest bidder hay
ing a very inferior article and the
highest the very best. 1t would b.
economy to buy the best, although il
was not the cheapest, and the rejec,
ton of the lowest bid would Justify
nobody IN charging the council witt
defrauding the people.
AS a matter of fact the rates
.l.--A1 l.. nv.