Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-02-23
IN AGrrArED yEWsPAPER.

| sees anything good III st. Paul, but IS filled
with admiration for everything Minneapol-
itan. 1t is not surprising therefore that
at intervals of about twelve months the
Pioneer Press should have an attack of
assumed virtue upon the subject of
public printing, accompanying the same
with it's eulogies of Minneapolis.
'The printing costs less in Minneapolis
than it does in st. Paul." is the direful
wall of the Minneapolis sheet which
affiicts this city by Its presence. Ofcourse
it does, and it ought to, for several reasons.
In the first place Minneapolis has no
board of public works and never has en-
tered upon series of public improve
ments as have been inaugurated IN ST..
Paul. This is largely due to the fact that
st. Paul is SO rolling and un-
even as to make public in
provements necessity, whereas, in level
city like Minneapolis they can be omitted.
1t is further due to the fact that Minneap-
oils has not engaged in such public i'm
provements as wisdom and prudence die
tate. 1t has become noted as the very
hot-bed of typhoid fever and diphtheria,
| and the prevalence and malignity
of those diseases Is largely attributable TO
her lack of sewers. ST. Paul has expended
hundreds of thousands of dollars for sew
ers and has thus saved the lives and i'm
proved the health of the community.
Then, too, the streets of Minneapolis are
almost impossible in the spring and
| tall owing to the mud. To
build sewers and pave streets
requires an outlay of money which must
be collected in due legal form. When st.
Paul inaugurated her system of public i'm
provements, captious taxpayers came for
ward and brought suits against the city to
prevent the collection of as
sessments, and in many, we might
say most cases, succeeded. 1t was
found that to collect special assessments
required most specific notice upon prop
erty owners, and at present the city is
rarely mulcted by kicking taxpayer.
So much explanatory of why the volume
of public printing in st. Paul exceeds that
of Minneapolis. 1t will always be in ex-
trust will be some time to come.
The volume of city printing being as
moderate as possible and properly make
public improvements, the next question
which the tax payers have an interest in
refers to the price paid for the service. The
rates paid by the city are thirty three and
a third per cent. below those paid by the
state, and that amount below all the legal
rates throughout the state. They
are far below the rates
charged business men for advertising space,
though the service required is far more
exacting than that of ordinary business,
as the slightest error will invalidate an
assessment.
We can best illustrate the animus of this
Minneapolis newspaper and strip
the mask from its hollow
pretensions of virtue by
referring to the era when the Press (prior
to consolidating with the Pioneer) did the
city printing. It should be borne in mind
that the present proprietors of the Pioneer
Press were then the proprietors of the
Press. Not content with fair prices, they
originated the idea and succeeded in form
ing printing pool whereby the city was
compelled to pay Sicty cents per square
for each and every insertion. This applied
to council proceedings as well as to adver-
Using, and though they took the same type
used in the paper to print the council pro-
ceedings in book form, they charged and
obtained seventy cents per 1000 ems for
composition upon the book.
The GLOBE now receives for similar SER
vice forty cents per square for the first in
sertion, and t,Centy-eight cents per square
for each subsequent insertion of an adver-
tisement. For council proceedings it re-
ceives but t,centy-eight cents per square,
and the same type is used in book form
without one cent of extra compensation
for composition.
This, too, though the prices paid to
printers for labor are now 25 per cent.
higher than they were when the Press Sc
cured siGty cents for each and every inser-
ton of city matter, besides stealing the
composition of the council proceedings.
The charge that the council proceedings
are padded to benefit the printer is simply
lie, promulgated by professional liar.
The Importance of the council
having printed record of its
proceedings is so apparent
as to require no argument. Inasmuch as
the proceedings are published in the book
form without single cent of charge for
composition it is the most economical way
possible to preserve their official records.
The public, too, have vital interest in
knowing the officiel work of the council,
and are very willing to pay for the oppor-
tanity.
Another item which agitates the paper
which is published in the interest of Mimi
eapolis,is the publication by the county of
the monthly reports of fees received by
county officers. These are published in
accordance with law which was drawn up
and passed at the instance of the Chamber
OF Commerce. The business man
ager of the Pioneer Press
was one of the warmest advocates
of the measure. He declared that he.had
served on grand juries and found it abso-
luteiy impossible to compel the county
officers to state what they were receiving