National Republican., 1888-03-07
BENEDICT BACKS down.
HE'S COMPELLED TO RETRACT MUCH
OF HIS "BUNC0MBE" TESTIMONY.
Some of His Pretensions to Economy
Exposed-Did He Save $50 Per Cent.
Mr.. Gibson Again-SIr. Gaiiipger's
Energetic Assistant.

The House investigation into the admin.
istIation Of Mr.. Benedict, OF the govern
ment printing Office, was continued yester-
dsy in the room of the committee on print
ing. The hour set for the hearing was 2
o'clock, and at that time Chairman Rich
ardson. and Mr.. Gallinger were present,
but Il was fully half an hour later when
Mr.. Gibson arrived, leaving as absentees
Messrs. Cummings and Hiestand. Mr..
Benedict's examination was continued by
Mr.. Gallinger. Julius Blen s. Co. did the
lithographic work for the cattle and dairy
farming report; the house Is O first-class
one. The responsibility for the uneven cut
ting Of the plates in the book rests with the
photographer. lie would not say that Blen
made q mistake.
Some OF Mr.. Benedicrs replies were ex-
tremely unsatisfactory, and Mr.. Gallinger
insisted on his. giving direct answers and
telling the truth.
Mr.. Benedict. ~ do tell the truth"
Mr.. Gallinger "You do not, cir, and you
will answer your questions differently from
the manner In which you have heretofore"
Serious blunders In the Patent Office
Gdsette and In the report on the Hennepin
canal we're exposed, and In this connection
Mr.. BENEDICT said that Mr.. Fordham, whom
he had discharged, was not competent
man He (Benedict) could not tell why
dissertation on the diseases Of grape vine
should be introduced into another report.
Did not know whether 1t was reprinted or
not.
A large amount CT spoiled work was then
produced, which the defe liant Identified as
hav ng been done under his administration.
Some Of the errors would have been ludi-
crous had they not involved waste Of pub.
lie funds-good money that might have
been applied TO restore the pay OF those
poor women whose CONF pensation has been
cut down under Benedicts economical ~
administration. A speech Of Senator Sher-
mans had been sent out to the world In
wrspper which indicated that the contents
had been contributed by Senator McPher-
son. Folios and slgr atures In others failed
to agree. The rebellion records aud the
report OF the Secretary OF the Interior were
mixed up. MIR. Benedict finally ackuowl
edged that the errors were the result OF
carelessness, but he qulbbled a good deal
before he made that statement, and 1t again
became necessary for Mr.. Gallinger to insist
that Benedict should answer questions and
not make stump speeches.
The Defendants attention was called to
the report of the comptroller OF the cur
rency and to the mistakes therein, but he
professed to know nothing as to the re.
printing OF works becaues OF such errors.
He did not care to express an opinion as to
the workmanship Of certain blank form
shown hin. He would not say IL was good
pIintipg-it was government printing office
printing. They did not use the 1l-cent ink
for such work, and he was not aware that
the department had insisted on the reprint
ing Of the entire lob. He threw the blame
on the press room, and confessed that he
knew nothing OF the majority OF these
errors until they were shown him by Mr..
Gallinger. He remembered that there had
been some trouble about the last report Of
the board OF visitors to West Point aead-
emy, but was not aware that the edition
had been delivered to the department with
out any Of the plates, and that It was
returned to the office, torn open, and the
plates inserted In each volume. He did not
know that eighty reams OF paper had
recently been spoiled in the ruling room.
He acknowledged that the errors in Senate
country, were made in the government
printing ofllce-the first straight acknowl-
edgement Of error he has made In his testi-
mony. He (Benedict) had not weakened
the Ninding force by discharges. He had
NJ ..been indentured as bookbinder any
more than he had been as printer; had
sAsvsSsaaG bindery under bis charge until
ne %sas places IN tue government printing
Office.
Mr.. Gallinger asked the defendant II he
knew anything Of the material used by
book binders. He replied in the affirma-
tive, and was then asked to give his judg-
ment on samples of leather and cloth. This
he refused to do, and tried to argue the
question.
but the defendant would not admit that he
knew nothing Of the material.
Mr.. Gibson came In at that point with
his first little objection, and insisted that
his client was not obliged to answer more
fully.
C6sirman Richardson decided that he
was obliged to answer, and the defendant
yielded. He guessed at the samples and
exposed his ignorance very fully.
Mr.. Benedict continued "Mr. Yost is
now storekeeper; he was neither printer
nor bookbinder; he examines most OF the
stock as It is received. Under his prede-
cessor the stock was not examined by 0
board OF expert inspectors. He recognized
the names Of seven watchmen, all veteran
soldiers, whom he had discharged. He
could not reconcile this with his sworn
statement that there were but four soldiers
on the watchmen's roll under his predeces.
sor. He could 1T swear that the seventeen
soldier-watchtiP tiPohnow on the force had
all been In the Union army; he only had
% He ~ had knowiedge Of Of presswork; the
same knowledge of presswork that men
have who have worked on presses: He
only had hand power press In his office In
/ Ellenville. The "BullOck" press which he
: had rescued and reset in the Office was
probably purchased ten years ago. He be-
iitved that 1t was not put in by Cornelius
Wendell or John d. Defrees during the
war. 1t cost about $500 to clean the press,
but could not say how much was spent for
new castings. He knew nothing about the
age OF the press, and his reply to mum.
ber Of questions was he ''knew nothing
which provoked Mr.. Gallinger to say,
"what you don't know would make bic
book." His .(Benedicts) predecessor. put
in a good perfecting press for Congressional
Record work. Had no knowledge as
to why the press which supplanted the old
"Bullock" did not work satisfactorily. He
dia not care to express any opinion as to
the styles Of presses In the office. He could
not tell what should be the daily average
about 1900 tokens each day. He confessed
;, that, his knowledge was limited. The
average was perhaps 5000 to 1900 per day;
they not speeding very heavily. He did
\ not know how long II took to make ready
any form and went, generally, back on the
4 statement that he knew something OF press
work. The reserve number OF document:
~ is not printed as soon as the sup NUMBER
lie finished. 1t would be cheaper to print
them at the one time, as they were under
his predecessor. He could not say how
long 1t would take to do the presswork on
the 'reserve.n
Mr.. Gallinger called attention to the de-
fendant's statement that the speed OF his
presses ron to 800 per hour, and compared
that with Mr.. De Vinne's statement that
over 500 per hour for press Of the size
discussed was too fast for true economy
lie asked who was right.
The press room was discussed very
thoroughly, and the defendant made q com
parison between the present foreman and
his predecessors that will probably be heard
from in the near future. ..
Mr.. Gallinger reverted to the charge
made by the defendant at previous ex
amination-that each bookbinder was bind
ing book and q half per day more thar