Los Angeles herald., 1892-08-24
SOME INTERESTING READING.
The Cost Of Tax Receipts Last
Year and This.
How More of the Peoples Money
Was WontOnly Wasted.
No Competitive Bids Last Year-The
Difference This Year When More
Expensive Paper Was Used-A
sample Express Job.

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matter to secure the public records at
the court house nowadays, to run down
steal which has been engineered
through by the present Republican
regime controlling the county govern
ment. Directly man enters the court
house and asks for public document.
more particularly when the said docu-
ment includes the payment of the peo-
ple's money, horrible suspicion enters
the mind Of the deputy, who has the
document in his custody, that perhaps
another job is being run down. He inn
mediately informs his chief, and every
possible endeavor is made to cover it
up. Nevertheless, if the searcher after
facts is anxious to ascertain them, and
is tireless in his pursuit of them, in the
end he generally succeeds. Every ef-
fort, though, is made by the army of
deputies to throw him off the track.
Yesterday representative of the
HERALD, after a wearisome search, and
with great difficulty, succeeded in get
ting to the bottom of printing job done
under the direction of the Republican
tax collector of this county--A. B. Whit
ney which discloses the fact that the
county was robbed out of several hum
dred dollars, all of which went into the
Golfers of members of the Union League.
The exact amount which the taxpay-
ers of the county were made to sweat
for in this job was $36075. In itself it
is small, but it simply goes to show that
! the general tendency of the court house
ring is to make the burden on the tax
payers as heavy as is possible, in order
to keep the peoples money flowing in
one channel. The members of the ring
must be taken care of at all hazards-no
matter what the cost. For this latest
job Tax Collector A. B. Whitney is sole
ly responsible.
Every year the tax collector has to
have tax receipts printed-somewher
in the neigbborhood of $4,000. In the
year 1891, Mr.. Whitney gave the job to
Kingsley & Barnes, printers. He invited
no competition whatever, and it cost the
county that year to print the receipts
$681.75, which was duly 80. K ID" by
A. B. Whitney, as tax collector, and
| paid by warrant on the county treas.
ury.
This was piece of work of considera-
BILE magnitude to let out without invit-
ing competition. But what did Mr..
| Whitney care? The election was dis
tant over year. Long before that time
it would be forgotten by the people. To
let the job at an exorbitant figure did
not deplete his finances any. So he
gave the work to Kingsley & Barnes,
without inviting any competition, at the
exorbitant figure of $681.75.
This year, though, Mr.. Whitney finds
out that election day is near at hand.
| Numerous scandals in connection with
the expenditure OF public money have
been exposed by the HERALD, not to
speak OF Irregularities in the conduct of
county offices, which would ordinarily
call for prosecution against the parties
committing them. This being the case,
Mr.. Whitney changes his system.
The tax collector again wants $4,000
tax receipts. Last year he just gave the
work to favorite firm, but this year he
invites competitive bids. What is the
result? A better job all the way around
is secured for 1921, less than half the
exorbitant sum paid by the county for
the same work in 1891.
Mr.. Whitney, this year, gave the con-
| tract to Ulrich Knoch, of the CONNER
cial printing company for 1921, on COM
petitive bids. In 1891 the receipts were
printed on chemical MANILA paper,
WHICH, COsIh o C0ntb q pUuuus lutS year
they are printed on Whiting folio paper,
which costs Az cents per pound. The
receipt is larger this year than last, and
account of the fact that Kingsley &
Barnes were given the work without
competition, the cost was twice as great
as this year.
| Mr.. Knoch stated YESTERDAY that at
the reduced figure of 1921, he had made
a very satisfactory profit on the Job, and
| had no objections to make.
Tax Collector A. B. Whitney was not
at his Office yesterday. He was possibly
canvaesing to again secure the Republi-
can nomination for this Office. He,
therefore, could give no reasons to ex-
| plain this extravagant and unnecessary
waste of $360.75 of the peoples money.
| His chief deputy, MI. George Varcoe,
could throw no light upon it. Mr.. Var
coe suggested that Mr.. Whitney's re-
turn to his duties be awaited before
anything was published. He did say,
though, that last year the work of print
| ing the tax receipts was given out by
/ Mr.. Whitney without competition.
| This exposure adds one more to the
1 long list OF instances that have been
brought to light, showing the profigacy
and wanton waste of the money OF the
people of this county by the Union
| League bureaucracy-which is really
the Republican party of Los Angeles
county.
A SAMPLE JOB.
County Clerk T. Fl. Ward, in defend
ing his course in giving the printing of
the great register to the Evening Ex-
| press. the organ of the court house ring,
at the indefensibly exorbitant figure Of
% cents per name, dwells upon the ex-
cellent shape in which that office turns
out it's work.
The Express printed q seventy-fve
page pamphlet for the board Of super
visors, giving the boundaries of the GER
rymander senatorial, supervisoral and
assembly districts. the judicial town.
ships, the election precincts and incor-
porated cities of Los Angeles county.
An examination OF this valuable work
discloses the fact that pages 60, 66, 81,
68, SO, 70, II and 70 are duplicated in
the book. This seems strange but it is
certainly true. This is done by the
Office which Mr.. Ward says is the only
printing Office in Los Angeles county
able to turn out the great register. It
was an expensive error, but the county
had to pay for it, so it made no differ