Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-09-28

|
other book than a farmer with a eide
press. 1t had no presses upon whic
the work could be done, no Stere0tyI
ing facilities for it, not even the typ
necessary to set up matter of the kind
II a publisher looking for Il roster
printing pant had been turned l00s
in The Times office with The Time
contract all that he could have f0unt
Of very material use would have beer
the governors good VIII. There ha(
been no pretense Of calling for bids fol
| the work. There was a plainly studied
| ignoring Of the fact that the contract
with the state printer called for his
execution Of such an order at prices
which would bring the cost TO the
| state lower than well-equipped houses
! could afford to contract such job for.
That The Times could put in a plant
| especially for the job and do the work
at Il reasonable figure was Il manifest
absurdity,
Gov. Peck was seen with reference
to the matter by The Sentinel CORES
pondent and refused to say anything
about it further than to instruct Secre-
tlry Clark that he could tell as much
as he pleased. Col. Clark did lot de-
cline to talk, but he dill decline to give
facts, and refused TO exhibit the cor
tract, o. TO state the price to be paid.
Atly.-Gen. O'COnnOr, who is one of the
printing commissioners, as well as
Z = Il,
safed the information THAI the CON
tract had been submitted to him to
determine rs to its being IL due form.
and to be sure that the states interests
we're duly protected IN the terms Of
the contract under the special act
not been asked to pass upon the COLI
%iitutiOnality Of the law Meanwhile
the public printer interested his at
torney in the affair. The latter's
formal demand to see the contract in
behalf OF the public printer was met
by the governors secretary with an
expression of prOfane Indifference for
the pubic printer. The attorney saw
the governor ana after Il brief dis
cIsSion the governor asked for time
to consider When the time expired he
asked for more, and was given till =
that hour he sent a messenger to the at
tOrney with a note, and when the
press representative asked GCv. Peck
for information he referred him to
Secretary Clark who handed out a slip
of paper containing the following:
"Since making the contract for the
publication of the roster of Wisconsin
volunteers under chapter $40, laws of
1887, the governor has been led so
seriously to doubt TIE constitutionality
Of that law, to which his attention was
not called at the time, that he has
revoked and cancelled the contract on
the part OF the state.''
The contract, or record of it. has
never been filed with the secretary of
state, as the law requires that the Off
cial acts Of the executive department
shall be filed, and so far as the state
officers are concerned the roster con-
tract has remained a state secret.
The contract itself is short and in
some respects explicit With the docu
mentS which have accompanied MI,
McFail's copy of it, in connection with
other relative facts, it will be of more
general pubic interest probably than
Secretary Clark could have suspected
when insisting that it was not nee
essary to publish it. Written on a
type writer it occupies but two sheets
of legal cap paper in space. 1t is
signed by Gov Peck for the state and
by Mr. McFail Ostensibly for himself
alone. 1t was witnessed by Werner!
Pressetin, the executive clerk in Gov.
Peck's office, and by Oscar X. Schubert,
the messenger in the same office. 1t
provides that the contractor shall re-
ceive $I.0O per volume on all orders for
rosters; and provides that no order
shall be for less than 1000 sets, i. e.,
1000 volumes. The only other import
ant provision is very funny one. BY
reference TO the law under which the
contract was drawn it will be seen that
the governor is only authorized to con-
state printing contract shall not specl
fically cover such method and material
Of printing and binding rs the governor
shall select. Notwithstanding that the
| law expressly provides that they shall
| be bound in cloth, the private contract
provides that they shall be bound in
| cloth with buff bands and corners. 1t
was the understanding, as explained by
| a party interested, that this buff
specification was prepared to constitute
a method and material not specifically
covered by the regular contract with
the public printer, and as buff bands
and corners might be of anything from
| tissue paper to calf skin. it is reason
able to suppose there is nothing in the
public printers contract like it.
To accompany this contract Mr.. Nc
Fail received an order reciting the
terms of the contract and directing him
to print $4,000 sets. Mr.. McFail has
also stated to friend to whom he eX
planned his interest in the job, that ht
had a verbal agreement for an order fol
10000 additional sets when the Others
were disposed of.
1t requires very simple arithmetic
with these figures at hand, to get a
the exact magnitude of the secret con
tract for state work entered into b!
state officials with the merely nomina
head of sinking organ possessing N
, | 20, ~ ori-