The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-01-05
THE PRINTING BIDS.

The county commissioners awarded |
the contract for doing the county
printing for the ensuing year, this |
forenoon. There were four bidders on
the job work, the FREE PRESS, Re
rieau, Journal and Post, and each paper
was represented. The session proved
to be regular Seance in some re-
spects, AID prece dents and time
honOred customs were brushed aside
without remorse.
The question as to whether the
awards should be made upon separate
items or upon the bids as whole
was taken up for decision before the
bids were opened, and also the ques-
tion as to whether a bid on only a
ortiOn If the work would be con
sidered. A. NJ Morrison stated that
only two offices in the county have
bindery outfits, and thought that the
other offices should have chance to
bid on what they can do. The mat
ter was considered by the board and
it was voted to consider all bids and
to accept the lowest bid on each item.
Each of the bidders was lowest on
some items, and the awards were con-
tirme /.
1t was voted to have the delinquent
tax list published in the FREE PRESS
and ReUiea0, the same as last year, at
six cents per description.
The publication of the annual re-
port or financial statement of the
county board was awarded to the
FREE PRESS and Reuie,U at $50 each.
1t was voted to have the county
board proceedings published in the
same papers and at the same rates as
last year, as follows: FREE PRESS $50,
Rerie,o $50, Beobdchter $50, Post S35,
Journal $50, Ledger S25, Mapleton Enter
prise $50, lake Crystal Union $50, Good
Thunder Herald S25.
When it came to the designation Of
the official paper for the ensuing year,
Com. Mahowald moved that the
Weekly Reuieao be so designeatd. Com.
Mountain seconded this. A discus
sion followed, during which it was eX
planned that it had been custom
airy for some years for the FREE PRESS
and ReUielU ito be the official paper on
alternate years, that last year the Re
UieW asked to be made the official
paper on the strength of this custom,
and that the publishers OF the FREE
PRESS mad readily assented to this
and asked the Republican board to
give it to the Rerieac, which was done.
The representatives Of the ReUieao
showed far different spirit when the
opportunity was presented for them
to reciprocate. They remembered no
such custom andiwere there to get all
they could. The selfish instincts of
that paper were never better illus
trated, and the Democratic members
of the board fell in with them and
showed that they had no conception
Of fairness. The matter was pressed
to vote, and CONS. Hannay and
Hughes placed themselves on record
as favoring fairness in the matter.
The vote was tie and when it de-
volved upon Com. Graf. to decide the
matter he cast his vote for theReuieaD,
thus putting himself on record In as
q 70 no
ocratlc members and even more so,
as less was to have been expected of
the other two, who were unable to
get above partisan prejudice, in a
matter where politics has not enter
ed for years. The bond was placed at
81 900.
The designation Of any paper as the
official paper is an empty honor, as no
printing or publication goes with it
which is not done by other papers. The
FREE PRESS is not so over sensitive
as to care straw which paper is the
official one, ana no5 one tax payer in
a hundred remembers a week which
is the official paper. and all care less.
The only feature of the matter
worthy of comment is the undesirable
light in which CONS. Graf, Mahowald
and Mountain place themselves befo e
the public, and how small they and
the publishers of the ReUieaU have
shown themselves to be. If MI. Graf
thinks that he has made a shrewd
politi cal move by his action, we hope
that this feeling may afford him relief
from any unpleasant thoughts that
may enter his mind upon rejecting
upon his action.
The account of this morn
ing'S meeting of the board would
be incomplete without mentioning
the active and important part which
Auditor Randall played. Talking four
times as much as the five commission
ers put together, his jaw was eyer on
the wag. He seemed equally adept
in attempting to aojOle,' persuade or
bulldoze the members, and an OUT
slider could form no other belief than