Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1895-02-20

.
and esteemed.
/ is hereby ordered BY rIa court / hal
til. contract for tie county printing
be awarded to the Weekly Inti.i,e,.-
dent for a term Of two years
it l. ordered by the court that tie
order If publication for the sale OF
tile 10Th eGct ipn, tWD. - =. W. be
changed from the ''Potnsi Eagle to
IL" " eebly Independent.
At the August tern, . change
seems 10 have come over the spiri,
Of the court, and it rc-cindel the
above orders and made a call for
bids. The result. however. was
not changed. The ''Independent'
got the work at its own figures.
and there i: nothing on the records.
10 >h"W what either parer bid.
Now We Get back to the bill Is aeain.
IN 1871 the independent WAS al
lowed SISJ on Il bill Of Si.'5. 50.
The bill for that year was 80 hirh
that even the Democratic court had
to protest. and for the sake of itS
~o~callcd reform policy, cut ii the
magnificent sum Of ss;ll.>u.
In 1892 the raid on the treasury
was probably so great that the court
seems To have been aShamei 10 have
ii 60 on record, a nothing apI ears
on the record books to show what
sum really was allowed,
In 1888. after the county state
ncnt had been reduced to mere
reorganization. 500. 20 was allowed.
IN 1891 <;l22. 50 was allowed for
the same work that in year pre-
yious only S"a.1 WAS allowed for
Near the close Of the year 1894 the
"Indcpcndcnt" WA allowed >'4334 80
fer advertising election f,aTIot and
furnishing ballots for the voters.
The figures We have given do not
inciUdc numerous sui"ll raids that
were pcrpctrated from time to time
by the scif-conStitutel champion
Of the taxpayers.
Now comes 1879. and with it a
Republican administration and true
reform. When the subject Of the
county printing came up At the re
c"nt session of county court. the
court had tic records examined to
ind out what action il predecessor
had taken in the matter between the
''lndcpcnlent and the ''>Iouthcu~t
Democrat. :. Nothing wa found
except q bare statement that the
printing should be taken from one
and bestowed upon the other. No
reason was given: no bids were
found on file. although the 'Dcnu-
crat" had put in one for con>idera
ton. To this bid attaches Il
curious circumstance. as fol!oWS: !:
Che editor Of the ''indcpentlcnt"
voluntarily made the statement Il
few days ago, in The presence Of the
court, that the bid was in his pos
session. claiming that he hard
Sound it in the waste basket Of the
late county clerk. Fha, this bid
should be 50 found by the very man
to whom 1t is most valuable. is
truly remarkable. By what right
he ab-tractcd it from the waste
basket and keeps possession Of it.,
he failed to explain. The court
should demand him to make 4 res
titution of the document.
The court in awarding the print
ing governed itself by the statutes.
itllt tS ttil fhtl WIS tlf' 'N>t. VIZ
gOt il. It is true at our rate it
barely pays for the composition-
The contemptible insinration the
editor Of the ''lndcpcndcnt" throws
out in the latter part of his article
is simply on par with the character
of the man who wrote it. Were
we to oct legal rates for our work
we could never approach him in
making bills fora fourth more than
the law allows. even if we do not
proclaim o,.r,elf q guardian of The
county treasury. II any credit is
! due from the people on account of
u savin" III printing bills, let it &C
where it ri1htfully belongs. t. the
Republican county court and til,
PoToSI JOURNAL. If anvone de
sirc- to rorrohnratc the statements
we have made. the public records
are open to inspection.
--.--rrr-.-----
CLEVELAND is getting all kind,
of ''Hail Co!umhi;t" for his latest