St. Paul daily globe., 1895-09-22
BARREL OF MONEY.
THAT'S WHAT 1T is COSTING
THE STATE FOR ITS PRINT
PRICES ARE OUT OF SIGHT,
ACCORDING TOTHEBIL WHICH
SECRETARY BERG is AP-
PROVING.
FIGURES THAT SIMPLY YELL.
MinnesOta's Hard-Earned Cash
Pouring Into the Printers
FIGURES THAT SIMPLY YELL

Printing for the state seems just
now to be very profitable business,
judging by some of the bills recently
approved by Secretary of State Berg.
When job printers in the Twin Cities
and the state generally see the fig
ures which the G o b e furnishes
this morning they will not only envy
the firms who do the work, but will
doubtless pity the taxpayers who
have to foot the bills Whether there
is anything back of these exorbitant
prices the G b e is not prepared
to say. That is for the public to de-
eide for itself.
Herewith the G o b prints three
printing firms, and a tyro in the art
of job printing will see at once that
the prices charged allow of a more
than generous profit. While the items
quoted are merely in skeleton form,
the kinds of work charged for are
sufficiently well defined to show that
a fair commercial rate is largely ex-
ceeded in nearly every instance.
It might be interesting to know
that the effort to procure these fig
| ures from the secretary Of states
office covered four days, and that
they were only obtained when the
Clio b e went to State Auditor Dunn
and demanded them. When the state
auditor was asked for them he re-
ferred the reporter to Secretary Berg.
So did State Treasurer Koerner.
But they were not obtainable from
| Secretary Berg or his office, and the
demand was made on the auditor. =
'If you demand them," said Mr..
Dunn, that settles it, and he gave
them up. Why the secretary. of
states office was so anxious to keep
the figures from the public Is as
| unexplainable as are some of the
| figures themselves.
1t is possible that 200 portfolios
for census enumeraters may be
| really elegant affairs. Undoubtedly
| they would be of superior quality
to the 1850 portfolios that were put
| in for $472.50.
1t has been a custom with the
state of Minnesota to buy paper and
| stationery in bulk and award the
printing to some firm on contract.
If the state furnished the material
for some of the bills allowed in the
lists attached, then the printers
could rapidly become rich at the gait
they have struck. Even if the print
erS furnished the material the
charges for envelopes, note and let
ter heads are large enough to make
the work a very desirable plum for
any firm in any city in the land.
Very reasonable, indeed, seems
the charge for binding fiat books
in the McGiH Printing company's s
bill; but $40 for 25O population la
bells" is fat and juicy beyond the
dream of any ordinary printer. And
SIS for 4,5O0 sheets of fiat paper
ought to secure a quality fine enough
to print an edition de luxe of the
Minneapolis census.
In one place 5000 catalogue en-
velopes are charged for at the rate
OF 81 per thousand. Half a. dozen
items further along the quantity is
increased to 10000 but the price
goes up to s1.5O per thousand. Semi
weekly reports of enumerators bring
" per thousand in 10000 lots. and
no money is lost there by the
printer.
Fifty dollars for 10000 envelopes
612s and 10s) is only about 500 bet-
ter than they could be got for in any
commercial printing house. And
$3.50 for $4,000 612s is real good paw.
Ten thousand enumerators' sched-
ules at $160 would we'll repav the
time and labor of even so high
priced a man as the state printing
expert
One hundred and forty dollars for
$3.50 population schedules" is be-
yond question take that would
have been called 'phat'' in the hall
cyon days of a booming Western
town where the printer stood in with
the chaps who could take the limit
off.
But to go right through the list
with reform country editor check
ing each item, would hardly serve To
show more forcefully than the face
OF the bills themselves Just what q
snap the printers for the state are
enjoying. Here are the bills item
lied:
Ihe f1rst is bill of Smith & Har-
rlson' Minneapolis, for 1859, dated
Aug. "A, and bearing the o. K. of
the secretary of state: