The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-05-02

three sections, legislative, executive and
judicial: but the Printing Board is unique
in itself. 1t manages things in this way:I
1t resolves itself into a very general petit
TONER, prosecuting attorney, jury, judge,
also. not to be modest, the supreme court,
and also then if necessary the sheriff, to
see that its DEGREES are carried out. There
is nothing small about the Printing Board.
4 veto Overridden by the legislature
would have'had no effect with that board.
THE PRINTING BOARDS ACTION.
Just the day before the governor went
out of his way to do the unusual thing,
act upon a concurrent resolution which
does not require his signature, the contrac-
tor had heard a rumbling from the PRINT,
ing Board. 1t is true he had had a OH
for the Record before that body Tor AT
least six weeks, hut they had Just com
menced in the magniticence OF their ease
TO pass upon it. The rumbling was the
resembling noise of those pet words
''ouantum meruit" as they rolled from the
lips of the two legal members of the Print
ing Board. How a lawyer loves 10 use
Latin, it has such sweet SAVIOR TO MN,
il is the taste of honey on his lips.
"Ouantum meruitv' yes! that was it, what
was the work worth? Had they gotten
n rim from the governor and the state
qypert?" Was the whole thing cut ana
dried in secret session and without any
chance for the poor defendant to be heard
before the prosecuting attorney tIe
Judge and jury of the Printing Board! 1t
seems so from the verdict and the whole
sale denial of justice to the defendant
Members of the board were seen sng!y
-, assembled.
| Workman said as he always does, II
will obey the law. If the legislature has
looked into this matter and they have
said accept this Record 1--WE are satisfied
with it, and pay for it, | will vote just that
| way." But Attorney General Crane and
Secretary of State Mayfeid, who by the
way is also a lawyer, We're always found
rolling under their tongues the sweet
sounding phrase, "quantum merult.'
And their whole idea of that phrase seem
ed to be summed up in the illustration
Attorney General Crane twice used with,
he thought, most telling effect He said:
"If | go to a tailor and order a broad
cloth suit of Clothes and when they are
| finished they are doeskin and not. broad
cloth: but the tailor insists that doeskin
will wear me better than broadcloth, even
| if it is not so expensive, should | take the
clothes and pay him the price | contract
ed?" But unfortunately for his illustra-
ton the answer was most ready and
convincing to hand. 1t was this: "The
State ordered a doeskin Record, but the
contractor was offering broadclOth Rec
ord better in every respect, and yet, be-
cause machines were used, it was cheap
er to the State than the poorer dOeskin
! Record would have been" And this was
proven to them. 1t was proven that the
legislature, individually and collectively,
had said it was the cleanest and neatest
and most satisfactory Record that had
ever been published. 1t was proven
better than the old doeskn Record of the
past 1t was also proven that the legis-
luture by its votes had said it wanted this
new and better Record accepted and paid
for as such by the Printing Board. So
much for the quality of the "broadcloth'
Record. 1t was proven that this same
expert" upon whom the whole admins
i tration seemed so much to rely, had eX-
amined the figures and had said the
''broadcloth' Record set in miniOn and
measured in minion was 5000 on
\ the 100000 ems cheaper to the
State than in BREWER type. And
this same expert had told the cover.
nor if the miniOn type was measured in
BREWER that it would be a saving to the
State of 20 per cent on the contract price
| Is not this proof both as to the quality
and value of the ''brOadcloth" Record
But talk about doeskin and brOadcloth:-
Why, what should have been the illus
tration was this: "Order a broadclotf
pair of pants and then wiring a silk dress
out of the poor devil of contractor and
| then offer him less than the
price of doeskin pair of pants.
| If that is not the only legiti-
mate conclusion to be drawn from the ac-
| ton of the legal members of that Printing
Board. then The Statesman does not know
black from white. Can you find any other
Interpretation of their "quantum meruit|
In what possibly legitimate connection
could the State ask the question involved
in that term, except what is the work
i you offer worth to the State?" What
does that question mean from the States
i standpoint? Does it not, and can it not
only mean: SIS this work as good as that
contracted for by the State" If it is bet,
ter work, then that should be point to be
weighed in its favor And so far as the
members of the legislature We're concern
ed, and they were the parties to judge
4 of its value in that respect, they unani-
mously declared that it was the best
the cleanest and the most acceptable Rec
ord that had ever been offered the State.
i The next and only other question the
State could legitimately ask in fixing this
1 "quantum meruit" would be. Does this
better class of work offered us cost us any
more than the price we contracted to
pay! The answer to this question so far
as the present Record was concerned, is:
The work is infinitely better and it costs
the State less money" Both of the as
sertions in that last sentence are absolute
ly true, and they were proved to the Print
ing Board. But in proof of our assertion
1 that the State was on the make, the grind,
the gouge, and that a real "quantum
meruit" was not meant; this full and COM
plete proof that the State was getting
better work than she had contracted for
and at less cost, did not satisfy the
i legal gentlemen of the Printing Board.
The "quantum meruit" they were in
curing into was not what this cOnfessedly
better work was worth to the State. with
i view of paying more for it, but "quantum
meruit" to the State to grind down the
contractor because he had made a
i technical departure from the contract
So these legal gentlemen had to make In.
i qulry of the contractor as to what he
was paying for machine type setting work
Il and how much less that was than by
hand? And then they had to ask the EEK.
pert. who had never seen a type-setting
machine, what he thought about it. Now
mind you, this whole question of actual
cost had been carefully looked into by the
con fra CtOr last Santon, how yubap bo ,,,o 4 r