The San Francisco call., 1897-02-12
Assemblymen Discuss the
Bill to Provide Funds
for the Printer.
1t Claimed That There Is Not
a Deficiency in the
Office.
Lively Debates in an Attempt to
Override the Will OF Gov.
ernor Buid.


the sessions of the Assembly are becom-
ing interesting. The members have been
jolted out of the commonplace rut of dull
routine and are showing signs of life.
Yesterday there was the Duckworth
matinee, followed this morning by lively
skirmish over the passage of the $500, 900
dredger bill, and this afternoon by the
joust between Governor Budd and the
State Printer. 1t was not quite so excit-
ing as the batting of Clerk Duckworth on
the day before, but it was equally as in
teresting and was witnessed by crowd
| equally as large, all the printers and lead
ing representatives of the Federated
Trades, and all the pretty girls and some
OF the homely ones, too, from the State
Book Bindery being present in all the
glory of their war paint and feathers.
The friends of Governor Budd achieved
tenn mporary victory by preven ting a two
! thirds vote TO pass the State Printers ap-
| preparation OF So 600 over the veto, but
Leavitt's motion to reconsider will start
| the ball rolling again tomorrow after
noon. The m after was decided by a vote
of AZ ayes to 81 noes, Keables and Lands
borough (Fusionists) voting with the Re-
| publicans in favor of the appropriation
and Belshaw (R.) absent. With the two
exec ptions inst noted the Democrats voted
! soiidly to sustain the Governor.
1t was a most extraordinary affair all
around. The minority conceded, or rather
did not deny, that the appropriation was
necessary to carry on the State printing
office up to July l, nor did they deny that
! much larger sums had been allowed other
| State printers for similar period in past
| years, but because Governor Budd had
vetoed the bill they were bound to stand
| by him right or wrong.
| As an evidence of the weakness of the
minority, it was stated in the course of
! the de bate that the friends of the Cover
nor had EXPIRE ssed their Willingness, and
| his, to allow the State Printer $40. OO0
with the understanding that if that sum
! should, before the close of the session, be
! found inadequate, deficiency bill for the
remaining $50, OC0 could be rushed through.
it seemed as though the Democrats were
! looking for soft spot on which to fall
! but all their overtures were spurned. The
cry of the Republicans was No compro-
mise u while the Democrats sought to
! justify their course by alleging a dis
| crepancy between the accounts of the
| State Printer and the vouchers allowed by
the State Board OF Examiners. 1t was ar
gued by the majority that the printer did
not have the handling of dollar OF the
/ States money; that the State Board of
| Examiners passed upon the payrolls and
| all other claims against the printing
office; that the printers vouchers were
correct and In possession of the Board of
Examiners, and that in order to be hon
| est, straig ghtforward and fair in the m tier
! 1t would be necessary for the minority to
show that the proposed appropria ton of
! SIo,OOO was too large, or that no part of it
whatever was necessary, and that the
charge OF the existence of discrepancy
was i'm material and not relevant 10 the
| Issue before the House.
That good man from Amador, Cami-
netti, who, like political Cincinnatus, on
| leaving his toga behind him in the halls
of Congress, has returned to the humble
| plow OF the Assembly, LED the forces of
| the Governor. His argument was almost
exclusively confined TO the matter of the
alleged discrepancy, and he ignored the
real issue of the need of the appropria-
| ton. But, after all, :he good man fell into
a trap which took all the tizz out of him,
and left him stale, fiat and unproftable
Alter he had detied the friends of the
Dill TO deny that there was a discrepancy
ana after he had said that he would take
| the word Of the bookkeeper of the State
Printing once rather than that of Leayitt
OF Alameda, Leavitt stated that the
! figures which he (Leavitt) had quoted to
show that not only no discre pancy ex-
| listed, but that on the contrary there
should be $1,000 to the credit of the State
Printer, had been furnished i'm by the
bookkeeper OF the State Printer.
Shanahan, CaminettIs Lieutenant, was
also given an unexpected setback and had
the laugh turned on him. He was dis
claiming against waste and extravaganza
and harplng on The imaginary dis
crepancy, when Dennery. asked him
whether it was not true that he (Shana-
ham had not several years ago voted for
an appropriation OF $40, 900 at this time of
the year for a deficiency in the State
Printing Office. the Superintendent of
which was ID mocrat. That was before
the greater umber of the present bureaus
and commissions were created and when
the quantity OF printing required was
very much less than il is to-day
When tue matter was placed before the
House this afternoon MelicK, chairman of
the Retrenchment Committee, presented
a report stating what the committee had
done in the matter and citing the fact that
the Governor had refused to obey the
subpoena of the committee. The report re-
cited that the committee had discovered
an apparent lrregularity, and that the ex-
| isting method of publishing State docu-
ments tended to the unnecessary expendi-
ture of State money, condition for which
the Legislature itself was responsible. be-
cause OF its failure to enact the proper
X II.
the fact that an additional appropriation
was needed to meet the work already in
hand and accumulatIng in the hands of
the State Printer the committee recon-
mended the appointment of one or more
experts to expert the accounts of the State
Printer and the apparent irregularity
already mentioned.
Leavitt of Alameda opened the debate
on behal of the bill with the proposition
that The question apparently hinged on an
irregularIty in the accounts OF the State
Printer But the fact was that there was
no irregularity and no instrumentation
of the funds, land" added Leavitt, "the
report itself does not show it, the Cover
nor 10 the contrary Notwithstanding"
Leavitt went on to explain that an ap-
propriation of $4,000 had been made .or
the running expenses of the last sessi IN of
the Legislature, but it spent $28, 900 more
than that amount. The report of the State
Printer showed that printing had been
done for the different departments OF the
State government al q cost of $50 257 so.
that there was s.; ;ock on hand at that time
Of the value of Sl5 69S 48, making an ag.
gregate of S97, ,956 2S absolutely accounted
for. Bearing In mind that the $28, ,OOS that
was use d aver and above the $50, 600 was to
be paid out of the $250000 appropriation
aud deducting that from $40 O44 leaves
81, ,036. The lithographin that was done
for the several d departments cost S453S and
that deducted from $2l,03 leaves but
$16 ,47S of q so-called deficiency.
During the forty fiscal year ap-