The San Francisco call., 1897-03-16

contract he made for an electrical plant. This
contract was improperly entered into, and the
facts attending it ana the impro priet1es with
which it was surrounded can easily be discov-
cred and verified by the secretary OF the
Board of Examiners, by the Hon. L. II. Brown
and by the proprietors, managers or employees
Of electr cal companies in Sacramento.
My statement regarding Mr.. Taylor and the
information he had given ME was amply
verified by that gentleman in his sworn state
ments before you, and you must remem Der
that Mr. Johnston has borne strong testimony
as to the capacity and ability of Mr. TAYLOR.
l charged that the cost of public printing in
this State was all out OF proportion 10 us
amount and was much more expensive than IN
the printing in other States. The figures 10
verify this statement are at your command,
ss is the L brary bulletin OF New York, where
the figures are tabulated and compared. ana
you can with equal facility verify my staie-
ment that the statement Mr. Johnston made
to me of the printing done for my predecessor
was incorrect
In your communication 10 me you state that
you deem it essential to the performance OF
your duty, and TO full and complete lnNesti-
cation OF the matter you are chargeo WIN ill-
vestigattng, that you should be piaceo IN tne
full possession OF all evidence OF every charac,
ter relating to this matter. ana as you esKeu
my cooperation, would suggest tnat you eA-
anime the Superintendent OF State Prlntng
ana his employees, in detail, as 10 the stAle-
ments in nv message, and that you procure
experts to determine why an expenditure OF
$l46 600 produced only $94,0O worth OF
work, and to learn the capacity OF the presses
compositors and other employees ana machines,
and to determine as to the number OF persons
necessary to operate the machines ana 90 the
work and if the mum Der employed was greater
than the ca pacity of the machines and the de-
mands of the institution would justify.
You might examine the payroll and deter
mine If there was any increase IN the nLmDer
OF persons employed Immediately before or
after the holding of political primaries or
conventions or Immediately before an election.
The expert might then report II the work or
dered at these times, or the WORK actuaiiy per-
formed at such times Of full rolls, justified the
increased employment. Some evidence tend
ing in any way to support the charges might
then be discovered.
executed at the State Printing Ofice 10 any
leading San Francisco houses which do not
deal with that office and get their estimates as
TO what they wou i'd do the work for.
To perfectly unprej udiced mind 1T might
be regarded as a circumstance tending to sup
port my charges that extravagance Was prac-
iced in that Office, that the payroll or the hrst
eight weeks OF the present session exceeded
the payroll for the corresponding time OF the
last session by over $14 600, and this although
you had simplifed the method OF Legislative
printing.
You might INQUIRE why the superintendent
had never given the Governor the statement
required by the Political Code, ana why, In
answer to all inquiries OF this office, he has
given only the Unsatisfactory statements con-
tained in the appendix TO my veto message,
and you might renew to him the questions
which he has as yet neglected to answer TO
me. You might also ask him why, In giving
me a statement of the work he had done for
Governor Markham, he omitted so many
items, and whether such omissions were Will
And the fact that he haG to change the figures
on his books by nearly $4,000 to make them
balance in the forty-fourth fiscal year, might
further enlighten you.
might call your atten ton to the report OF
the Assembly Committee on Commissions Re-
trenehments and Pubic Expenditures, which
was submitted Fe bruary Ii, 1897. In this re-
port the committee states that in the books
and accounts of the State Printing Office they
found an apparent irregularity" Tor when
they, after examining Mr.. Johnson, his book
keeper and his foreman, were unable TO give
reason. They further reported that in the
matter of the publication of State documents
the method OF such character as tends TO
unnecessary expenditure of State money; that
the o-calIed Legislative printing accounts
loosely conducted" etc. This committee was
enabled after two days investigation, to dis
cover Irregularities in the superinter dents
accounts and that the State moneys were uu-
necessarily expended in that office, and its
members might, If appealed to, supply you
with some "evidence tending IN any way 10
support the charses,' OF irregularities in this
office and Its accounts and management.
will again state that the extreme press OF
official business has prevented me taking part
in the investigation which you. are conduct
ing and which | deemed you fully competent
to successfully conduct. In view Of the grave
case which the record discloses, l cannot ac-
count for your statement that you have dis
covered nothing, and submit il the facts set
forth above do not constitute evidence tend
ing in any way TO support the charges" made
in my veto message, then these charges could
not be sustained by any evidence. Yours re-
spectfully, JAMES H. BUDD. Governor.
p S-Since finishing the above understand,
that an 'incompete report" of the printing
experts shows that while they are unable from
lack of time to make thorough Investigation
or, as they say, "to go into the subject thor
oughly and do it properly, We decided 20 deal
with the work inIrusted to us in general
manner, and see If by our recommendations
we could improve the methods in vogue in
some parts of the establishment, and thereby
save unnecessary expenditure existing under
the present conditions" and they concluded
as follows:
"If the foregoing recommendations are
adopted and properly enforced we estimate