The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-10
WITH STATE PURCHASES OF
STATIONERY.
RUM0RS OF LARGE JOBBERY
THE CONCEAL MENT OF
BfLBS.
SECRETARY OF STATE REFUSES
To Disclose thesDetaiis of the Last
State Purchase of Pencils and
Such.

During the last. session of the legis-
lature, there was a great deal of dis
cusSlon as to the alleged extravaganza
or the secretary of state and state
printing commission in their expendi-
ture of funds for printing and for sta
tionery. AS a result, the Sperry. Yale
and other bills were introduced look
ing to a remedy of existing evils, the
final result being the passage of a
bill which abolished in effect, the old
system whereby all state stationery
was purchased by the secretary of
state and distributed to the other de-.
partments. The idea was to have the
stationery that each department need
ed purchased by that department, and
there has been some question
on legal technicality, as to whether
the law does not give the secretary the
right still to purchase the stationery
and charge it to the various contingent
funds. That is neither here nor there,
however, as the practice has not been
followed since the new law was pass
ed
That is what makes a certain bill,
which the state treasurer recently
paid, amounting to $3,S06.95 which was
charged to, and taken out of, the sta
tionery and paper fund, seem just
a bit peculiar. Under the new
law the state buys no more paper.
Each department buys it's own sta
tionery, and yet here comes bill OF
$3,SO6.95 for stationery, under con-
tract awarded by the secretary of state
in August last to take effect in Novem-
Der. and not paid until this spring.
The G 20 b has information which
it deems worthy of credence that the
bill is a dishonest one. On this asser
ton the G o b yesterday requested
of Secretary of State Berg, who has in
bis office both the original bill and the
contract on which it was made, per-
mission to copy the bill.
you can't have it, was the lacollic
response of the peoples servant.
''Is there any reason why it should
not be given out ?"
"Why don't you ask to see all the
hills of the state?" was the secre-
tary's interrogative response.
rs it a fact that it is nearly or
about $1,000 larger than the bill for
the year preViouS?
mo, it is not. 1t may be some
larger We had to buy files for the
legislature out of it this year. They
wanted keystone files. We had to pay
$2.25 each for thema'''i
''Then the Legislature is. to blame for
the eXcess?''
There is no excess. The bill is at
! the contract price. "a
II. ~
rotary of state would give out.
The reports of the state auditor for
the fiscal years, closing July 81 1885
and 1896, respectively, however, are
more or less edifying. They show that
the item of files for the legislature, of
| 1895, which was not charged to the
stationery bill fer that year, was $95.
They show that the entire stationery
j bill for the year of the last legis-
4 lative session, including considerable
amount of paper. was but So, $40. 65 $500
! less than the amount of the recent bill
! which included no paper at all, as the
secretary of state is not permitted to
| buy paper under the new law.
The stationery bill for 1896, in which
year there was no legislative session
| was less than $4,000, as shown by the
! report of the auditor.
! There are additional facts in regard
| to the expenses for stationery shown
| by the report of the secretary of state
himself His last report shows that
the total stationery bill for 1895 was
! $3,162.13, showing that the bills on the
auditors report included about $40C
worth of paper. The report further
shows that of this, the house used
! $1,2S4.79, the senate $S75.45 d total OF
$2,14224. This leaves but little over
! 1000 as the actual stationery bill OF
the state departments. The bill Of
! So 800. referred to above, is, therefore
/ 81, 800 in excess OF the legislative sta
! tionery bill of 1895.
j 1t is enough to pay the stationery
! bill Of the legislature and run the state
| departments, including all the normal
! schools, state hospitals, reformatory
! prison and the like, for nearly two
| years.
! But it will not The state depart
7ments are buying their own stationery
! The bill is seauestered The people
! of the state are denied, by Secretary
| of State Berg, the knowledge Of what
! this unusually ,Galmost unprecedented
| ly, large bill represents to them.
| rroU OxJuy q. M tpnVs, cUUrrva<r