The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-06-28
PRINTING THE CODE

tract, which, it seems, goes to & Lin
coin, Neb., house and not 10 any local
house. The News is bitter in what il
says. What is says Is worth examin-
ing in detail:
This matter Of sending FIVE or six
thousand dollars worth Of work out Of
the state when there are just as COM
petent and deserving workRien within,
ought TO be looked upon with consider
able care. If the work cannot be done
here properly and at q reasonable fig
ure, that may be sufficient reason FOR
giving the state such n black eye as
sending its printing elsewhere, but it
should not be done hastily.
The local houses that bid on it had
the chance TO keep it in the state. but
they did not do so. The News bid. and
its bid was about $4,000, while the
Lincoln houses bid was about $4,000,
just one-half. Is $4,000 a reasonable
figure for the very same work that
can be done for $4,000? The Tribune
also bid on the printing of the code,
and it bid $1,000 less than the News.
How does this come? Are not living
expenses and the rate of composition
just as high for the one as for the
other. both being in the same city and
distant from each other but two and
half blocks? When the bid of one
house is double that of another. the
bid of that house is not reasonable"
whatever else it may be.
The News, in the heat of its discus
sion. says:
c. 60, - +1,o ,,,i,,+a,e ora oopoarped
some very Strong statements are be-
ing made, and ought to receive exam
ination. It may be that the printers
are mistaken, and if so, it should be
shown. Competent persons in the pro-
fession, not connected with competing
bidders, do not hesitate TO say that the
specifications were drawn up with the
particular effect, whether intentional or
not. of croWding the local printers out.
However that may be in it's full appli-
cation, it is certain that in some i'm
portant respects the specifications are
inconsistent and unreasonable. This
being the case they should be modified,
and a fair chance should be given. II
their effect is as claimed by the print
ers. then it is imperative that the mat
ter be looked into.
That contains very dirty and con-
tamptible insinuation against General
p. w. Young, Judge Grant H. Smith
and Attorney William A. Lee, the code
commission. If anybody is making
charges against these gentlemen. let
them be formulated and those who are
responsible for them come forward like
men and substantiate them, if they
can. The burden of proof is upon
them We don't believe there is a
man can be found who has the temerity
to come out boldly and say that the
specifications for printing the code
were fixed" 50 as to bar out local
printers. And if Nebraska printers can
comply with them, what is to hinder
Utah printers doing the same thing?
A thousand dollars saved on one
hand easily might be three thousand
lost on the other, since the cheapening
really does not accrue to the benefit OF
the state. The cost of workmen'S liv-
ing, and of the production of such a
lawbook, is higher here than in Ne
braska, for various reasons, principally
connected with locality.
Does the saving of $4,000 on con-
tract wherc the highest bid was $4,000
amount to anything? The taxpayers
The News closes its article with the
following:
But the state should be the last one
to allow an unavoidable discrimination
to operate against its citizens. The -
triotism of supporting home industry
demands that If the work can be done
here well and at a reasonable price. it
should be done; and to that general
policy the News has been committed
through its career. No captious
aestheticism should be allowed to
stand in the way of doing the work at
home. The matter ought to be looked
into, and if the award as made at
present is the best thing to do il
should stand; if not, it should be dis
approved. And the public should be
satisfied that there is no room for COM
plant.
The patriotism of supporting home
industry demands that a local bid
come somewhere within a thousand
miles of a reasonable figure" There
is the discordant note of disappoint-
ment in the News talk about the
patriotism of supporting home in
dustrv."
Certainly there should be no cause
Of complaint about the letting of the
contract to print the code, but there
would have been had the contract been
awarded to one house at double the
figure another will do the work at.
Now as to the matter of letting the
contract TO local house on the grounds
of encouraging home industry. The
home houses should be given the
preference every time where all things
are equal. Moreover. if their bid
should be somewhat larger, within
reasonable limits, it would still be as
well to favor the local house, and public
sentiment would probably justify the
letting of a contract to it. But to in
woke the patriotism of supporting
home industry for the purpose Of
justifying the letting of a contract to
a local house as against an outside
house at a price from rs per cent to 100
per cent higher is all poppycock, and
there is no patriotism about it.
In this case the taxpayers will
unanimously approve the course of the
code commission.
USELESS APPEALS FOR AID.