The Elk Mountain pilot., 1902-06-17
ARAPAHOE COUNTY ROBBED BY.
EXORBITANT PRINTING BILLS.

Denver, June 12-The News of yes
terday gives an account of great
printing scandal brought to light by the
report of special investigating
committee appointed by the judge
of the Arapahoe county court. The
matter is one of general interest.
as the Smith Brooks Printing Com
pany, who do the county printing, are
also printers for the state of Colorado.
The report indicates great negligence,
to say the least, on the part of the
county commissioners.
Harvey Riddell, attorney; w. H..
Kistler, stationer and printer, and
Thomas l.. Bonfils. clerk of the county
court. reported on Monday to Judge
Ben B. Lindsey the result of an in
vestigation made at his request into
the moneys paid by Arapahoe county
to the Smith-Brooks Printing Company
for printing and stationery, between
January Z, 1901, and April 30 last.
The report was transmitted to the
board of county commissioners by
Judge Lindsey, with request that I'M
mediate action be taken thereon and
that suit be brought to recover the
overchargeS from the Smith-Brooks
Company.
The committee finds that more than
$4,000 was paid for printing and sta
tionery to the Smith Brooks Company
during the period named, and that at
least half of the amount was an over
charge.
The report occupies about two col
umns and is accompanied by tables
showing the alleged overcharges upon
which its findings are based. 1t is, in
part, as follows:
Denver, June ., 1902.-Hon. Ben b.
Lindsey, Judge County Court, City
Dear Sir: In compliance with your COM
munication of the 9th ultimo, we here
with submit to you the result of our In
vestigations. As you were particularly
concerned regarding charges against
your own court, we first devoted our
attention to the bills rendered by the
Smith-Brooks Printing Company to the
county commissioners for printing,
supplies and stationery, ordered by
them for your court under tsc frsent
contract and specifications for 1902.
Back of the present year we have
been unable with any degree of abso-
lutte certainty to pursue our investiga-
tions sto all charges made against
your court. The reasons for this are,
first, because you have been unable, un-
til the evening of this day, to furnish
us with the contract and specifications
for 1901, and second, because up to the
first of the present year the bills for
supplies furnished by this company for
the different branches of the county
government seem not to have been sep
arated or satisfactorily itemized.
by the specifications each Item
therein bid upon is designated by what
is known as form number consisting
of a letter and number following as
f.,- f,,..t ftnf, A. M N
the specifications which points out such
item. the nature therof and the price
bid therefor.
I'VE have. however. taken at random
several bills and different items of ac-
count for both years 1901 and 1902,
and these demonstrate beyond any
doubt that not only your own court
but in our opinion, every other branch
of the county government has been
charged outrageous and indefensible
prices for printing and stationery.
''In the first place the contract prices
in the great majority of cases for work
required by tine county have been ex-
orbitant and beyond all reason, and i'll
the second place that there has appar-
emily been no pretense to limit the
charge to even the contract price.
"The plain terms and letter of the
contract in nearly every particular
have been violated with apparent im-
punity For. as TO the contract itself,
it seems TO be sham on n mere casual
inspection.
For instance. take the item of envel-
opes, the specifications on page one, de-
tail n great variety of such envelopes;
form A-2 calls for Quantity wanted
2,0o0). size (No. 10). quality (NN white.
bid. S1.50 per thousand, while further
down the column there is form CO
Quantity wanted 1000, size tNo. lo),
quality CNN white). price per thousand,
50. This system is carried out through
out the bids for envelopes. The only
earthly difference in the specifications
is that the same envelope is to be had
at S15O in quantities of 1000 and 50
in quantities of 1000, SO that 2,ooo
%%%%%%$$A$