The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-23

per annum Is set aside at the present time for this business. Herman proposes to 1t on order to ees Se o 1r Gs of the money order business the contrac- tors carry on hand a stock of paper val capital. accord according W to nj his % own % Statements, Is $20000. which includes the payments which he must make on the paper, stock, machinery. presses. plates and htho-
 The money order business varies in ex- tent. Sometimes about 800 books a day satisiies the demand At other times; the high as 2.300 books daily, the average be- ing about 1900 books per diem. The pres the the varying ~ requirements of fta the d depart ment as they do an extensive business on similar lines with private firms and cor eS asSo books tbey empoyes from another division to the money order work and when the demand slackened proposes to devote the entire business of his plant to the printing of money orders and will thus be unabe to call in the services of extra employees as the occa-
 At the present time the Department owes the contractors more than $25.Oo0 for pelled to await the passage of an urgency This situation IS due to the fact that the money order business has grown more rapidly than the Department and Con gress believed it would and consequently more blanks were needed than were ap. June. when the money was due and the time when the urgency deficiency act will be passed about six months will have tractors will receive no interest on the $25.000 which the Postoffice Department owes tlem Should sinelar condition carrying the Postoffice Department for $25 900 when his entire capital consists of $20. 900 seem to be very small,
 If money order blanks were In the same class with government documents the great precautions which the Postoffice De- partment is now taking would not be nec- revenue from the money order business of approximately 5000 a day and should MT. Herman fail to furnish blanks, of one week, the net loss in revenue to the government would more than exhaust his bond of $50.000. furnished by bond States: however. would not resent the possible loss to the government in reve- nue. so much as they would their own in- convenience and those who. desired to transmit money by means of the money with an explanation from the Postofice money order business had been tempo rarilv suspended owing to the failure of the contractor to furnish the necessary tected by his bond. As the money order business amounts to $1 300 GOO per day the serious interference with the business of the country which would result from stoppage of even three or four days is
 Ever since Congress decided that these impre S sion RS has ' preYhted that large prof- it's were to be made out of such con tracts. Some time ago the adv.sability of bidding on this contract was submitted to a firm of printers In Wisconsin, Post master General Payne's home State: This firm had done large quantities of printing for MT. Payne in political cam paignsin Wisconsin, and in national cam paigns and he probably thought there was an opportunity to favor it. member of over all the specifications as carefully as he could being afforded every facility by Postmaster GeneYal Payne and after re- turning to Wisconsin, notified the Post master General that there was no money to be made in the contract. It Is under stood that a second trip was made with being told that the figures at which the old contract was being executed were lower than the Wisconsin firm could do Herman expec' to knock off from $40.000 to $6o.o0O and still make a profit Is doubt- less source of wonder to the aforesaid
 A great point has been made that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and because they have no nthographing" plants. Aside from the fact that the law contemplate the public. printer shall have .'lithographins done. in his own estab- lishment or by contract, when necessary. and that no discretion Is given any off1- cial to waive the provisions of the law, it order blanks have been printed from steel plates Up to the present time the Post. office Department has been unable to. find any difference between thos printed from steel plates and those from stone" and as the work has been executed in a sat isfactory manner. it is presumed no fault for using steel plates. The question Is, theref ere. If steel plates can be used in this work and. as Representative Lacey stated in the House at the time, the law was enacted that they were to be steel engravings' why cannot this work be done at the government printing office and the Bureau oi Engraving and Print | ing.