Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-09-01

than they are now. The editor of tht
Sentinel might also have Informed hi.
readers i'm connection with his state.
ment as to wages in 1876, that the State
printers received So cents a thousand
ems for book composition at that time
where they only receive 42 cents a
thousand ems at the present time, and
that other prices of the contract were
in like proportion.
only once in the last thirty-eigh
years has the printing gone outside
or the Journal office. That year is
readily distinguished-by anyone who
| takes the trouble to visit our State
library-by the inferior quality of
much of the work. This was the re-
suit of an attempt to do the State
printing with facilities that were en-
| tirely inadequate. That was in 1879,
when the sO-called Fusion party had
control of the State. For ten years
prior to that, Messrs. Sprague. Owen &
Nash of the Kennebec Journal had
done the State printing. They received
fifty cents per thousand ems for plain
composition, and fifty-five cents on job
and blank work. They had a dollar a
token for press work and forty cents
an hour for hour work.
Mr.. E. F. Pillsbury took the print
ing about 20 per cent. lower than this.
receiving only forty-two cents per
thousand ems for book work, and
forty-eight cents for job and blank
work. For press work he received
ninety cents per token for book work.
seventy-five cents per token for job
work, and thirty cents per hour for
hour work. These are the prices which
are paid for State printing at the
present time, notwithstanding the fact
that printers then worked ten hours
a day, where they now work nine
hours a day, and that the scale Of
wages today is considerably higher
than it was then. Mr.. Pillsbury soon
found that he had undertaken a far
greater contract than he could carry
out. He had no help that understood
how to handle such work. His facili-
ties We're utterly inadequate to do it.
For while he attempted to carry on
the work by farming it out in piece
meal among the various job offices in
the vicinity. But their combined facil-
tiles were not equal to the work. and
when the Legislature got underway
and it's work began to pour in, its
deliberations were brought to an
abrupt standstill by the inability of
the printer to keep up with the run Of
daily business. 1t was novel situ-
alton for Maine Legislature. Mat
ters had gone along so smoothly in
former years that little thought had
been given to the vast plant and
large force of skilled printers, ex-
perienced in such work, that were
necessary to handle properly and
promptly the printing of a legislative
session. For the first time. perhaps,
in the history of the State the value of
a large and thoroughly equipped State
printing establishment was brought
forcibly to the attention of the Legis-
lature. It's members saw the few hun
dred dollars saved on Mr.. Pillsbury's
contract speedily disappear while the
Legislature waited in idleness at
large daily expense for him to catch
up with the procession. 1t was a con-
dition and not theory that confront
ed them. They could see but one way
out of the dilemma and after some de-
lay they reluctantly adopted. A COM
mittee was sent to the Kennebec Jour-
nal proprietors to request them to help
Mr.. Pillsbury out on the legislative
printing. The Journal force immedi-
ately took hold of the work, and once
more the wheels of legislation revolved. |
The legislative printing today is more |
and the present Journal plant is more
than three times as large as the one |
that came to Mr.. Pillsbury's assist |
ance. The following year Messrs.
Sprague and Son. of the Journal, again |
took up the work on the same contract |
that Mr.. Pillsbury had, and the low
prices then established are the ones
in the present statute law.
If DR.. Jones, chairman of the Maine
Democratic State committee can sue
ceed in his effort to hold all the Joneses
in line for his fickof tho cbaIo IF |