The Glenwood post., 1904-04-16
STATE CAPITAL NOTES
Money Saved on State Printing.

Commissioner of Printing w. A.
! Platt has made a report to Governor
/ Peabody, covering the first quarter of
| the current year.
The report demonstrates the wisdom
| of the last Legislature in putting one
man in charge of the state printing.
Previous to the last session which ere
ated the office of the State Commis-
/ sioner of Printing the matter of
making contracts for printing had been
placed in the hands of clerk in the
/ Secretary of States Office; but as a
matter Of fact the various departments
did their own contracting.
The report states that during the
year just ended the total expenses for
printing have been $20,64459. The
books of the department show that the
expenditures for the previous year.
1902, was $52, ,1S4.43, more than two
and a half times as much. The reduc-
ton was partly due to the smaller
amount of printing ordered by the de-
partments of state, and partly to the
smaller amounts paid for printing. A
careful estimate of the cost of print
ing for the last year at the rates paid
during the previous year would have
raised the amount from $20,644.5O to
s37,700. In other words there has
been total saving of $31 500 during
the new administration, $14,500 of it
due to the smaller amounts ordered by
the departments, and $4,000 leakage
on prices paid during the previous
year.
The total cost of printing for the BIZ
ennial period, including the years 1901
and 1902, was about $4,000. The to.
tai cost for the present biennial period,
as nearly as can be estimated at the
present time, will be about 100000,
considerably less than half the former
cost. A portion of Mr.. Platt's report
reads as follows:
"If the amount paid for printing of
House and Senate Journals, Session
Laws, ETC., be taken from the totals
for the two years under comparison,
the difference is even more striking. In
the year April, 1901-02 the cost of
printing, aside from those items, was
more than $4,000; in the year April,
10000 it is less than $13,5OO-just
about one-third.
THE excessive prices paid in pre-
vious years for printing were largely
due to the fact that so many articles
of quite common use were not speci-
fled in the contract. In some Of these
cases, l have been able to bring them
under the present contract without un-
duly stretching its provisions, and in
cases where articles ordered were
clearly not within the contract, l have
obtained bids and let the contract to
the lowest bidder. In former years it
was a general practice to order letter
heads, blanks, circulars and the like,
on a higher grade of paper than was
specified in the contract, thus running
up bills for extras. There is a general
disposition in all the departments now
to avoid these extras and to keep down
the cost of printing as low as possible.
When the new contracts are let, next
fall. l shall see to it that they are
made as specific as possible. and that
all articles of common use are
brought within their terms.
while most of the excessive prices
paid in former years were on account
of defects in the contract, some of
them appear to have been clearly in
violation of its provisions. l am not
able to find any instance Of a blank or
record book which was paid for at the
rate named. The contract price for
such books was 81 per Quire, and most
of the books. if paid for on this basis
should have cost $S each. AS mat
ter of record, they did cost all the
way from s22 to $50. The average
price of an ordinary book was about
$35. Now it is $12."