The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1905-10-13
A snODERN INSTANCE"


sue about the unnecessary enlarge
ments of the volume Of State printing
during the Jennings regime led us to
make brief investigation, and a com
parison of one Of the most fragrant in
stances of this peculiar species of graft
with the uniform economy Of previous
administrations. The result was not
unexpected, but was somewhat start
ling, even to one reasonably familiar
with the history and record Of that reck-
less and unprecedented period.
The official report Of the State Comp
troller for the year 1903 was, indeed, a
wonder! 1t contained $50 pages, and
was nearly two inches IN thickness!
The largest report issued by Comp
troler Reynolds (fCr 1900 did not ex-
coed in size 100 pages! How is that for
comparison of the requirements of
that office with an interval Of only three
years intervening?
But, TO do equal justice to all, we
must consider the fact that Of the $50
pages referred TO, l65 pages were de-
voted IN an appendix reciting the num-
bers and dates of large number Of
State bonds refunded and cancelled, and
the official correspondence relating
thereto. Deducting this extraordinary
feature, the remainder Of the report,
comprising 495 pages, may fairly be
compared with that Of Comptroller
Reynolds for 1900. How was it possible
TO swell the income Of the State printer
on this single item 1876 per cent?
One way was to duplicate the list Of
State pensioners, which was first
printed altogether, occupying IS pages,
and then chopped up and reprinted mot
exactly reprinted, either, but the same
type inserted in other places in a series
of county statements, new feature,
apparently Invented for the especial
purpose of swelling the size of the re-
port. These county statements consist
exclusively Of matter previously printed
in the report-lke the pension list-in
its proper place, and simply made use
Of again, rearranged so as to collate
under the name Of each county the va
rious items of fact OF which the county
statements are composed. This new
feature, altogether needless and un-
called for, occupies over 300 pages.
Thus it appears that Of the 495 pages
Of the report proper, 800 pages was
! Ia NH lnW aH
sarily. As the State printer, under his
contract, received at least As cents per
page for printing the Comptroller's re-
port, and so cents per page for the same
matter embraced in the Message and
Documents, " the amount Of this item
of graft, so far as we can now know
anything about it from the face Of the
record was 1886 quite a tidy sum.
Whether that was all he got out of it
we have no means of knowing without
resort to the receipted vouchers.
But compare this 495-page report with
the graft eliminated, with Reynolds
last-named report of 100 pages This
is still nearly double the size of that!
How did it happen? One way was to
swell the report of railroad and tele-
graph assessments from 81 pages in
Reynolds 1900 report to 80 pages!
Here are 81 pages more Of graft ac-
counted for, at 80 cents per page, maxi
ing trihe less than $50, and making
the aggregate of unwarranted imposi-
ton upon the taxpayers Of the State
foot up 1886, and making the honest
size of the report apparently only 43
pages larger than the Reynolds report,
This 43 pages was doubtless made up
by "scamping, " which is a good tech
meal term for cutting off the tip end of
a table from page which would easily
have held it all, and running the
"scamped" fragment over on another
page-tO make another page in the
count. Instances of this practice are
frequent throughout the volume.
This is enough for the present. Should
occasion arise. we may consult the re-
ceipted vouchers on file, and make a
more accurate statement Of this inter
esting matter,
JENNINGS BOARD MEMBERS.
A correspondent requests us to give