The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1906-10-16

GEORGE III. COlllH, all GIulHchI pa
triot and devotee at the shrine of
public service, Is one of the cOun-
ty commissioners who say that $25
a month expense money is not as
much as he might draw in case he
cared to go to the trouble of max
ing sworn statement of the items
of his expense as commissioner.
Chairman Collins patriotism and
desire to be busy with county af-
fairs does not stop with the month.
w donation" of all over the $25
which he might draw" In mo.
ment of tremendous ardor in be.
half of the Smooth running" of
things at the courthouse he volun-
tarily assumed the duties of an
office created by the board especial
ly for him, the benevolent job of
county purchasing agent.
The visible duties of the county
D. a. consist of examining requisi-
tons made upon him by heads of
the county departments, instruct
ing the deputy county auditor who
acts as clerk to Commissioner Col,
lin and Dean as to what name to
insert in the blank line reserved
for a firm which shall get the job.
and putting the requisition into the
purchasing agents inside coat
pocket until the deal is made.
The invisible labors of the job
are the ones which are strenuous.
They include; Buying In such a
way as to satisfy the gang, the OBJ
tanning Of an article Of certain
degree of merit, and keeping as far
as possible the actual price from
becoming a matter of general pub.
lie information. This Is done by
more or less elaborate system
known by the harmless-appearing
title, inviting bids" The calling
list of these Invites" has never
been published. 1t Is said that the
purchasing agent never had to de-
velop his memory so as to be able
to keep the list in his head. In this
work the purchasing agent, a veri-
table Pythias of the public, has
the active assistance of that other
staunch friend of invited bids,
the Hon. Damon Dean. What might
miss the acute minds of these two
investors of public funds would be
infinitesimal.
One of the extreme worries of the
p. a. is quieting suspicious of
favoritism and quelling thoughts
of rake-off which might rankle in
the breasts Of the other courthouse
officials. Time was when those
other officials did their own buying
The "other boys in the courthouse
rather kicked at first. But they
don't grumble about 1t as much as
they did-they found it didn't do
EN- any good.
Among the proudest achieve.
ments of the p. a. was the acquisi.
ton for $306 of the public money
of the tract index books, or some
other tones, which might have been
secured for so to rs per cent less.
This was considered great victory
for home industry of a certain kind.
The p. a. was annoyed by an in.
Quisitive man who found memo.
randum suggesting that the p. a.
might have got a rebate in his own
name. Prosecuting Attorney Barn.
hart, defender OF the faithful, has
not succeeded yet in convicting
Nethercutt Of attempted blackmail
or Collin of graft. Damon Dean
stood by his confrere in his hour
Of tribulation with a show of inter.
est which was vocal of apprehension
lest the invited bid" system had
been proved a dismal failure.
Soon after his experience with
the invited bid" system CON-
menced. the p. a. discovered that
1t was not always adequate. To
fill the want he invented the
pass it around" system, which has
as its essence the allaying of fever
on the part of those opponents of
home industry" who feel that they
have not been invited" for alto