Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-02-08
BLEEDING UNCLE SAM
Grating Still Flourishes In the
Departments.
HOW THE PEOPLE ARE PLUNDERED
Extraordinary Difference In Prices
Paid For Supplies Tor the Govern
mcnt Ofiiccs-A Long Lease of Pow
CT Has Given Rise to Lax Manage
ment and Extravaganza.

ment and ExtrayN4nnce.
That as fast as one graft is found out
and abolished there arc two others al
work p%lundcring the people is shown
by the purchase of supplies for the gov.
ernmcnt offices. When the scandal in
the postottice department exposed such
Republican r%ottenness many people
fondly imagined that since some Of the
graftcrs We're punished all the graft
ing and extravaganza We're abolished
But, although there has been improve,
mcnt III the poStoffice department, the
price now being paid for supplies in the
other departments shows grating OF
gross ignorance. AS red tape is a sup.
posed necessity in a government Office
every department buys a large quaint.
ty, but the price varies according tc
the ~propenSitieS of the purchasing
agent. The war department paid $1.42
for a dozen spools, while the state de-
partment paid 1925. For oilers for the
typewriters the navy department paid
Is cents a dozen, while the interior de.
partment paid $1.10 per dozen. Fol
foolscap paper the postof1ice depart.
ment paid 81 cents Il pound, while the
navy department paid 992-1OO cents a
pound. For quart bottles of writing
fluid the p~ostoffice department paid
$1.30 a dozen, while the department OF
justice paid $3.50 a dozen. For small
bottles of mucilage the postofice paid
81 cents a dozen, while the war depart.
ment paid $1.95. For quart bottles OF
mucilage there was ven more dispari.
ty, for while the postoffice department
paid $1.65 the department of agricul.
ture paid So, and the department OF
Justice paid 1888.
For tracing cloth t~hirty-six inches
wide, twenty yards in each roll, the
war department paid $3.50 a roll, while
all the other departments paid as high
IS $6.14 a roll for the same article sold
by the same firm.
There is an interesting variety OF
prices in the table for copying ink. The
p~ostoflce department paid $1.70 a doz.
en- quart bottles; the navy department,
$5.76; treasury, $40; commerce and
labor, $685.; agriculture, 81; the int.
rior, $3.50, and the department Of JUS.
tice, with it's usual high price, S5.SS.
For red ink the postofice paid "a
cents for n dozen two ounce bottles;
the war department, 70 cents; the navy
department, GO cents, and the agricul-
t11rn1 1opo ,tnop+ % oop+o
1t will be noticed that the postofice
department, where the scandals caused
a shakeup and a new Office was created
to purchase all the supplies used, the
prices now are the lowest and presuma-
bly, reasonable. But what can be said
of the buyers of all the other depart
ments, who are paying so much more.
in many cases double?
From the department of justice,
which appears to be the most extrava-
CANT or the greatest CRATER, down tc
the department of agriculture, which
has been under suspicion for some
time, there is evident need Of business
supervision, for the price paid for some
articles is more than the same could be
bought for at retail.
Under a Republican administration
Uncle Sam is bled at every pore,
whether it is millions for armor plate
O. thousands on ink and mucilage. A
long lease of power breeds extraya-
gance and grating, and what is need
cd is a Democratic congress to investi,
gate all the departments of the govern
ment, for it is almost impossible for q
party in power to reform itself that re-
lies upon graft for it's campaign funds.