The Adair County news., 1907-09-25

i
as records in their respective dis
tricts
In 1902. the Superintendent of pub
lie instruction. following the prece-
dent set by Governor Bradley and adj
ministration, ordered from Henry
Bacon, the contractor to WON the
second class printing had been award
ed, $4,000 Of these books which were
shipped to the various counties of the
state A bill for 5000 was presented
for tl.e work and the board. composed
of four Democrats and one Republican,
Hon Clifton j. Pratt, for the purpose
of satisfying itself that the work had
been done by the proper contractor,
postponed action in the matter until
the question of the class to which this
printing belonged could be fully de-
termined. The matter was referred to
the Hon. Clifton ]. Pratt, the then
Republican attorney general of Ken
lucky, then and always regarded as
a conscientious and able lawyer, and
it was determined by him as a matter
Of legal construction, as we'll as by
the board, that the work had been
properly assigned to the second class
and the work so classified was paid
for under the contract at the contract
prices, no more and no less.
Democratic Officials Exonerated.
This whole question was considered
by an investigating committee, ap-
pointed by the senate of Kentucky,
composed almost entirely of men out
of harmony with the administration,
which committee after hearing all the
evidence made report, which was
adopted by vote of "a to 4, (three
Republicans and one Democrat voting
against it,, completely generating the
printing commission from any blame,
fixing the blame, if any, upon the
terms of the law and not in its ad-
ministration by members of the board
The committee in its report (Senate
Journal 1904, page 1915 &C. said in
part, Eve find, first: That the con-
tracts for public printing were let by
the printing commissioners in strict
conformity with the law; that is, said
contracts were severally let to the low
est bidder after due advertisement,
as required by law. Second: We find
that the work performed under said
contracts has been done in substantial
compliance with the contracts and the
law relative thereto"
And again whether the work was
first or second class, was the question
presented in a suit filed by Attorney
General Hays in the fiscal court of
the state against Mr.. Bacon to require
him to refund to the state the differ
ence between what he was paid and
what the books would have cost if
they had been made under the con-
tract for first class printing.
The court decided as Attorney Gen.
eral Pratt and the other members of
the board had previously decided, that
the work in question belonged to the
second class. Thus Republican at
torney general, a legislative investi-
eating committee and judicial de-
termination, have all upheld and sus-
tanned the printing board in paying
this bill about which the Republicans
in this campaign are trying to make
capital.
The amount of printing required
by the state has vastly increased in
the last eight years. Under an act of
1900, all the paper used for ballots in
the elections is now furnished and
paid for by The state. j
The rapidly growing public business
of the state naturally increases the
amount of work in every department
OF government and necessitates the
purchase of more record books, blanks
and other matter furnished by the pub
lie printers.
And yet with all this increase of
work, deducting the cost of ballot
paper, the average annual cost of
printing and binding for the eight
years Of Democratic administration is
S43,613.15, while the average cost for
four years under Republican admin
istration was SAG, 1906.
This shows that notwithstanding the
great increase in the amount of work
required now, the cost to the state
has been $2,56791 year less than
it was under Republican administra-
ton.
If Mr. Wilson can find any cam
paign material in these facts he is
welcome to it.
How and Why Attorneys Fees Were
Paid.
Another subject from which the Re-
publicans are seeking to extract polit-
zeal capital is fees paid attorneys"
They charge that exorbitant fees
have been paid to attorneys to aid in