The San Francisco call., 1907-02-07
NE ETHODS OF
STATE PRINTER
CALL HEADQUARTERS,
1907 EIGHTH STREET.

SACRAMENTO. Feb. 6.-State Printer
Shannon underwent a fire of questions
in the room of the ways and means
committee tonight that must have
made him feel like a Thaw alienist.
He stood the ordeal fairly well, but had
to make a few unpleasant admissions.
For instance, he could not deny that
he had sold a printing press belong
ing to the State to his father for $500.
The press cost $4,000, but Shannon ex-
planned that it was old. Still it was
good enough to be used in fathers
printing office.
Other presses discarded by the State
went outside the shannon family. One
that cost S400 was sold to an Oak
Grove printer for $50. Still another
that the witness admitted might have
cost $4,000 was bestowed on a Grass
Valley, newspaper publisher for 5000.
All the sales were approved by the
State Board of Examiners none of the
members of which knew anything
about the printing business.
Assemblyman Jury, a printer and
publisher of long experience. did most
of the questioning, but Chairman Estu-
dillo and Assemblyman Held also made
inquiries. Few lines of research were
overlooked. shannon was even asked
who owned the saloon across the street
from the State Printing Office. He de-
What the inquisitors expressed the
keenest desire to know was why the
State has to pay more for printing
done in its own office than it would
have to pay to get the work done in a
private office. In reply shannon told
how he had made s210.000 for the State
in four years. He declared great re-
duction had been made in the price
since 1899 and spoke with awe of the
enormous rates paid in the old days
when the work was done by private
contract.
Assemblyman Jury picked up nu-
merous official reports one by one and
went into details, laying great stress
on the small number of pages in pro-
portion to the price. A thousand copies
of the report of the State Board of
Health, a pamphlet of 15s pages, cost
$S57.50. Jury figured that the report
could have been turned out at a profit
for s3S5.50. thousand copies of the
report of the State Agricultural Society
a pamphlet of 27S pages, cost s1700.
Shannons original estimate was 5000.
but he couldn't remember why he had
made cut of $1,000.
When the questioning grew warm,
shannon put the blame on the printers
in his office. Our one weak spot is
the composition he said. owing to
the short time we can give steady en-
ployment we cannot get the men we
want and some of those we get don't
do the work they should for the amount
they are paid. We can't fire them be-
cause we can't get better men to take
their places.
Jury asked other questions equally
pertinent. He wanted to know wheth-
er any precautions were taken to in
sure delivery of the proper amount of
paper ordered and to guard against
substitution of inferior quality. Shan
non declared that extreme care was
RAISING question:
If nearly all the State departments
complain that they were being charged
too much asked Jury, do you think
there is any merit in their complaint?"
shannon replied by reading list of
reductions which he said had been ef
fected under his administration.
Next Jury wanted to know why the
State charges $1.25 page for printing
law briefs wnen one big Arm in San
Francisco does similar work for so
cents, while another is anxious to get
ii for SO cents. Shannon was surprised
to hear that such low rates were made
in San Francisco, in fact he didn't be-
lieve it until Jury assured him that
he had paid only so cents a page for
briefs.
Assemblyman Walsh asked just one
question. He wanted to know whether
the Crocker Company got in on the
paper contract recently or had been
in for some time. Shannon answered