The Washington herald., 1908-02-03

The Congressional investigation of the
Government Printing ONCE, or at least
.of the contracts made between that Office
and The Audit System and the one
which it was proposed to make between
the printery and the Suffolk Distrbut-
ing Company through the System" be-
gins at II o'clock this morning before the
Joint Committee on Printing
Representative Lands, chairman Of the
joint committee, was out Of the city last
night. but Representative Perkins. an
other member, said that the investigation
Of the alleged connection between The
Audit System and the Suffolk Distributing
Company Will be taken up at once.
An the men who were requested TO be
present at the meeting Of the committee. -
said Mr.. Perkins, with the possible ex-
ception of one, will be present this morn
ing before the committee AS there will
be much testimony for the committee to
bring out. and as there viii be but a
short time between the hour of meeting
II o'clock, and the hour of the beginning
Of business in the House. it does not
make much difference apparently II all
these men are not present tomorrow.
VIII Take Several Days.
The committee will. think. be unable
TO get through with the hearings for pos
sibly several days, and in that time there
viii be ample opportunity for the testi-
mony Of many Witnesses.
J. F. Handy, president Of the Suffolk
Distributing Company, whose relations
with The Audit System the committee is
anxious to determine. will probably not
be in Washington in time to be present
at the opening Of the investigation this
morning.
The committee. il is understood. wired
20 MT, Handy and 10 other out-of-town
men whom Il desired to have present at
this meeting, but Mr.. Handy couldn't be
reached, il is said, as he had already left
New York. bound for Cincinnati.
Mr.. Handy, it was stated yesterday, will,
however. not fail to appear before the
committee as soon as possible. and may,
indeed, reach Washington to-day. As ne
is the head OF the Suffolk Distributing
Company his testimony will be eagerly
awaited BY the committee.
While the committee may only examine
System and the Suffolk Distributing Com
pany, it is more than probable that the
other phases of the present Government
Printing ONCE question will receive some
attention from the investigators.
RaynOr May Tell.
Vice President Raynor Of The Audit
System, who has been called tentatively
TO testify to the alleged relations between
the two concerns, may also be required
10 tell something about his own particu-
lar company before the committee is
through with him
W A. Root. present Washington agent
for The Audit System and alleged agent
for the Suffolk Distributing Company
may also be called upon to testify as TO
certain contracts between the Govern
ment Printing ONCE and the System"
rs well as the alleged relations between
the two aforementioned concerns.
So far as is known at present. the i've
men. all Of whom are supposed 10 be con-
nected with or have knowledge of both
The Audit System and the Suffolk Dis
tributing Company will be questioned
first about the alleged relations between
the two companies.
the joint committee after II once digs
into the strange manner Of conducting
the Government Printing Office. may de-
sire to find out more about past and pres
ent conditions in Mr.. Charles A. Stillings'
and the governments printing establish
ment.
The hearing, it is believed. cannot be
terminated in one, two, or even three
days, but viii be extended, unless the
members O. the committee can be ex-
cused from House duties and devote all
their time thereto for several days after
this morning
VIII Take Time.
Even II no more witnesses are called
than the five officials, or former officials.
of the two companies, the taking OF their
testimony alone will suffice to keep the
committee rather busy for some time.
The Audit System has been in the Gov
ernment Printing Office for almost seven
teen months, and the committee will no
doubt be glad 10 hear what il has done to
earn its $3.50 per week IN that time.