Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-03-17

nitely postpone this bill, and that would
be in the hands OF the Governor and
Council. If your Governor and Coun-
Gil with the aid of a practical printer
and with the opportunity to so out and
get the advice of other printers when
ever they need one, cannot handle the
expecting too much of them to expect
them to govern the rest of your State,
because that is just one little item OF
the States business.
The bill now before the House was
prepared by the present auditor of
state printing. l believe him to be an
honest and conscientious man, Jealous
of course in his work, and a man who
has given faithful service to the State.
l have observed it, and he should have
continued to be a necessary officer Of
the State excepting for the change in
the law which occurred two years ago,
when you put Mr.. Hatch'S office into
existence and decided TO spend instead
of four or five hundred dollars a year
for doing the auditing of the State
printing, $4,000 or $4,000 year for
doing everything. | believe that was
| II W lSC 1IlcNt. 4NoN, 1 say ~
postpone this bill would leave
every bill that came from any
printer to be audited Through Mr.
Hatch's department, would leave
your Governor and Council free to
employ a practical man whenever they
wanted to, to arrange their system of
bids once in two years. ] hope the
House will not, even with the advice
Of the legal affairs committee. create
this new, expensive and unnecessary
bureau.
Mr. MARSHALL of Portland: Mr..
Speaker. I will only take q few mo-
mcnts of the time of the House in eX-
planning the attitude of the committee
on legal affairs in respect to this bill.
AS the gentleman from Watervillc M-.
PattangalD stated, he presented bill
to abolish the office of auditor of State
printing. Upon that bill the commit
tee has acted favorable and has voted
to abolish it. With that bill goes this
one which you are now considering,
making the work heretofore done by
the State auditor. casting it rather
upon the superintendent of state
printing The use of the word AUDI
tor | will say in the first place is I'm
fortunate. That is not the true ofnce
of the present incumbent: it is not
the true title of the occupant OF that
office He is in fact a superintendent.
An auditor, as / understand it, IS one
who merely goes over work and checks
it off after it is done and sees that It
is properly put in and all those de-
tails are attended to after the work is
DONE In the present instance the
work of the State auditor. If we may
so term it at the present time, or the
term of the State superintendent OF
printing. begins at the very time OF
the purchase of the stock or the Sc
lecting of the stock upon which lhe
printing is to be done. His attention
should be given to the work right
straight down through the line to ana
including the work of printing and
binding.
Now. for the purpose of saving time
and for the sake of accuracy l VIII 3"
over some Of the minutes taken az
the time of the hearing 1t was seen
in the first place that the office 81
state auditor was created in 1895,
some IA wears ago However as l
understand it. as early as 1881 ana
possibly earlier than that there mas
always been in the employ OF the COY
ernor and Council an experienced
printer In the year 1908, as the gen
t1cman from Waterville has stated, an
investigation Was made by the COM
nlittec on state printing. L nave pc
fore me the report of that committees
and | refer to page seven OF that re-
port. which reads as follows: we
deem it to be in the interest OF tne
state TO repeal the existing law Great
ing the Office of public printer, ana I"
authorize the Governor and Council
TO contract for the state printing on
,hc basis of competitive bids, ana we
ca recommend. The office Of state
auditor. however, should not be abel
;.bed and the act of aboliShing the
office of state printer should give that
naiciaI rcasonabIc time to complete
work not on hand and adjust his busl-
ness to the change. we suggest va
he will BE- afforded such REASONABLE"
time. if the repeating act taxes fl'''
Ian,,arv first, 1906. The existing Jaw
was enacted i'll 1899, ana TOOK euec'
Jan !. 1897
That WAS in 1905. Now. pursuant
TO the act which abolished the offlcc
of state printer and created the once
of state auditor, or the office 81 audi
tor of state printing, Governor t"eo
in 1906 appointed the present 1hcurh-
bent Mr. Carver. who set about pre-
pairing contracts. Tho supervision ~
the state printing under the dlfccl'"h
of the Governor and Council began
for the first time in real effective
manner. Now. what are some OF inc
results AS shown and as CANNED y!
the state auditor. and | believe ne
enumerates them correctly during the
first two wears 1906 and 1907. the total
printing under contracts cost SSo.4"S.
If would have cost under the law prIcf
to 1906 100000. making total say
inc, of S24, 900. Now deduct the salary
and office expenses of the State audi
for for printing $36l6, and there IS a
NET saving of 100000 At this point
7 will call the attention of the House
to the fact that the total expense 81
maintaining this office is about Sls'o
per year. that is $4,000 for the TWO
wears Certainly that Office IS CON
Quoted economically. | Will not take
the time of the House to go over the