New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1910-01-12
A STATEMENT ON COUNTY
PRINTING
An Impartial History of the Coun-
ty Printing Controversy By
Commissioner. The Need
of an independent
County Paper.
The County oyer $4,000 Ahead.

Mr.. Editor!-It seems to me that the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth should be told in the
matter Of this printing controversy,
and if there is nobody else to do it,
you will please let me try.
It was never my desire to beat the
newspapers of the county out of a fair
compensation for the county printing;
what I desired, was a free competition
and fair pay. But when the news
papers of county form combine or
trust, the same as any other trust,
with the object OF shutting out all
competition and of compelling the
county to pay the highest possible
limit for the county printing then it
becomes the duty of those who have
the matter in charge to protect the
county if they can. Whatever I have
done in this controversy has been
done with that end in view. It is the
publishers that have beat themselves
out of a fair compensation. In the
year 1906 the year prior to my term
of office-Brown County paid for the
county printing the sum of $1556.5O,
On the first day OF our January ses-
sion in 1907, as soon as we had or
ganized, about half dozen newspa-
per men appeared before us and one
of their members, Mr.. j. j. Green of
the New Ulm News handed in a bid
for the county printing. It was an
offer to do it for the full legal rates.
Now some of our county papers
have been informing their readers.
that the legal rates of printing is
something that the publishers are
legally entitled to in the same way as
public officer is legally entitled to
his salary Or fees, but that is not what
the law means. The legal rate in this
case is the highest limit the board is
allowed to pay. Above that they can
not go, but they can accept any rate
below that On my motion Mr..
Green's bid was rejected, and the
printers withdrew. In the afternoon
they came back. and Mr.. Green again
put in his bid, but the matter was laid
over until in the afternoon of the next
day. [ noticed that the New Ulm Re-
view was not represented in the com
bine, and in the evening I saw the
editor of that paper and asked him if
they would not put in a bid for the
county printing; if there is no compe-
tition those fellows can dictate their
own terms. He said he would see the
directors about it, and in the morning
they put in a bid. That bid demora-
lized the combine. They put in new
bid, and the county printing went to
the New Ulm News for s cents per des-
cription for the delinquent tax list and
250 dollars for all other publications.
In 1908 the Review put in a bid again,
and the Brown County Journal took
the county printing for cents and
ITS dollars.
In 1909 the Review again putin it's
bid, but the printing was let to the
Brown County Journal for reasons
of very doubtful merits. The bid
was cents and 500 dollars: it was
not the lowest bid; but the Journal
man had attached to it promise to
furnish certain copies-not to all the
publishers of the county, but to the
members of their combine. I did not
like the idea Of making the county pay
for special favors for that kind of
service, but I saw the bid had the
votes, and said nothing. At our last
] anuary meeting the bids for the
county printing was taken up in an
evening session On the first day of the
meeting. There were two bids on file:
one by the New Ulm Review at 2 cents
per description for the delinquent tax
list and for all the other publications
$50 dollars. The other was by the
Brown County Journal at cents PER
description for the delinquent tax list,
and 'sfor all public notices as per
notice. 800 dollars. What both par
lies added in this bid in regard to |
distribution of copies, is immaterisl|
and does not concern the county.
I moved to accept the bid of the New
Ulm Review and for two reasons: tt
was the lowest on the delinquent tax
list, and it included all the other
county printing, which the form of !
the other bid did not do. Besides
this, the New Ulm Review has render
I'd the county such valuable assistance