Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-09-03
THE STATE PRINTING LAW

State Printer DuniWay hits the mai
squarely on the head when he says
the way to reduce the cost of state
printing, when it is too high, is to re-
duce the rates
Prior to 1906, the constitution for
bade any reduction in the compensa-
ton Of the State Printer, and it was
not until after the election of Mr.
Duniway that any reform was ac-
complished in this line. Realizing
the injustice of the old arrangement
to the taxpayers of Oregon, the pres
ent State Printer led a movement to
give the Legislature power to change
the rates from time to time--a move
ment which was successful and
which has resulted in reducing the
annual printing bill until the state
is now paying less money for it's work
than would be charged by the large
commercial offices in Portland or Sa-
lem.
In passing the law placing the
printer on a fiat salary and provid-
ing for a state-Owned, state-operated
printing plant instead of reducing
any rates that might still have been
too high, the Legislature committed
a stupid and expensive blunder. This
flat-salary law would not have been
so bad, had it been drawn along good
business lines, but a more mischievous
measure than the proposed state-own-
ership act, with the unlimited oppor-
tunty for favoritism and graft, could
scarcely have been devised.
The fallacy of the argument that
state-owned plant would reduce the
cost of printing has been shown up
so often by the press of oregon that
it is not necessary to repeat these
protests at this time. That the new
law will operate to the advantage of
a few socialistic place-hunters, and
not for the best interests of the tax
payers, will become clearly apparent
to any thinking man as he reads the
text Of the measure which the Leg
isature provided should become op-
erative on January 1, 1915, and which
a few selfish schemers are now try
ing to put into effect on the first day
of next December So anxious are
the hungry ones to get their noses
into the state trough that they can
not bear the thought of waiting two
more years for the privilege of in
dulgng their hog-like propensities.
Socialistic theory is one thing, and
practical business quite another. The
taxpayers should bear in mind that
the state printing Is now costing only
$4,000 a year and that this sum in
cludes payment for the enormous
amount of extra printing made nee
essary by the direct primary and the
initiative and referendum provisions
of the constitution. The bulky and
expensive voters pamphlet being
mailed from the office of the Sccre- |
tary of State this week is but one of
the many Items contributing to the |
increased printing bill. When il is re- |
membered that the public printing |
under former administrations, when |
none of this extra printing was nee |
essary cost the state from $4,000 |
to $4,000 a year, il will be seen .
that Mr.. Duniway is managing the
office wisely and economically in the .
interest Of the taxpayers.
The change in the method of print
ing the legislative calendar has re-
duced the printing bill something
like $4,000 a session. Faithful to
his ante-election pledges. Mr.. Dun-
way voluntarily inaugurated this re-
form. thereby reducing the tax OF
every property in the state II
is shown by the report Of the Com
mittee on Public Expenditures, app
pointed by the Legislature of 1909,
that in his first term MIR. Duuiway not
only saved the taxpayers $4,000
over old methods by stopping grating
in the printing, but that he also used
his influence in securing the passage /
OF a law reducing rates on many
classes Of work
II the present State Printer had in