The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-08-09
he appropriation of 1922.
Cou1parfns 1914 and 1922.

:
the appropriation of 1922.
Comparing 1914 and 1922.
In order to make an accurate
comparison of 1914 and 1922 it is
necessary to make somewhat of an
analysis of the 1922 appropriation.
Of the total of s76,S51 appro-
priated this year s49,274.52 will be
expended for public printing prop
er as against s39,495.59 for 1914.
Reports of boards, commissions,
etc, created since 1914, changes IN
the law which required payment
from public printing funds instead
of from department funds, together
with. reports of special committees
authorized by the general assembly
accounts for S5,S33.58 of the diff
ference, leaving actually spent for
the same work only $4,437.49 more
in 1922 than in 1914, when every
one knows, or can easily ascertain,
that the cost of printing is now
practically doubled what it was in
1914. Had there been no joint
committee on printing in 1922 the
proba bihties are that the appro-
priation would have been consider
ably in excess of 100000.
In comparing the years 1914 and
and 1922 the extra session Of 1914
has been included. If it is believed
that this is unfair the following
figures win show that in volume
of work over which the committee
could have no control the COM
parison is, if anything, unfair to
1922.
The acts of 1914, both regular
and special sessions, contained 7sS
pages whereas the acts of 1922
contained 94s Pages. In 1914 for
both regular and special sessions,
there were, printed 4,492 pages Of
bills, while for the session Of 1922
there were printed 4,240 pages of
bills.
; There was also appropriated for
the operating expenses Of the COM
nittee for 1922. s4,9si; for equip
1nent, $1,000; and as a revolving
fund to purchase Office supplies,
$4,000. OF the amount for operat
ing expenses several hundred dol
lars viii proba bly, be unused and
will revert to the treasury, which
is likewise true OF the amount for
equipment This equipment wilt
practically pay for itself in 1922.
and as its probable life is five or
six years there is considerable
net gain to the state.
The revolving fund is exactly
what it's name implies. It is used
to purchase Office supplies for the
various departments. These sup
pies which, before this committee
began to- act as purchasing agent,
were bought at retail prices in
small quantities, are now bought at
wholesale, entai1ing a saving of
practically $4,000 for 1922. This
money is refunded to the state
treasury as the different depart
n1ents settle their accounts.
There is another phase of the
committees work which has been
productive of lowered operating
costs for other departments of the
government. Contracts for all job
printing for the various depart.
nsents are awarded through this Of
fee. A consid era bic sum has been
saved not only by securing the best
prices by competitive bidding, but
expert advice in the use Of paper
has saved a great amount of mon
ey. Besides there is a tendency
towards coordination and stand
ardization which has often pre-
vented the printing Of unneces-
sary forms.
The small expense to which the
state is pat for the operating ex-
penses of the joint committee on
printing is returned many times IN
the economies which the commit
tee has been able to effect. The
committee is the one department Of
government which was Instituted
simply and solely for the purpose
Of economizing. That it has more
than fulfilled the mission which
the authers Of the act creating il
had in mind is clearly demonstrat-
ed by the figures given above,
which are taken from the public
records.
Niels Christensen,
Chairman Joint Committee on
Printing.