The Printing Contract Scandal
The City Council awards a printing contract to a more expensive paper, sparking claims of hypocrisy against the self-proclaimed 'reform' administration.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The principal question considered by the board of aldermen last night was the city printing contract. The resolution letting the contract to the Telegraph and Press-Times was read and passed. Attorney D. O. Finch appeared for the Post-Intelligencer, arguing that their bid was the lowest per inch. He showed that, figuring on the basis of advertising volume, the Post-Intelligencer’s bid would save the city between $400 and $500. He questioned the 'moral right' of the council to give the contract to a paper that reached half the people, at a higher cost, while claiming to be an administration of 'retrenchment and reform.' Erastus Brainerd, editor of the Press-Times, did not deny that the Post-Intelligencer’s bid was lower, but argued about type measurement. After much maneuvering and failed motions to reconsider, the board passed the resolution in favor of the Press-Times.
“I want to know where they get the moral right to give to one paper $400 or $500 more for doing the work than the other offered.”
Local government procurement and the politics of municipal contracts remain a major point of civic contention in Seattle, mirroring this century-old battle over which newspapers get public funds.
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