BOROUGH TENDERING.

Hastings Standard, Issue 199, 17 December 1896, Page 3

BOROUGH TENDERING.

[To the Editor. Si*, —Who it Is that hi- 1- pt blie patronage by way of f- rou_ii " "» tendered for I do not know, but aw. glaring instance occurred last night to ,how that it is merely a question of patronage and that the lowest tender is not always accepted, even although it be that of a local man who has to pay rates and taxes while the foreign competitor does not. The borough printing is tendered for at so nine!) per 100 copies, and the plan hitherto following has always been to strike an average on the total prices spread over the number of hur.iirv'l-- Tk.->! lias been done this year as usual and the result was that A. A. < teorge's tender wan at an average of two shdlin:;-* ami t pt-uny per 100. while that of the H*ia]d mk-. two and a penny three farthings. And yet the printing was given to the Herald, wliile there are two printing offices in the place. Perhaps some Councillors will be good enough to explain why this work ts given to a foreign firm at a higher price than a local one offers to do the work for. The total amount of printing for the borough does not amount to more than ■£ 10 per annum, and it is not uecesary to tender for it at all, many much larger jobs are given away frequently. The Council can afford to pay a man JE2OO a year for four days' a week, while another gets JZVi a month to walk about and look after two laborers, who have earned the proud distinction of being dubbed "the never sweats.'' Besides this, they can throw .£'loo at the Mayor every now and then, but .£'lo worth of printing for the year imi 3 t be sent away to a foreign firm. I n-jte also that they do their advertising in a Napier print that few read while our own local organ, which is providing work for a dozen or more people, who all pav rates and spend their money here is "refused the work even at a large reduction on ordinarv rates. It was the Hastings Borough Council winch was one of the chief factors in closing up the first paper in Hasting by spending the borough funds to support Napier rivals of the local organ, and the Hastings Borough Council were the first public body in Hawke s Bay to go in for a sweating competition policy in the way of printing and advertising. Tfcu- fact that the Telegraph did not tend£ f° r the printing and the Herald did not'tender for the advertising is abundant proof that there is no ring about the matter.—l am. fer.. Sweat.