Show lanston contract to stand says the president oyster bay N Y sept 10 president roosevelt today commented on the report of the keep commission on its recent investigation of affairs in the government printing office at washington the inquiry was made by special direction of the president I 1 on account ot a protest which he had received from officials of the I 1 thaler type setting machine company against the award of a contract by public printer frank W palmer to the lanston monotype company for seventy two machines of its make by oror aror 0 the president the contract with the lansdon company was held up until an investigation could be made with the view of whether the charges of favoritism and corruption in the letting of the contract were subsequently founded as heretofore chronicled in thesa als patches the president decided deci dod after an examination of the keep report that the contract for me lanston machines should stand the keep commission reported that it the contract could be set aside such a course would be desirable although me commission states expressly that no corruption payment or promise passed from the lanston monotype company to the public printer or to any person in the government service it developed by the investigation however that two important assistants of the public printer were indirectly interested in the lanston company their wives being stockholders therein the commission shows that a fair and impartial test of the lanston and machines was not made and reports that the purchase of so large a number of lanston machines was imprudent and indicated great partiality and bias on the part of the public printer the commission regards the purchase as the report of the commission is voluminous containing about words accompanying it is a memorandum by president roosevelt in which he approves the report except as to the disposition of the contract for tho lanston machines which he has directed shall stand the text of the presidents memorandum follows oyster day sept 9 1905 the conclusions clu of commission are hereby approved save the latter part of conclusion 1 it does not appear that there Is any question as to the validity of the contract in question it it had not been tor the conduct of the company in preferring the crage described by conclusion 2 that of corruption I 1 should agree alth the commission that it would be desir blo to set aside the contract it such a course were legal but second only to corruption in a public office in point of iniquity comes making a baseless charge of corruption and this Is what the commission finds tho has in this case comments being in il in the light of the failure of the company to produce evidence of such corruption it must he held that the charge was made recklessly and the company should be severely condemned for including such a charge in a formal communication to the president of the united states made as a basis for official action on his part it Is fair also to the lanston monotype company to say that no evidence was presented by the mer company nor was any offered by the in the course of its hearing tending to show promise payment or consideration ot any kind whatsoever made by the lanston company or any of its officers or agents to any person in tho government service had this charas of corruption not been hade I 1 should have entirely agreed with the conclusion ot tho commission that if it were possible which it Is not it would bo desirable to cancel the contract in question public printer palmer has been removed from the office tho cases of the subordinates alluded to the report must be taken up in connection with tho discipline and reorganization of tho bureau when mr halmers palmers Pal mers successor assumes domce THEODORE ROOSEVELT tho keep commission was appointed some time ago to matee a general investigation vesti gation of the business methods in all the government departments with a alow to simplifying and improving them its the affairs of the government printing domce la signed by C H keep assistant secretary of tho treasury P n hitchcock first assistant postmaster general lawrence 0 murray assistant secretary of commerce and labor and james R gardell Gard eld commissioner of corporations in tho department of commerce and labor |