Chap. 214.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 273 of the Code of Virginia,
in relation to the duties of the superintendent of public printing.

Approved March 15, 1904.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
two hundred and seventy-three of chapter nineteen of the Code of Vir-
ginia, as amended, as to section two hundred and seventy-seven of said
chapter, by act approved January fifteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety,
and by act approved January sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-
two, and further amended by act approved May thirteenth, nineteen
hundred and three, and chapter three hundred and seventy-seven of the
acts of assembly, extra session eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, en-
titled “an act to amend and consolidate into one act the laws relating
to the public printing and binding, and defining the duties of the super-
itendent of public printing, and to repeal chapter one hundred and
eighty-five of the acts of assembly, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine
and eighteen hundred and eighty, approved May twenty-third, eighteen
hundred and eighty-seven, as amended, as to section ten of said act
by act approved March fifth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, and by
act approved February fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and as
amended as to section eleven of said act by act approved February twenty-
fourth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and by act approved February
ninth, eighteen: hundred and ninety-four, and by act approved December
thirty-first, nineteen hundred and three, be amended and re-enacted so as
to read as follows: _

§ 273. How contracts for printing awarded; appeal from award.—He
shall, prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, let out to the lowest re
sponsible bidder, experience and: facilities possessed at the time of bidding
considered, all the printing, binding, ruling, lithographing, and engraving
required by any department of the State and authorized by law to be done,
yr required in the execution of any law, and shall give notice of the time
ind place of letting the said work, by advertisements published every
other day for two weeks, in one newspaper of general circulation pub-
lished in the city of Richmond, and in not less than two other news-
papers of general circulation published in other cities of the State, and
shall furnish all bidders, on application, with printed schedules on which
to bid, specifying in detail the items required in the execution of the
said work; which bids shall be opened at the time and place named in
the advertisement in the presence of such bidders as see fit to attend.
He may let out the work to different persons, and im such lots or por-
tions as he may deem proper. In every case he shall require the party
undertaking to do the work, or any part of it, to enter into a written con-
tract stating distinctly the terms of the same, embracing the prices to be
paid for composition, press work, folding, stitching, ruling, binding, and
all other items in detail; always providing in contracts for printing that
the printing is to be executed in a close and compact form, without un-
necessary title pages or useless blank pages; he shall provide in such
contracts that, in case the work so contracted for be not completed within
the time specified therein, he shall deduct and retain from such contract
price such per centum thereof for each day or week that such work is
delayed, as he may deem proper, and shall require the person or persons
making such contract to enter into a bond with security in a penalty of
at least double the amount contracted to be paid for the work, and con-
ditioned for the faithful performance and execution of such contract ;
the security shall be approved by the secretary of the Commonwealth,
and the form of the bond by the attorney-general. All such contracts
and bonds shall be recorded in the contract book kept by the superin-
tendent of public printing for that purpose, and the original bond shall
be filed in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth. Any bidder
feeling himself aggrieved by an award made by the superintendent of
public printing may, during the session of the general assembly, appeal
to the joint committee on printing, or, in vacation, to a board composed
of the governor, auditor of public accounts, and secretary of the Com-
monwealth, which shall hear and determine the matters in said appeal,
but notice of such appeal must be given the superintendent of public
printing within ten days from the date of the award appealed from.