Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1864-02-12
'sJt)RN. M AHIN.... ;.
L>~f.lasiye Nlaaters.

We under ,tand there is . great .psessure 1t
Dss Nsihss a induce the Legislaturfto rais.'
the salaries OF al tho State ofHcsrs and Judges
We hope they viii not do, it. Tho salaries Of
our State oaicerst are sufiioiehtly high 10 coln-
mand atssspl services of the 8 bsst men lin the
State. The demand upon our State Treasury
for the support Of. the families Of our brave
aud saasS,ng soldiers must FIRST bemet It
will reqnirsS additional otsxation for this pur--
pose. It will not do, therefore, to strain the
c.edit Of our State and increase the burden
Of taxation already borne BY the people, for
the pasposs Of increasing the salaries OF our
State officials. We trust cur Representatives
in the Legislature will stand as unit against
this measuse.d la.. s.s- .1s s,.5sIo1 vfa-;5.
There is also . proposition before tho Leg
stature for an enactment requiring the pub
hcation Of laws Of gsueral and local interest
in tho various weekly newspapers, the ex-
psnsesto be paid by the State. While this
would be good thing for. our newspaper
publishers, We cannot believe it is best for the
interests Of the people. A really lirs news
pspsr.--one that dsservss pstrouag age--w,ll give
these laws to its readers either in fun or in .
condensed form, without Compensation. They
arc matters Of news, and - such should be
given to the public throughIthe rewspspera.
But few newspaper readers will take the
trouble to 60 through the dry and tedious
details Of > law when it i published in official
form. They prefer the gist of it, stated in .
few words. This is sufficient for the news-
papers. They are usually thrown aside after
perusal, and therefore useless as means for
reference. The laws should, be published in
a more convenient and durable form than in
the newspapers =. $ 5's .-
A similar proposition to the above is one
requiring Boards Of Supervisors to have
thar proceedings published in full The
PRESENT iaw requires only the publication Of
appropriations made at each session. This 10
sufficient, II . Newspaper lacks the enter
prise to publish tolerably fair account of the
doipgs Of its ''county Legislature" it is not
wor by the patronage which this act would
bestow on it. sssss-t ,.s-
We trust that members Of the press viii
have too much iindependenee to urge the
adoption Of either Of The above proportions
They place the craft in the attitude Of pen.
sioners on public bounty, which they are
not. ''Let every tub stand on its own bot
tom.' While It is true that newspaper pub.
i.hers, aid especially those Of the local
press, do far more labor for the public than
they get paid f'r. it il no re.son that they
should seek compensation in channel
through which they can make no adequate
and just return. -Eel ~ -e9ms ,sgsl7-
There is messurs proposed for the beAe-
fit Of printers, however, to which we
can give, our hearty eodors. ment.
Tlst is rajsiag the price for publishing
the deiiuqdsRrR tAx list. The present
rata (ten cents pcr desoription) is en-.
tirely 800 low. Formerly the rate was thirty
cents per description, and she law then did
not require the owners name to be publish
ed as it now does. Let the rate bs fixed at
twenty or twenty i've cents per description.
The add onal cost will not come from the
State, but from dclinquents-just whore it
should come from. ..3 - az