Buchanan County bulletin and guardian., 1868-02-07

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This seems to be the policy OF
some of our enlightened legislator.
with reference to the laws they are
enacting. Those who are required
to obey the laws, ought certainly to
be afforded reasonable opportunity
to acquire knowledge Of the laws.
No proposition can be palmer than
this. Indeed, SO transparent was this
fact at the last session Of the Gener..i
Assembly, that q law was passed au.
thoriring the publication Of all gen.
esal laws in the two papers Of each
county having ne largest circulation,
at one th!.d advertising rates. This
was : very sensible arrangement, in.
asmuch as in most counties the laws
were brought before 4 large proper.
ton of the voters of both parties, at
a very moderate cost to the State.
The arrangement was eminently sat
isfactory to the people. At least We
never heard word Of complaint
from any quarter, and no the ontra-
ry, have heard many comments OF
approval. But the law had its Bit.
ter opponents in the General Assem-.
bly,, who left no stone uhturned to
prevent its passage. Prominen,
among those we're Senators Cat;ell
and Patterson. The former Of these
was q candidate for Governor last
summer, and was opposed generally
by the Republican press. He now
seeks to revenge himself by favoring
the repeal of the publication law
which is of some pecuniary benefit
to the country press. AT any rate,
such is the natural inference from his
zeal in the matter. A bill sor this
purpose having been introduced, was
in the Senate referred to the Commit.
tee of Ways aud Means, Of which
Cat.ell is chairman, instead Of being
sent to its proper Committee-that
on Printing. OF course Cattell re-
ported in favor Of the bill for repeal.
while minority report was made
against it. The further consideration
of the matter was deferred until the
9th inst.
Now the publication law is Of incl
dental advantage to the country
press Of both parties. 1t is in no
manner par,izan in its character, but
provides a way, at moderate expense,
by which the laws are brought right
before the grca, bulk of the people
who are expected to obey them. By
the old system, nobody, except Office
holders. lawyers &C., ever know pre-
cisely what the laws were which
they were expected to obey. Even
the favored class could not acquire
this knowledge until long time az
ter the laws were enacted. Now we
put it to the lawmakers at Des
Moincs whether it is Of more advan-
tage that they should be provided
with postage stamps and stationery
at the expense of people, than that
the whole people should be afforded
Al opportunity 10 acquire knowl-
edge Of the laws they are required to
obey. The cost of postage voted
themselves by the last General As
sembly was within few dollars of
half the whole expense Of publishing
all the general laws in a hundred and
twenty newspapers. The special ap-
preparations flor stationary, penkniyes
Ac.) amounted to nearly one-third
the cost Of publishing the laws. The
total cost OF postage, Newspapers,
stationery, &c, voted themselves
was sll, l,s65.44 more than the cost
of publishing the laws. OF course
the first acts Of the present Legisla-
ture were to vote themselves these
expenses, .precisely as did the last.
Now we do not object at all to
these appropriations. Our law-mak-
ers receive poor enough compensa-
ton, without being subjected to Incl
dental expenses connected with their
station; but is it Of NOR e Importance
that the one hundred and forty-sev-
en- Lawmakers of this State be fur.
nished with postage stamps, pen.
knives, stationery, &C., than that
their million constituents be made of.
fcially acquainted with the laws
they are required to obey:
The motives of Senator Cattel
may be perfectly pure and proper
but appearances are against him
Can it be possible that SO pure
minded a legislator desires to keeT
the people in the dark concerning
his course and that of his fellows. a
Des Moines? He, aud all othe1 leg
islators. should remember that they
are simply appointed by the people
to act f,r item in making the laws
! that it is the first right and interes
of the people to to know precisel,
what is done in their name; and tha
the people are not SO contemptibl,
mean and picayunish as to be unwil
ling to pay reasonable co,npensa
ton to the newspapers for furnish
ing them this information at fu
length, in the publication Of th
laws.
The Merry Barge Enterprise.
] The grain barges Of Mr.. Merr
arrived at New Orleans all right, no