The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-01-05
THE STATE PRINTER.
-uv puuNTrNss LAW AND TmE HI.
yIsED srATUrEs-CO COST Of TINE
YuBLrC PRINTING.
uey,ew of the report 81 the Orand Jury
p,,r, nuYrAra DeceYnbrr 10. 1873.

WAVIeW nj tire HepOrt - tHc SSM"~ S"sss
NEW ORLEANS, December 30, 1873.
70 tho Hon. II. n. Ogden. Attorney General OF
the State Of Louisiana:
E;r-In compliance with your request, 1
submit the following answer to the special
report OF the grand jury, presented TO the
honorable judge of the Superior Criminal
Court on or abe,ut the twenty-eighth day Of
July. 1874 printed copy Of which 10 hereto
attached for reference.
The charges contained In said special re-
mort are four In number, as follows:
1. The State Trlnter had no authority.
either by vstus e hs Of is7 rentive To-
tho State PrinterS:to the Official Journal OF
The state" ETC.. FIR printing two thousand
volumes Of the LEGISLATIVE Documents ses-
syn That this worss, II authorized. was not
done 10 accordance with paragraphs = ana
~ section 10. act Ma, 40, because mot line
OF minion type IL t1rbe found therein.
s. That by az tsvercharge Oh twenty-nve
cents per page In ore instance, and q seven
cents Der page Ii, tlfe other, the bill 10 very
Tkat IN tho item Of extra rule and fig
ure work" there is nm Overcharge Of nearly
one million ernsl
These four Specifications to the general
charge OF fraud had best be answered In
order.
AUTHORITY OF THE STATE PRINTER TO
PRINT. grd.
The act under which the Documents OF the
second Session of the Fifth Legislature" about
which this dispute sas arisen, were printed.
"A that OF 1866, whicn law Ia found In tho Re-
yised Statutes, sessions 1857, 1868, 1859, 2611,
9e12. 2e13. Act Nos 40 Of 1877, which It is
claimed repealed that OF 1856. does not desig-
nate what public Documents shall be printed.
The only clause Of tae act OF 1877, relative to
public documents, is the fifth, which says
''that all officers of the several departments
of the State, whe By existing or future laws,
may be required 10 fnake reports to the Gen.
eral Assembly, shall cause the same to be
printed by the Ssate:Printer for tho use OF the
Legislature Epw,sat tho time Of the pas
sage Of act No. 4apf is77 the existing law OF the
state which designated what officers should
make reports to thu General Assembly was
tho act Of 1856. Tlrs act Of 1877 does not
enumerate the officials who shall make re-
ports, but that &c 1879 does do 80. and that act
b evidently referred. to in the fifth clause Of
that OF 1877, which Gays shat all officers OF
the several departments who, by eristing or
future laws, may be rSquired to make reports"
ETC. The act OF 1siS. therefore, Is In perfect
harmony with that Il 1917, and hence the re-
pealing clause OIL thNlatter did not touch the
former. On the contrary, the language Of
tho latter act directly recognizes the former
a. an existing lew, and incorporates 1t anew
into the printing laws Of the State
This is made etill more evident by the strik-
That Az. ~ p7T s1roo v,rovido
for tho printing Of any reports at all, and
that II the act Of 1866, or, what ID the same
II the sections Of the Revised Statutes above
quoted are repealed, there was no authority
TO print In any tnannar, shape or form, SIN
gle official repor1 10 assume that the Legis-
lature intended TO dispense with the printing
OF any reports = simply an absurdity. That
body found the act Also on this subject, as
. Incorporated II tie Revised Statutes,
sufficient, and left II on the statute books as
purt and parces Of the printing Ian. The
ablest lawyers t. whom have submitted this
question are entirely satisfied that the act Of
1856 stands unlepealed, and that the law re-
Quired the work. to be done. Tho Secretary
Of State took tails view of the case, and or
dered the work TO be done by the State Prin-
ter.
A learned lawyer Of this city furnishes me
on this subject Che following, which, because
Of It's clearness and conciseness, will quote
here: III the grand jury's first charge be
correct, then there Ia TO law extant for print
Ing for the use 81 the Legislature the mes
sages of the Governor, the reports Of the
heads Of departments, and all the other docu-
ments which he.stofore have been printed for
the use Of the Legislature under constant
legislation to that effect"
And yet section five Of act OF 1877, No. 40.
p. 60 Ia tert,adi re-eaactment Of section 5000 Of
The Revised Stdtutes), provides: "That all
officers Of the Several departments OF the
State who, by ersstin0 or future laps, may be
required to make reports to the General
Assembly, shall cause the same to be printed
by the State Printer for the use OF the LegIs-
slature, and shall zpresent the same within the
FIRST week OF each session."
The eristiag lars here mentioned are those
found in the Revised Statutes, and quoted
above. There were othfr eristing laws In the
Revised Statutes and In the other statutes Of
the State; but these are all repealed by name
or by section Ihus, the repeating clause OF
the act OF 1877 repeats the sections from 297e
to 3005 OF the Eeyised Statutes; and even
then this act re-enasts one Of those very Sec
.tions-i. g., section 2990-which Is re-enacted
rs section Of thu act Itself.
The repeal Of Che laws on the same subject
matter. does not effect The sections 1857, 1858.
1860. 26ll, 26l2 ard 2e1S, for the plain reason
that their provisions are not embraced In any
Of the sections Of the act OF 1877, except in
section s, where existing laws are mentioned
for the purposes enforcing them, and not
for dmpairing or paEalyzing them. These e1-
istinc laHs, achieh are. tka.s upheld treat OF
matters which, as. we. have stated are not
treated Of in the yarious provisions Of the act
OF 1877.
More especially can tsis be said Of section |
26l3, which provides that:
"An executive messages communicated,
and the reports 0f the yarious State depart
ments, and of alI standing and special COM
mittees OF either branch Of the General As |