Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1880-02-05

rHURsDAr MORNING. Fslru.sy 81, 10.

PVuLicATioE oy GEkERAL LAwss--
The proposition Of Mr.. Sbriver. Of Car
roll. TO repeal the sct Of 1865. smended
BY The act Of '6S, which requires the
Tsublicaiion 10 the newspapers Of the
State OF The general laws which take
effect from The date Of their passage.
has not been called for BIZ any public
demand Ghss We know or have heard Of
and certainly not by any which =
entitled 10 be considered a. msjoFi-
" voice. On the contrary. we believe
ii thal voice were fully consulted. i
would be found decidedly against the
repeal proposed. Bot this - i may, Il
Is certainly not get an sdjudieated al
fair, whatever AIF. Shr;ver or other
snsmbers Of The Legislature may think.
either that The amendedaci Of IS should
srspeaIed or that the majority voi's
favoss such repeal. And Just here We
submit, The publication Of these laws 10
the newspapers is no more "a subsidy
Of the press" than il The employment
Of ChspIains by the Legislature = ''sub-.
sidy" Of The pulpit. The State deals
with both upon The principle Of The
said pro quo. On that principle il
deals with the fortunate publishers Of
the~s interesting tones Of legislative
proceedings and Official eIoquence which
ire biennialIy printed at the public ex-
panse. and upon that principle Il deals
with every body else that 1t employs.
AID, 81 the rick Of having ourselves
classified with Subsidy" defenders snd
bringing upon Us the reProaeh OF being
self-interested, We make bold 70 de-
clare, that We are in favex Of the pub
location by the newspapers at reasons
bic rates Of all laws which take effect
from the date Of their passage. II j.
impractcable 10 publish such laws in
book form until after The adjournment
Of the Legislature. This, we expect,
Dir. Shsiyer will admit. Now, il is
just 81 important that the public should
know the contents OF laws which take
efEect from the date Of their passage as
The contents Of laws which take eff
feet after June. The people are re-
quirrd TO obey The one as implicitly as
the other, and how are their contents to
be made known between their passage
and their coliocation in books unless
they are published, and m what form OF
publication can they reach as many
readers, and reach them as quickly, as
through The newspaper But il IS OBJ
jected that the newspapers don't pub
Iish these laws at the time they 60 into
eject but defer this ''until they are
very nearly printed in regulR form"
The answer to this is. that certified CO.
pies Of these laws or copies Of any kind
are never sent to the newspapers for
publication at the time Of their passage
end rarely before the adjournment Of
The Legislature. Whose fault is il then
that their pubIlcstion is delayedi We
venture the assertion. IL the Legisia-
ture or its proper officers will attend
promptly 10 the sending out Of these
laws, there win be no complaint that
the newspapers don't attend promptly
10 their publication. The ding at the
act OF SO because Of its origin requires
but short notice. Whether ''rePuSli-
can Device or not, it was deliberately
adopted by the democrats and has been
too long continued BY them 10 allow OF
ssy sione-throwing on this account al
their opponents. We protest, however.
that The act is entitled TO be judged BY
lis own merits or defects and ought not
70 Be arraigned or defended on any 9th
or grounds. And now as to the ques-
ton Of expense. The cost Of these
newspaper publications is set down in
round numbers at $4,000, and this.
though $1,000 less than Che cost Of the
regular Legislative printing. is more, we
are AFRAID. than il ought to be. but this,
OF course, can be reduced without the
abrogalion Of the Law itself. We have
not The pleasure Of knowing Mr.. ShFi-
yer personally but We are sure il is
within the compass Of his ability to
amend The present act an such way
Is 10 require The laws which take effect
from their passage 10 be furnished the
newspapers at the date OF such passage
and also TO muchreduce the costs other
publication by fixing a marimHm price,
more than which no newspaper shall be
paid.
m----~se s-------