Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1886-02-17
THE WEEK.
In the United States and the
Old World.
ARIZONA LEGISLATURE.
Many Instances of Unauthorized Ex-
traVa.anCc.

traVaaancc.
The Arizona Legislature is in very bad
plight. According to official intelligence re.
ceived at the interior department, at Wash
| ington, d, c., its recent session perpetrated
some most remarkable legislation and in de-
lance Of the plaincst statutory limitations.
Sec 1858 OF the Revised Statutes says: mo
legislative assembly of u territory shall in
any instance, or under any prctcXt, eX
reed the amount appropriated by Congress
Tor its annual expenses, The Legislature of
Arizona did not feel like being bound down
to such limits as those prcsrribed bv
| Congress, which gave $!i, $50 "for per
iiem Of members and officers OF the
Legislature, mileage of members, printing,
rent extra clerk hire, light, fuel, stationery
aud other incidental expenses, hire of porter,
| VI messenger for the sCcrctaryS office, and
incidental expenses of secretarys Office, and
including safe for same.n SO it proceeded to
make incorporation on its own account.
Gov. Huick became alarmed at the evident
lleGality OF the proceedings, and wrote to
Secretary Lamar about it. Secretary Lamar
retcrr the case to Asst -Atty.-tieIl. Mont
gomery, who has sent his decision, severely
commenting on the proceedings of the legiS-
lature. Ills decision is very racy. and the
following are extracts: "'rhe statute SAYS
that in no case shall the expenditure for
public printing in any of the territories
exceed the sum Of $500 for any one wear"
and yet 1t appears from Gov XuckS
communication that there was appropriated
for printing bills, letter heads and other
printing $l2, l33, and for printing daily Jour
nails, bills and reports, etc, SiSH, making an
aggregate expenditure for printing alone for
tho 18th Assembly Of Sl9,6L;O, hcmg an ex
'eSs Of Sl7, 46i 10 above the bounds limited by
congress Again, in the face of the said act
81 June ~, 1873, enumcrating aud defining
with great particularly the subordinate OIL
rers Of n territorial legislature and fixing the
amount of compensation of each, it appears
that the Arizona legislature in its said 18th
session employed in addition to those author
I2ed by said act Of congress, 10 less than 80
Jerks, assistant clerks and committee clerks
beside four pages, two janitorS and two door
keepers, at an aggregate cost of S23, 700. This
troop OF subOrdinatcS seems TO have been n
remarkable one, both on account of
lis numbers and the magnitude of
It's salaries find that the pages presnn-
ably small boys were paid $40 each, and
lnasmuch as the Legislature could not, under
the law, sit longer than 40 days, this would
be So per day, precisely the per diem allowed
by law to the honorable members of the
same legislature. Again, while the laws of
Congress allow to the chief clerks of the re-
'pective branches of the Legislature ST per
lay, iindan assistant chief clerk and an
assistant enrolling clerk in each of the said
brancheS-iour in all-at salary of 500 for
said 40 days service, making SIS per day,
being just three times the per diem allowed
by law to the honorable members This GER
tainly seems TO have been an extraordinary
display of legislative liberality, especially so
IN view of the fact that there is nothing what
ever in the documents before me 70 show that
said clerks made any division of their salaries
with their muniicent h nCiaCtorS 1t further
appears that the higher branch of the LegiS-
lature, although consisting of only u mem
bers, employed no less than 10 committee
Clerks at salaries ranging from $40 to $40
each. These salaries amounted to 80 per day,
and SlA 30 per day it further appears that
the said Legislature appropriated s., 0iO. 50 to
pay for newspapers for the use Of its mem
bers There being thirty-sX members all told,
this amounted to little over SIS per mem.
her, being upward OF - per day each. The
United States statutes is explicit that no ap-
preparation shall he made by which members
or officers of the Legislature are paid any
compensation other than that provided by
Congress, and yet the Legislature, in the face
of this law, proceeded TO appropriate $40 for
each member of the lower house and 500 for
each member Of the higher
The decision Of Mr.. Montgomery is that all
the appropriations enumerated above are in
violation Of law and void 1t is not known
what action may be taken by Congress in
regard to the matter.