Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1886-02-10
THE WEEK.
In the United States and tho
Old World.
ARIZONA LEGISLATURE.
Many Instances OF Unauthorized Ey-
trayaannCC.

Many Instances OF Unauthorized Ex-
travaGancc.
The Arizona Legislature Is in very bad
plight. According to official intelligence re-
ecived at the interior department, at Wash
ington, d. c., its recent session pcrpctratcd
some most remarkable legislation and in de-
lance of the plaincst statutory limitations.
See, 1888 of the Revised Statutes says: mo
legislative assembly of n territory shall in
any instance, or under any prcteHt OK
coed the amount appropriated by Congress
for its annual expenses The Legislature of
Arizona did not feel like being bound down
to such limits as those prescribed by
Congress- which gave $!j,G0O "for per
diem of members md officers OF tho
Legislature, mileage Of members, printing,
rent extra clerk hire, light, fuel, stationery
and other incidental expenses, hire of porter,
of messenger for the sccrctary's office, and
incidental expenses of sccretary's Office and
including safe for samc.N So it proceeded to
make large appropriations on its own account.
Gov Xulick became alarmed at the evident
illegality of the proceedings, ani wrote to
Secretary Lamar about it, Secretary Lamar
rsfcrr d the case to Asst. -Atty.-Gen. Mont
gomery, who has sent his decision, severely
commenting on the proceedings of the lcgiS-
lathrc. His decision is very lacy, and the
following are extracts: "The 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 year."
and yet it appears from Gov Xulick's
communication that there was appropriated
for printing bills, letter heads and other
printing Sl2, 1873, and for printing daily jour
nails, bills and reports etc, S,Sti, making an
aggregate expenditure for printing alone for
the 18th Assembly of $40 $3.50, being IN OK
cess of $l7 4GL 20 above the bounds limited by
congress. Again, III the face of the said net
of June 49, 1873, enumcrating and defining
with great particularly the subordinate OIL
GERS 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
lied by said act of congress- no less than 80
clerks, assistant clerks and committee clerks,
beside four pages two ianitors and two door
keepers at an aggregate cost of SD, 100. This
troop Of subordinates seems to have been n
remarkable one, both on account of
its numbers and the magnitude Of
its salaries find that the pages pres'un,
ably small boys We're paid $40 each, and
inasmuch as the Legislature could not, under
the law, sit longer than 40 days, this would
b, So per day, precisely the per diem allowed
by law to the honorable members of tho
same legislature Again, while the laws of
Congress allow to the chief CLERKS of the re-
Spective branches of the legislature 50 per
day, / find an assistant chief clerk and an
assistant enrolling clerk in ca ii Of the said
branChcs-four in all-a a salary of $i!) for
said 40 days service, making SIS rCr day,
being just three times the per diem allowed
by law to the honorable members. Thi, GER
tanly seems to have been an extraordinary
display of legislative libcrality, especially 50
in view of the fact that there is nothing what
ever in the documents before me to show that
said clerks made any division of their salaries
with their muniti'cnt b,nnfactOlS. 1t further
appears that the higher branch of the legiS-
lature, although consisting of only T. mem
hers, employed no less than - committee
clerks, at salaries ranging from $500 TO S5lO
each These salaries amounted TO $9per day,
and SIS, 80 per day, Ii further appears that
the said Legislature appropriated S3,Oi0SO to
pay for newspapers for the use Of its mem
bcrs. There being thirty-SiX members alltoId,
this amounted to q little over $50 per nom
her, being upward of - Per day each. The
United States statutes is explicit that no mp
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 he taken by Congress in
regard to the matter,