Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-05-26
THE CASE OF THE STATE TREASURER

upon grace, mercy and peace will very
soon be in order.
THE CASE OF THE STATE TREASURER.
Stubbornness in an official knowing his
duty and refusing to do it, is more to be
deplored than ignorance. Wisely the law
provides for the punishment of such Off
GERS. We do not propose to do State
Treasurer Herold the injustice of laying
the charge of ignorance at his door, Our
local columns this morning recite new
facts concerning the refusal of the State
Treasurer to do his plain duty in the mat
ter of storing the State textbooks and
printing stock, that demand official inves-
tigatlon, and unless this stubborn officer
yields to the ordinary dictates of reason
they make an appeal to the Courts neces-
sity. The State Treasurers attitude is
such as to justify proceedings of even more
serious character than mere appeal to COM
pei him to do the duty he has sworn to
discharge, and if he still refuses this, re-
sort to the Penal Code should be had
In brief these are the facts: The last
Legislature appropriated $4,000 for the
erection of fre-proof warehouse in which
to store the State textbooks and printing
stock. There is neither room in the print
ing Office nor is the building constructed
to sustain such enormous weight-nor if
it would, is it advisable to expose so much
property to common risk, or so enlarge
the costs of insurance? 1t was the iudg-
ment Of the people, in legislative assembly
represented, that such warehouse should
be erected. No one has the right to in
terpose his personal views of public policy
to the defeat of that Judgment. The law
requires that when a public structure is
to be erected, the party to whom the
direction is addressed shall submit
the plans and specifications therefor to the
Governor, Secretary of State and Treasur-
err and they shall pass upon them, approx
ing or disappearing. Plainly the law means
that they shall prevent any defeat of the
order of the Legislature, or any extrava-
gance in the use of the fund provided 1t
was never contemplated that any one of
these three officials should usurp the legis-
lative authority and defeat its order, and
virtually repeal the Act of the Legislature.
The law gives none of them such power,
and there is no delegation to them of leg
islative authority-indeed the Legislature
cannot, even if so minded, delegate its
powers to another.
The Governor and Secretary OF State
found the plans of the Superintendent of
Printing to be proper, and approved them;
the Treasurer refused his approval, nor has
he ever claimed that the plans are faulty
IN any respect, or in excess of the author
ity given, or that they call for undue use
of the appropriation.
1t is well understood that Mr.. Herold
objects because of another issue arising out
of the action of the Governor and State
Prison Directors in working two shifts of
men in State Prison, instead of dupli-
eating the jute-mill plant-a matter by
the way, in which the Treasurer has no le-
gal concern and no official voice. The ex-
pressed objection of the Treasurer is that
the books and stock can be stored in the
Capitol building, and that the need for the
warehouse does not, therefore, exist But,
as we have shown, it is not given 10 him
to pass upon that, the Legislature
having determined it. The building was
to have been erected by July l, 1887, it is
as yet unconstructed solely because of the
refusal of Mr.. Herold, as recited. In the
meantime it has been demonstrated that
the books and stock cannot be stored in
the Capitol building. The further storage
in the Office of the State Printer has been
forbidden by architects because of the set
thing Of the floor the basement alcoves
are wholly unsuited for such storage and
their utilization would result in the de-
struction Of the stock by dampness and the
lack of sufficient ventilation.
In this strait the Superintendent has
been driven to take private and distant
warehouse at heavy expense for rental
transportation and handling and increased
insurance. He finds it necessary also to
decide, simply and solely for lack of stor-
age room, to suspend the work of text
book printing and binding required by |
law, and of paper stock accumulation, so |
soon as that portion of the work now in |
hand is completed. This will be serious
hardship to the numerous employees in the |
works, and will cripple the ability of the |
educational department to supply the |
schools of the State.
We entertain the belief that a resort to |
the Courts for writ of mandamus will |
compel Mr.. Herold to make showing of |
good cause based upon the submitted plans,
why he refuses to pass upon them. While [
the law opinion has been given that the
individual approval of each of the three
officials is req uired, we entertain the belief
that they constitute Commission in fact.
and that majority can therefore act, and
that the Courts will SO hold. Such a view
is consonant with reason, and in line with
the general policy of the State in direct
ing its affairs. The Superintendent of
State Printing ought to proceed at once to
have this matter tested The direction of |
the Legislature is to him; upon him is
imposed the duty of providing the ware
house, and he has in fact been derelict of |
duty in not bringing the stubborn Treas
urer long ago to the bar of a proper tri-
bunal to answer for his unreasonable oppo-
sition. Mr.. Herold is entitled to no con-
sideration in this matter because of his
position; he has seen fit to refuse to do
duty imposed upon him by law, and he
should be now promptly called to account
for it and shoulder the responsibility of
bringing the work of issuing school-books
as by law directed to an end Unfortu-
nately, the people Of the State will not be
conuensated by his assun1ntion of the |