The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-12-05
THE PRINTING CoNTRACTIN COURT.

1t is not saying too much to assert that the
case now pending before Judge Hunt III
volving the city printing is TO taxpayers the
most important suit that has come before
the courts for years. 1t is a matter of small
moment to the people at large which news
paper gets the city printing. But it is vital
to all TO establish the principle that the
ministerial acts of corrupt Board of Super
visors may be re viewed before the Superior
Court and a check set TO the usurpationS of
a solid nine.
The reader will remember that the in
junction forbidding tie Supervisors from
granting the city prin ting TO the Daily Re
pOrt-as the solid nine had resolved to do
was issued TN the application of a citizen,
suing in behalf of the public ut large. OBJ
lection was made on the ground of want of
interest in the plaintiff. This has been cured
by the Intervention of the Journal Of Com
nierce, which was a rival bidder for the
printing contract, and as to whose interest in
the matter there can be 10 question. The
Intervention was permitted by the court,
and argument ensued, synopsis of which
will be found in another column.
The only pertinent contentious of the Su-
pervisors were that their.act in granting the
contract was legislative act, which no
provision of law requiring them TO award
the city printing to the lowest bidder only
applied to such printing as the city paid for
out of the municipal treasury, and did not
apply to printing which was paid for by
property holders out of their own pockets.
Neither contention. in our opinion, will
hold water. The acts of the Board of Super
visors are of two classes-legis and
ministerial. When the board passes an or
dinance, the act is legislative, and can only
come before the courts when it is claimed
that it conflicts with the general laws of the
State, or with the State Constitution or with
the Constitution of the United States. But
when the board makes an appointment or
awards contract the act is ministerial, and
| may be reviewed by the courts whenever it
| is claimed that it was instigated by corrupt
| motives, or that it would work wrong to the
community. Every ministerial officer dis
| charges the duty of his Office under the eye
| of the courts, and if he does wrong, they are
| clothed with power to call him to account.
| Were it otherwise he would be an irresponsi-
| bic despot
There are nc good reasons for drawing q
line between printing which is paid for
through the medium of the municipal treas
ury and printing which is paid for directly
| by taxpayers, so long as the obligation to
pay results from municipal legislation.
| Under the municipal law, street openings
| and street improvements must be advertised
in advance, and the property interested is
| charged with the cost of the advertising.
| The printing bill is made a debt by NUM-
cpal regulations. 1t stands on precisely
the same footing as the bill for printing the
| reports Of Supervisors meetings except that
the latter is debt which is chargeable to all
the citizens of the municipality, while the
former is only chargeable to a portion of
them. The reasons which led TO the rule
| that municipal advertising must be awarded
| TO the lowest bidder apply equally to both.
| Indeed, it would be more logical to let out
| the street advertising by contract, and to
| allow the newspaper which prints them to
| charge for the reports of the Supervisors,
| than to pursue the opposite course, as we
now do.
1t does not require an acute intellect to
| see through the sOpbistries by which the
present abuse is sought to be excused. The
case lies in nutshell. Here is newspaper
which offers to print column after column of
dreary commonplace that nobody reads, for
nothing, on condition that it shall make its
own terms for other printing which must be
given out and paid for by the Taxpayers, as
the condition of improving the streets. 1t
stands to reason that it must reckon on max
ing an exorbitant profit on the latter, or it
could not afford to do tie former for moth
ing. And the obstinacy with which the
Supervisors adhere to their proposed con-
tract cannot fail to supply uther reasons
why the Report people should insist that
that profit shall be large enough to enable
them to be liberal.