Omaha daily bee., 1905-12-10
COUNT[NG THE COST.

The urgent need OF the revision OF our
constitution is conceded by men of all
parties and the only grounds of opposi-
ton to special session Of the legisla-
ture convened expressly to formulate
and submit amendments to the constitu-
tion covering its most glaring defects is
grounded on the assumption that it
would entail an enormous cost on the
taxpayers without equivalent benefits or
savings.
Exaggerated estimates of the cost of
special session and the cost of adver
Using the amendments have been con-
jured up as unanswerable arguments
why Governor Mickey should not call
special session, although it does not re-
quire an expert mathematician to figure
out what the expense really would be.
The legislature is made up of 1913
members, each Of whom is entitled TO 50
per day and mileage from his home to
the capital and back at cents pei, mile.
1t would, therefore, take $685. per day
to pay the legislature, and the most lib
eral estimate of the length of the session
is twenty days, costing $4,000. Com
putting the mileage at $2,700, the total
pay and mileage would aggregate $780,
600. Add to this $4,000 to pay the cler-
ical force and stationery and we have
$4,000 in round figures as the cost of
the extra session.
Assuming that twelve amendments to
the constitution aggregating in all forty
squares of standard column measure
ment would be submitted the charge of
each paper at the legal rate of 81 for the
first insertion and so cents for each sub
sequent insertion per square during thir-
| teen weeks would be $3.50, and publica-
, ton in one paper in each of the ninety
counties would aggregate $4,000 In
round figures the cost of the extra ses-
sion and the publication of twelve con-
| stitutional amendments would be $780,
200 all in all. Now, compare with this
the cost of constitutional convention.
A constitutional convention is made
I
same pay as members of the legislature,
or $500 per day. While the convention
has no time limit for it's sessions it is
safe to assume that it would not adjourn
in less than sixty days. That would ag-
gregate for per diem $4,000 mileage
$500, clerical force $500, stationery
and incidentals $1,000, making total of
$4,000. If the new constitution is no
longer than the present constitution it
would average $50 squares of standard
measurement and the cost of its pub
LEGATION for thirteen consecutive weeks
in each weekly newspaper would be
$1,75O, or total of $157 500 for publica-
ton in one weekly newspaper in each
Of the ninety counties of the state.
In other words, the cost of a consti-
tutiOnal convention and the publication
of new constitution would involve an
outlay of 500, 800 at the most conserva-
tive estimate. But this is not all. The
call fora constitutional convention prop
osition must first be submitted for rati-
fication to the people, which involves an
outlay of from 5000 to $4,000 for pub
LEGATION and election expenses in addi-
ton to the cost of holding the conven-
ton. Anybody who has given the sub
ject even pcrfunctory consideration must
be convinced that the advantages to be
derived from the submission Of amend
ments that would go into effect two or
three years earlier than it would be pos
sible for constitutional convention to
be called and a new constitution TO be
submitted and ratified cannot possibly
be computed in dollars and cents.