Arizona republican., 1905-01-21
The People Demand Publicity.

l AACNAAA@N
 daily, is printing a continued story,
 headed "The Official Proceedings" of
 the Twenty-third legislature. This
 matter is a copy of the clerks journals, and is two days old when printed. Perhaps somebody reads it besides the
 printer who sets it up. Perhaps the l legislature needs it, in addition to hay | ing the same matter read previously each morning by the clerks from their journals. The understanding is that this matter costs the territory-or will l cost-5O cents an inch, or $50 to $50 a day during the session of the legislat- ure. And after tine legislature ad- journs, of course, this same matter will be printed again, in book form, at an additional expense of several hundred dollars. All this is a good thing for the paper, and it is to be congratulated up on getting such a fat favor from the legislators. The Republican claims, simply, that the business should be done by the legislature itself, in open session.
 v 9 why does the legislature go about it in secret? Why not do the business in the broad light of day? The adopted system" which would cause Tom Lawson to be envious if he knew about it, is to carry out the whole perform ance underground. A committee is ap- pointed by the legislature with auto cratic power to contract for printing This committee operates in secret. It makes no public report in detail to the legislature. The exact facts are not known, officially, until the last night of the session, say, an hour before ad- iournment, when the appropriation bill is being rushed through. Then this item of about s3,00O for printing each day what the legislature has done two prOpriation bill.
 Everything is done in silence until then.
 The same plan will be followed in printing the books known as the ter ritOrial reports-the detailed reports of the several territorial officials This same printing committee, clothed with autocratic power, is to contract in se- cret, it seems. for printing these re- ports. No public bidding is to be done, and the legislature will not be enlight- ened officially until the last night of the session, when an item will go into the appropriation bill for, say. s3,5OO for a thousand dollars worth of print ing.
 Why does not the legislature insist upon having a public report from its printing committee as to what has been done? Why does not the legis- lature insist now upon the committee bringing in a bill providing for pay ment upon contracts it has made, If the work is necessary and the prices are proper. there can be no objection to making payment through separate appropriation bills. instead of waiting until the last night of the session and inserting the items without discussionj into the general appropriation bill. If it be argued that the amount of the DIi TOT printing In@ proceedings cannot be known, until the last day, the answer is that the bill should be introduced now, nevertheless, author izing the payment of so much per inch, so that the legislature and the public will know what is being done. The exact amount. can be fixed on the last day and the bill passed then.
 This would give the legislature an opportunity to know what the com mittee has done secretly in its name It would give the governor an oppor- tunity to consider the bill separately from the general appropriation bill
 The adopted method throws unnec- cessary temptations in the way of the committee on printing. One would think that the gentlemen on the com mittee would insist, for their own sakes, upon having their proceedings made public and officially approved by the legislature.