The border vidette., 1913-05-10
"LlvE AND LET LIVE"
Governor Hunt Vetos Regulating of
 Printing Act.

GenCleinen:
 I have the honor to inform you that I have this day disap- proved and have returned to you herewith Senate Bill No. II, which is entitled An Act to | Regulate Public Printing and to | Prescribe a Maximum price to be paid Therefor.
 My disapproval of this meas ure is based on that provision contained in sections and by | which without regard to the varied local industrial conditions | and the adequacy or inadequacy | of transportation facilities hay ing direct influence in different parts of Arizona on the cost of operating a newspaper, max column inch for all public print ing is prescribed arbitrarily and constitutes a proposed reduction of forty cents an inch from the maximum printing charges here tofore- authorized in this State. While the present maximum rate of seventy-five cents a column inch may be unnecessarily high, the lower rate proposed in Se- nate Bill No. 14 is unreaSOnably low. contention which is sup ported in no slight degree by the precedent set by the United States Government in authOrjz- ing maximum rates for public printing which are as an average substantially higher even than the rate now provided by the Statutes of Arizona. As a mat ter of fact, moreover, the max imum rate for State and County printing is rarely obtained by newspapers in Arizona, since there are almost invariably sev- eral competitive bidders for every contract awarded. It would otappear, therefore, that any notable abuses of the pre- sent law have transpired to render. imperative or even -ad-- vIsabre such a sweeping reduc
 tion as is contemplated in the enactment under discussion.
 It is not conceivable that a Statewide maXmum rate of thir- ty-five cents an inch for public printing can be eXacted with equal justice from newspapers which are located in different parts of Arizona, and which, in consequence, have no cOmparat- i've uniformity of operating ex- . pense. Especially is it true in this State that transportation facilities, wage scales, light and power rates, and the general 0f greatly according to localitys Even, therefore, if it were to be conceded that the rate preScrib- ed in Senate Bill No. 14 would entail no great hardship in populous and readily accessible center like Phoenix, it could not be deduced therefrom with any degree of justice that the same maximum rate would be practic- able in cities like Bisbee and Globe, which are not on the main lines of transportation and, consequently, compel an outlay in the operation of a publishing plant much greater than would confront a publication in cities less remote from the main lines of travel and from supply cent CTS.
 It is also we'll known to the printing fraternity that no uni form and invariable expense at tends the publication of all off cial notices but that in certain instances when tabulation or other difficult form of compost tion is involved, the cost of pub fishing raises far above a normal average. This fact, coupled with varied economic and industrial conditions prevailing in different parts of the State, as set forth herein, makes it apparent that if we are to prescribe maximum printing rate as low as thirty five cents, we could, perhaps with equal justice, sanction a law prohibiting Boards of Su- pervisors. regardless of geogra- phical location of county seats, their proximity to or remoteness from supply centers and the presence or. absence of trans portation facilities, from paying more than a certain relatively low rate, for groceries, fodder, or other commodities necessary to the maintenance of county departments and institutions.
 In all frankneSS, furthermore,