The Forrest City times., 1914-08-14
President of Press Associat;o, Shows Benefits of Act No, 3| An AnsDer to Criticisms on the Subject of c..,

Little ROck.-ln an address DefOre the Arkansas Farmers Union, F. w.. Broadnax, of Ouachita county, op- posed Act No. 8, the Publicity Act. declaring that it would be too expen- siye.
 Virgil A. Beeson, president of the Arkansas Press Association, when asked for a statement in answer to Col Broadnax, said:
 T am sorry to know that Colonel Broadnax takes such a position with reference to the publicity measure which has been initiated by nearly IS .000 voters of the state. l do not doubt his sincerity, but he has either been misinformed or has failed to read and study the bill. l know that the Arkansas Press Association has only the best interests of the state at heart and submitted this measure only after mature delberation of the needs of the state and the possibili- ties of publicity in public affairs
 Says Opposition Is Ridiculous.
 The opposition of Colonel Broad max is especially ridiculous as to the cost of publishing the various meas ures and items provided for by Act No. and this seems to be the chlef and only bone of contention among the scattering few who are opposed to the publicity act. l take 1t that Colonel Broadnax had not read the bill when he said that it required the publication of all laws passed by the legislature in each county ten times at a cost of s1,760 per page. If such were true I would gladly join with Colonel Broadnax in opposition to the measure. but this is what the act says;
 Section 2. After ninety days from the final adjournment of each session of the General Assembly the secretary of state shall cause to be published in one paper in each county of the state a synopsis of all general laws enacted by such General Assem- bly,. except those upon which the ref erendum has been invoked Such syn opsis shall be prepared by the attor- ney-general. Such publication shall be for ten days. the first not later than one hundred days from the final adjournment of the General Assemb ly.'
 "It will be seen that only synop- sis of the general laws is to be pub lished-just enough that the people may be put on notice This synopsis is to be prepared by the attorney gen eral, who is elected by the people and publication for ten days (not ten timesl is required. This means that a weekly publication shall print the synopsis in it's weekly issues during a period of ten days. The present law provides for the publication of initiative and referendum measures 90 days, but no one has yet claimed that this meant 20 times. Only six insertions have been made hereto fore under existing laws in weekly newspapers, where publication 90 da s ] has been required.
 "Our Publicity Committee has had capable lawyers prepare a synopsis Ol lIlt StLtI al ldHb Ol lut last IbElS- lature-such as would be expected of the attorney general-and the cost of printing such a synopsis figures eX- actly S202 per county, trifle more than sl5,000 for the state at large ! Is there anyone prepared to say that 1t Is not worth $15,000 to the state for its citizens to know the law? Is it not fact that many law violations result from ignorance of the law and that the courts hold that ignorance of the law is no excuse for violations? Will there not be less lawlessness and less expense of courts when citizens are informed about the laws which they must obey, and won't they show more respect for the law which they. as citizens, can change at their will if unsatisfactory in either theory or practice?
 But while this expense of publish ing a summary of laws is under con. sideration, I desire to call attention to the fact that section of Act No. 9 reduces the expense of publishing ln- | A'ie''FV ehN lttN4 tINull measures Dy | curtailng it's period of publication from 30 to 20 days This year it is ! costing the state a little over $2O.- GOO, to publish the I. and R. meas ures. Under Act No. 3, the cost would be only sl3165. Thus we have a saving of S700o, which should in jus tice to Act No. 3 be deducted from the expense of publishing the synop- sis of legislative acts, and thereby the cost of Act No, 3 under sections 1 and is reduced to sS,000 every two years, or $4,0O0 per annum.
 Section 3 provides for the publi- cation of general orders of the Rail. road Commission, and surely Colonel BroadnaX does not object to putting the people on notice of proposed changes in freight and express rates. It is recalled by shippers and consum- CTS all over the state than on July this year the Railroad Commission put into effect a general order which raised express rates in hundreds of