The Forrest City times., 1914-02-20

'i1 PiopoSed law provides immediate iy after adjournment of the October term of the County Court each year 'hat the clerk of tse county shall have puoi'shea summary of all orders of 'le court In all cases where the court cHahges the assessment as fixed by tue Board of Equalization It is also provided that the name of the owner 'ne amount of assessment as fiyed by the board and the amount fixed bv tbs court shall be published
 One of the important provisions of the proposed measure provides that the clerks of county courts mnst have published in one paper in the county q ilst of all claims allowed against the county and the road districts to whom dHo"ed and for what purpose and what amount.
 eesides this the measure also pro- NIues Tor the publication of reports of county commissioners of accounts" 10 the circuit courts and all annual re. ports Of commissioners of special i'm proYement districts.
 economy in State Expenditures
 Inc section of the measure which provides for publication purposes is one or the most important features of the proposed measure. This provides that the fees allowed for the publica. tons provided for in the act shall not exceed one-half the legal rates for publication of legal notices, except in cases ot newspapers having more than o,000 sworn circulation.
 The measure contains one feature designed to secure publicity of the condition of municipalities in the state. This provides that the City council of each municipality must cause a full financial report of the affairs of the municipality to be pub llshed one time in the months of Jan uary and June. and that such pubica- ton must give detailed statement of all funds received, their source; of all money expended and to whom paid and for what purpose, during the pre- ceding six months, and these state ments must show the amount of funds on hand and the amount of all in- debteGness.
 The measure also provides that the officials responsible for the pubica- ttons may cause the sane 10 be made in more than one paper when possible to secure more publicity without addi- tional expense that publications be made in daily papers, provided a daily newspaper exists in the community; or if not, in a weekly, and provides also that every person failing to comply with the provisions of the law be fined any sum not exceeding $100O.
 Present Law Unsatisfactory.
 At present the law provides only for publications of acts of the General Assembly in volumes issued under the direction of the secretary of state. Naturally the circulation of these volumes is extremely limited. and the opportunity of the general public to become familiar with the laws is de cidedly curtailed Even the volumes containing the new laws passed by the legislature are not published until several months after the session has adjourned. and therefore anyone who wishes to learn what new laws are on the statute books is forced to visit the secretary of states office, either in person or through an attorney, and inspect the files.
 To Publish Synopsis of Laws.
 The measure provides that after 90 days from 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 the General Assem- bly,. Laws in which the referendum has been invoked are excepted, but are provided for in another section of the act This section provides that when any law part of law, part of an act or amendment to the constitution or measure is to be referred to the people for ballot, that the secretary of state shall cause a true copy of the title and text of each measure to be published in one newspaper in each county for 20 days, and it is also pro vided that publication of the number and form of the ballot title of the measure be published at the same time.
 The acts of the Railroad Commis sion are Of particular importance to the people of the entire state. Here tofore the orders of this commission have been sent to those directly inter- ested. and spread upon the books of the commission Unless the orders were of general importance they were not brought to the attention of the public.
 The main purpose of the Dill is to secure the dissemination of knowl- edge among the people of Arkansas concerning important official matters, which in the past often have lain dor mant in various public offices acces- sible only to lawyers or to those whose interest was pressing enough