The Prescott daily news., 1914-06-22


 schools are very much more i'm portant to the welfare and future of 1 the commonwealth than the thorough enlightenment of the people at all times on public affairs. Free educa- | tion must be maintained at any cost, in | public schools where training for citi- zenship, and through publicity in the newspapers for those who have reach ed the age and activities of citizen ship.
 Publicity in Politics. "One of the most purifying steps in politics Is the publication of cam paign expenses. advocated by William J. Bryan, and now a State and Ma | tonal law. If publicity is good for purifying political campaigns. for l keeping te candidate within the limit | of honesty and propriety. why will it not be good in governmental affairs | for keeping the public official in check and the voter enlightened on the af tairs of state?"
 At this point. the brief goes into the
 
 Arkansas to show that the people of this state have less opportunity, on ac- count of inadequate publicity laws. to know what Is going on in the manage ment of their affairs than the people of other states, where taxes are said to be very much lower than in Arkan- sas. On the question of expense. the brief says:
 The chief argument against Act No. | 3 is the expense. Of course. 1t will cost money to make the publications required under this act, and the bill provides for 1t. The state is, also in poor financial condition. But the state owes very largely the bankrupt condi- ton of its treasury to the fact that THE PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW. Graft CTS and punderers have been allowed to prey-the people didn't know The people will willingly pay their taxes If | judicially spent. Publicity will inform them.
 Will Not Increase Taxes.
 ACT NO. 3 WILL NOT INCREASE TAXES!
 Tt becomes operative immediately on its adoption by the people.
 "Crookedness in official circles will at once stop.
 | "Lawlessness as a result of igno- rance will begin to wane. The courts will be less busy.
 Tax dodgers will quit lodging. The state revenues will grow and the leaks will stop. The newspapers will be getting some of this money. but the grafters and plunderers will lose. "The newspapers will be giving the state service, while the grafters and plunderers give it nothing but bad name and bad taste in the mouths of the taxpayers
 "Take your choice,
 Act No. 3 and PUBLICITY THAT YOU MAY KNOW; or,
 The Freedom of Crafters and DARKNESS THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW"
 Then appears a thorough exposition of Act No. 3, section by section. The cost is given wherever possible to compute or estimate 1t. Where i'm | possible to estimate, the publication expense is shown to be very light and inconsequential, in consideration of 1 the results to follow.
 Under Section 1. relating to the pub lication of l. & R. measures, the ex- pense is reduced by the fact that the period of publication is reduced from thirty to twenty days (meaning six to four weeks in weekly newspapers) IL is shown that under Act No. 3 the pub | lication of the I & R measures this year would cost S1SS.75 per county. as | against S265.00 per county under the existing law. The l & R measures two | years ago would have cost under Act No. 3 s55250 per county instead of | $S05.00 per county. The importance of the thorough education of the voter ! on all measures requiring his "intelli- | gent" ballot Is advanced as the req son for publishing such Acts and 1 Amendments in the newspapers which are read, rather than fin pamphlets, which are seldom read. Besides. each | publication in the newspapers is shown to be cheaper than in pamphlets. Section provides for the publica. ton of a synopsis of all General Acts of the Legislature, the synopsis to be | prepared by the Attorney General. As only the meat of the law will be con. tained in the synopsis, the publication