Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-04-06
HABCOOD DEFENDS
NEWSPAPER BILL
Musters l03 Votes in Attempt to
Pass It Over the Governors
Veto

the pih dpproprfatlnS S4o,oVO 10 pay
the deficiency in the cost of adver-
tising the constitutional amendments
and in the course of his remarks toma-
hawked Auditor General Powell and
criticised the Governor. He then
called on the House to pass the bill
over the Governors veto and sue
ceeded in mastering 10S votes. He
needed 1SS votes to pass the bill over
the veto and for a time there was lot
of suppressed excitement about the
House. Eighty-three men voted to
sustain the veto. 1t was the first at
tempt to pass a bill notwithstanding
executive objections and it attracted
much attention. Many members who
were supporters of the Governor de-
cided to stand by the editors back
home and voted with Habgood.
In the course OF his remarks Mr..
Habgood said:
This House voted into this bill pro-
visions calling for the payment of
those bills for 1912. 1913 and 1914
by vote of LAG to As, after vigorous
opposition by the gentleman from
South philadelphia. who fought the
proposition as hard as he could in
behalf of the Auditor General. We
now listen TO the communication from
the Governor. also taking the part of
the Auditor General in that he uses
the words which the Auditor General
uses. l wish to call the attention, Mr..
Speaker, of the gentlemen of this
House to a few facts in connection
with this bill upon which we have just
received communication from the
Governor this evening. / assure YOU
that there is nothing in my mind or
heart at this time containing a senti-
| ment of resentment or any feeling of
mt Il 4
make plain to the members of this
House and I wish to make clear some
or the facts which will speak for them
selves and to which / will ask YOUR
KIND consideration in the hope that
you VIII pay attention to it. On Feb
ruary /, over two months ago, the
chairman of the appropriations conf
mittee OF this House asked the Auditor
General. the official auditor of this
commonwealth, to give him a state
inent in his official capacity of the
amount OF money required to pay the
ollls Tor 1912. 1918 and 1914 for the
advertising of the constitution amend
ments.
Il have here in my hand a certified
copy or the statement. furnished TO
me DE the chairman of the appro-
priauons committee, the gentleman
from. Allegheny. Mr.. Woodward. and
IN this statement it particularly speci-
S2OS.OOO and the amount appropriated
on the account of the deficiency an
/ preparation for 1918 was $152 600.
ieaVlng a balance in the treasury of
$4,000 for 1912. 1t then appropriated
Tor the 1918 bills as rendered the
~ aInouht OF that account, leaving bal
| ance IN the fund of $4,000, With tbe
| 1914 bills as rendered. the amount
left or leaves the whole proposition
| Tor the three years the amount which
has been paid and the amount which
Is still in the treasury then given the
otnclai information that it will require
| 10 paw these bills. as rendered S146 :
! 04O.S9. One hundred thousand dollars
OF that was passed in the deficiency
| appropriation bill and approved bv
the Governor and the $4,000 was in
| TINS bill which the Governor has We
toed. This bill provided $4,000 as
an ADDITIONAL appropriation to pay the
| expenses of publishing the amend
/ ments Tor these three years and pro-
Vided that this expense for these three
years should be paid on the following
basis and gave the basis upon which
! 1t was to be paid. and that was NOT
on the basis of bills rendered. as this
statement shows. but on the basis that
| Is paid for any state in adyertisin1
by the present Auditor General and
the two previous Auditors General.
RMS was on February |, and accord
ing to the proposition as it appears in
this bill as it is vetoed tonight the
Auditor General says that that state
nleht Is wrong. He took S91, 900 in
stead of $4,000.
You can see very plainly that this
House and this Senate and the chair
man OF the appropriations committee
ana that these newspapers, from two
TO five in every county in this state
Which you represent, and from two
10 hve In every one of your counties,
were done before they commenced. If
that is the relation which we are to
take in this matter. that the Auditor
General viii make a statement to the
chairman of the appropriations COM
mittee which he says two months aft
erward is false. therefore we were
done before we commenced. This
House. this Senate and these news
papers were then done.
Should Have Notified
Now. gentlemen, wish also to call
your attention to this fact: as YOU well
know there have been from twelve to
twenty bills withdrawn from the desk
of the Governor, and If it was a propo-
sition of where the Auditor General
had sent the wrong statement, as he
admits to the chairman of the appro-
priations> committee of this House, or.
as he claims, and he did not discover
it for over two months after that, he
should nave nOtiffed the chairman of
the appropriations committee that his
office had made such blunder. When
this bill was in the hands of the Gov
ernor on Tuesday two weeks ago to-
morrow a party of three of us waited
on the Governor and we asked him to
give us the pen whereby he would sign
this BILL and he said he would take it
up the following week and would see
us the first of the week. We did not
see him and we did not have an OBJ
portunity to consider this question
until after the Senate had adjourned.
and the House adjourned while we
were having our conference. Now.
gentlemen of this House. there have
been a score of bills withdrawn from
the Governor for the purpose of
amendment. and / submit to you
whether it is fair and just to- keep this
bill in such shape whereby 1t cannot
be withdrawn for amendment and then
veto it because it only has half enough
money in II to pay what it purports
to pay, and ] wish to say, gentlemen,
further than that. that it is not a ques-
tion in this proposition of the noun
tain laurel. that it Is not a question in
this bill of sentiment; 1t is q question,
gentlemen. of bread and butter for
from three hundred to three hundred
and fifty newspapers in this State. and
House, representing three to five of
counties. to stand upon the basis upon
which YOU stood for the payment of
! this advertising.
-. I.