The Ocala evening star., 1915-05-03
ANOTHER ILL
CONSIDERED MEASURE

bill providing as follows:
"a bill to be entitled an act requir-
ing the county commissioners of this
state to rotate the public printing
among the several newspapers of
their respective counties.
"Section l. That after the passage
of this act it shall be the duty Of the
county commissioners of the several
counties of this state at their first
regular meeting in January of each
and every year to select from am, :
the newspapers published in their
county for a period of one year or
more, a newspaper in which to have
published during the ensuing year, all
matters of publication, including the
tax sale, the laws as passed by the
legislature, and all notices of any ma
ture whatsoever, required to be so
published by said board of county
commissioners.
"Sec. 2. That the said board of
county commissioners shall on the fol-
lowing January, and each year there
after. select another of the papers so
published in their county to do their |
printing until each of the several
newspapers of the county have been
SO chosen, and then proceed as be-
fore"
This bill looks very fair on its face,
but we don't suppose Mr.. Williams
had fully studied out its probable re-
suits before framing it.
| Take Marion county, for instance.
1t has two large county papers, the
| Banner and the Gtar. Both print all
the official proceedings of the county
boards, and as there is hardly home
in the county into which one or the
other of the papers does not go, the
people are kept fully informed Of all
the acts of their public servants. The
reports of the county boards are ex-
tensive and given in detail. They pay
each of the papers $3.50 month to
: publish the reports, this money being
| little over half the cost of composi-
ton. Any long article or report is
bull in newspapers china shop, on
account of the way it interrupts the
regular routine and often compels
more remunerative work to be set
aside. So it is safe to say printing
these official reports cost each of the
Ocala papers over 5000 year.
. There are not any other papers in
this county able to handle these re-
ports as they have been handled, nor
to so fully present them to the people,
, and it will probably be long time
: before any other paper will have q
: fifth of the circulation of either.
The commissioners have for num-
, Der of years given the public printing
to these two papers in turn, which ar
rangement has been satisfactory to
both. There is no fortune in it, and
!, when il is considered that both pa
pers steadily and unstintingly give
their space to everything that tends
to improve the county and section,
the modest amount received every
other year for printing the delinquent
: tax list, which is always an expensive
: piece of work to the printer, is hard
ly any more than just pay.
There are two other papers in the
county-both good in their localities,
q but they are limited in circulation. Ii
q is doubtful If either of them could set
up the proceedings of both county
boards in one issue, and certain that
8 neither could set the the tax list in its
own Office.
: If Mr.. Williams bill passes, one OF
: these smaller papers would receive
n the county printing next year, and the
other the year following. Also, II
G would be feasible for some person, In
Il the latter part of the year 1917 &c
start a paper somewhere in Marion
county, and thereby obtain the county
printing for the next year. In 1918
: the same maneuver could be repeated
n In the meantime, the two Ocala pa.
/ pers would of course stop printing
e the county reports; nor would they
o ever again return to the policy OF
+ jboth printing them at the same time
SO it is probable that never agar
would the people of Marion be more
than half as well informed on county
= affairs as they are now.
I'll It's the same way in all the largel
J counties. In Duval are two big pa
: pers, one or the other of which i
1 read by almost everybody in the coun
%lty. A similar condition prevails II
{ HilIsborough, in Putnam, Volusia, Or
$tange, Polk, Dade, Escambia AM
4 others.
J To have the county reports publish
8 ed in a small paper of limited circu
S lation would just exactly suit tn
J political bosses of a big county.
Z If Mr.. Williams will amend his bil
4 so as to have the public printing Civ
4 en- in rotation to the two papers o
! proven largest circulation in eac
{ county, it will be a fair law. Tha
1 is the way it is done, without an
y law, in Marion, and the people of n
! other county are better served wit
& publicity.
u It is very evident that when MI
Z Williams framed his bill, he wa
- -. o~,r,, rx,I