The Mena weekly star., 1919-04-10
.VFTOES REPEAL OF. THE PUBLICITY ACT.
Governor Pays Tribute to Newspapers in Disappearing Porter Bill Purifying Element of
 Politics.
From the Arkansas aazette.

lJl4, was vetoed yesterday by GoV- ernor Brough. A similar measure passed by the legislature in 1917 was vetoed by the governor when the en- rolled copy was presented to him for his signature.
 Governor Brough issued the follow ing proclamation in vetoing the bill, giving his reasons for disappearing the bill:
 T beg to return to you without my executive approval House Bill No. 243 by Mir. Porter of Boone county, and others, providing that Act No. of the act initiated and adopted at the general election of the state of Ar kansas, held September, 1914, and generally known as the publicity act be and the same is hereby repealed and rendered null and void.
 T vetoed a similar measure, con- tained in House Bill No. 42, in 1917, and have found no reason to change my mind with reference to the value of the publicity act. Act No. of the acts of 1915, known as the publicity act, was initiated by the people and made effective by the governors pro- clamation dated October 13, 1915.
 Tt is very serious constitutional question as to whether acts initiated by the people should be repealed by the General Assembly, without at taching the referendum clause. Ex- perience has taught the value and ab- solute necessity for publicity in gov ernmental affairs. Every voter should know the business of his community, his county and his state. It should be put before him in simple form, and then, if he does not study it and seek to correct errors of administration the responsibility would rest upon his shoulders. The United States gov- ernment, during the great crisis thru which we nave just passed, appointed thousands of publicity agents and used the newspapers on every occa- sion. The newspapers were the larg- est factors in putting down German propaganda in this country and mak- ing the German peace offensive an ignominious failure.
 Every patriotic citizen will bear me out in the statement that when our governments reasons for entering the war, applying the selective service system and launching praiseworthy patriotic campaigns, were explained, our citizens upheld the administrative program and in cities, hooks and ham, lets entered into the war for liberty and democracy with the zest of their forefathers. It is also worthy of note that during the war the newspapers were called upon to make sacrifices that "cut to the quick" Particularly was this true in the case of county newspapers having a limited circula- tion, whose columns were literally filled with government material pub lished by these newspapers without money and without price. President Wilson, our great philosopher presi- dent, has cogently said: Publicity is one of the purifying clements of poli- tics. The best thing that you can do with anything that is crooked is to hold it up where the people can see that it is crooked and then it will straighten itself out or disappear. Nothing checks all the bad practices of politics like public exposure and cannot be crooked in the light
 Publicity is the very Gibralter and the initiative and referendum is the only agency we have for recall in Arkansas. Without full publicity, thru the newspapers and thru discus sion and explanations, by public spir- ffnd .av, f... .I. should always safeguard the rights of the people might become a menace. The people in each of the 75 counties of the state are entitled to know the costs and proceedings of their coun- ty courts and in this era of good roads construction, are entitled to be fa- miliarized with the acts of the com missioners and the expenditure of the vast sums entrusted to these commits sioners in the authorization by the last General Assembly of approxi- mately $50,000,000 worth of bonds. As matter of fact the newspapers are making very little out of this pub licity act, for the fees allowed them for the publications under the pro- visions of the publicity act, according to section 9 of the act, Shall not ex- ceed half of the legal rate provided by law for the publication of legal mo- tices, excepting newspapers having a sworn circulation of more than 5,000,' where the full legal rate of $100 per square shall be paid. Furthermore, aftentimes two or more papers in a county, by using the same type after it has been set up by one of them, is enabled, under the terms of the publi- city act, to print the matter and share the expense in payment.
 May respectfully suggest in con clusion, that the able gentlemen, who were animated, am sure, by the pur- est of motives in proposing the repeal of the publicity act, rendered their own measure null and void by speci- flying that Act No. of the acts ini- tiated and adopted at the general election of 1914 be repealed when, as a matter of fact, Act No. was de- feated at that election and Act No. 9 is the only act upon the statute books. For these reasons I return this bill to you without my executive approval.
 Charles H. Brough, Governor"
 
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