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Show PUBLICITY SHOULD BE COMPELLED Every man, woman and child is liable to arrest and fine, if not imprisonment, im-prisonment, if the laws and ordinances ordi-nances of the state and community are not kept. Ignorance of the laws will excuse no one. The defense of ignorance or misinformation will not get very far in any court. But what are the laws and the ordinances? or-dinances? How can one keep from violating them if he knows not wha! they are? There may be no intention inten-tion of infringing, but simply lack i of knowledge. There may be ordinances and laws passed that violate the liberty of all. yet can be used, even if not constitutional, consti-tutional, and cause anyone considerable consider-able annoyance and publicity, if inadvertently in-advertently violated. Passing laws in the dark may be all right in the land of the kaiser, : but not in Enlightened Utah. Yet this can be done, as there is no law compelling the various law-making 1 bodies to publish ordinances or laws ; so that people may know about them, j Many civic corporations do this, j but the fact remains they are not compelled to publish the ordinances in a newspaper so that people may read and have knowledge. Nearly every state in the west has such laws, except Utah, which is strangely behind in this important matter, and where law-making bodies want to "put something over," it can easily he done. Some well-meaning officials may talk of the expense of doing this, but should expense be thought of when it means so much to the people at large, who must obey the ordinances and laws that are enacted? Really, can a free, enlightened people afford not to have its laws published? Here is an important matter that the members of the legislature should consider at the next session, and we call it to the attention of the voters and the men who seek to become be-come members of the legislature, and those who hold over. The legislature will be asked to pass a law compelling the publication publica-tion of all laws, ordinances and lesr-lutions lesr-lutions in a newspaper where they take effect, as a matter of protect! in to every person. Failure to pass the law, or not to vote in its favor will be looked into very carefully, and we will ask why. |