Page:The Government of Iowa 1921.djvu/100

60 Journal of Proceedings.—The Constitution directs that each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings and publish the same, and that whenever persons are elected to office by the General Assembly the members thereof must vote orally (viva voce) and the votes must be entered on the journal. Thus, the action of every member of the Assembly is made a matter of public record. During the long deadlock in the election of a successor to the late Senator Dolliver, the journals daily contained the monotonous roll of votes for the several candidates.

An electrical and mechanical system for the instantaneous registration of the votes of the members of the House of Representatives on all questions requiring a roll-call was ordered installed before January 1, 1920, by the Thirty-eighth General Assembly.

Publication of the Laws.—It is a common saying and a well-known legal principle that ignorance of the law excuses no one. The people must, however, be given a reasonable opportunity to know what the law is. The General Assembly has accordingly directed the Secretary of State to publish within fifty days after adjournment all laws, resolutions, and memorials passed, and a liberal distribution of the same is also provided for. All laws of a public nature passed at a regular session take effect upon the fourth day of July next after their passage. Laws passed at special sessions take effect ninety days after the adjournment. But acts deemed of immediate importance take effect upon publication in such newspapers as the Assembly may designate. From time to time the laws are