Commonwealth ex rel. Busch v. Jones

Citations

• 192 Pa. 472
• 43 A. 1089
• 1899 Pa. LEXIS 943

Syllabus

<p>Public printing—Superintendent of public printing—Secretary of agriculture—Act of May 1, 1876, article 8, section 12 of the constitution—Mandamus.</p> <p>The public printer is a mere contractor, subject to the direction of the superintendent of printing, and bound by his contract to obey the orders of that officer, and he is under no duty to inquire if an order addressed to him by the superintendent of printing is itself based upon a proper order from the head of the department for which the printing is to be done.</p> <p>A resolution of the legislature approved by the governor directed the printing of 15,000 copies of a pamphlet previously issued by the department of agriculture, entitled, “‘The Diseases and Enemies of Poultry,’ with such additional matter and changes as the authors may deem necessary to more fully explain this important subject.” The authors, who were subordinate officials in the department of agriculture, added a large amount of matter, and sent the manuscript to the public printer with an order signed by them directing him to print it. The public printer sent the order to the superintendent of public printing, and shortly afterwards received an order from him directing him to print the book. No order was signed by the secretary of agriculture, and there was no evidence that the public printer knew on what order the superintendent of printing acted in directing him to print the bulletin. There was also no evidence of fraud or collusion. Held,, that the public printer was entitled to a mandamus to enforce the payment of his claim.</p>