Puget Sound Publishing Co. v. Times Printing Co.

Citations

• 33 Wash. 551
• 74 P. 802
• 1903 Wash. LEXIS 551

Syllabus

<p>Newspaper—What is—Sufficiency op Evidence. The Daily Bulletin, a paper of four pages, each thirteen by twenty inches with five colums of regular printed matter, devoted to the dissemination of news upon a great variety of topics of interest to the general public and containing general advertisements, but giving special prominence to legal news, is a “newspaper” within § 31, Seattle city charter, relating to the selection of an official city paper, and within the usual acceptation of the term.</p> <p>Same—General Circulation—Need not be Universal. A paper having 750 to 1000 subscribers in the city of Seattle, daily distributed to them, and read by about 3000 persons, is a paper of “general circulation,” since general means extensive and not universal.</p> <p>Daily Paper—Holidays Excepted. ■ A paper published every day except Sundays and legal holidays is a daily paper.</p> <p>Municipal Corporations-—Official Paper-—Letting Award— City Council—Discretion—Abuse. Under a city charter requiring the city printing to be awarded to the lowest bidder, the city council, although vested with some discretion in determining which is the lowest bid, cannot arbitrarily award the printing in plain disregard of the provisions, and the courts will restrain an award at 50 cents an inch where a qualified competitor has bid 'less than 16 cents per inch.</p> <p>Same—Highest Bidder—Action to Enjoin Award—Evidence as to Average Price. In an action to restrain a city council from letting the public printing to the highest bidder, in violation of charter provisions, evidence as to the average price paid and as to the reasonableness of the defendant’s bid is properly excluded as immaterial.</p>