Arizona weekly citizen., 1885-02-28
THE CAPITOL,
Waning WlsdOm-Thou Shalt not swear Railroad Legislation-Usury Laws Partisan AntsgonI.m-What
 the Council Won'tDa.


 From our own correspondent.
 PREsCoTT, Feb. r., 1885.
 The present wisdom of the House is aggregated in one hundred and forty bills aud to-day, as a most remarkable occurrance, only one bill was offered, and that was very feeble effort indeed. The harvest of bills may be safely said to be over, and as the golden sheaves go through the thresher of legislative en- actment, the winnowing process may leave some solid grains of wisdom, but the bulk Of chaf will be appalling. As body the present Legislature is disposed to be upright and fearless, ard but very few pernicious bills will escape the | scrutiny oi either house. Nothing has sO Tar met with favor that carried with 1t the least taint of corruption, while a | few really meritorious measures have | fallen because they were ID bad com. pany.
 me wom ID suffrage bill died in the House yesterday, when IL came up for a | final vote, but the Council, not to be cheated out of an expression of csllan- try will bring up similar measure for \ consideration.
 The governor has signed Nichols bill prohibiting obscene and protrne lan- suage in the presence of women and children, and it Is now law of our Terri tory, and a good one, too.
 l Frhnklln's railroad bill IS still in the hands Of the judiciary committed; but was smoked out enough to-day to re- l qulre d report thereon tomorrow. It is | generally understood that II Is not a perfect bill and ID i.s terms IS more Ia vorable to the railroads than 1t was in l tended to be. Indeed, bill to impArtlslly regulate railroad traffic ;s an attainment worthy the ambition of our most emi- nent statesmen. The great minds who nave devoted many years to a meet care ful study of the problem are as yet as far from satisfactory solution as when they began. There are so many con tilctiug interests to be considered that one grows bewildered in contemplation of them and gets lost Tn the labyrinth Of claims of justice and equity. No one Wants to oppress the railroads and no one wants to be oppressed by them, and indeed blessed Is the mind that cap strike the happy medium upon which | all can agree.
 Quite an animated dIscussion resulted to-day upon the usury billIntroduced by Geo. W. Brown of Pima, which was re- | ported back from the judiciary com mi'tee with a recommendation that ii do | not pass. The introducer of the bill took | he floor and presented such IndIsputsble arguments Tn its favor that he enlisted unexpected sympathy ana support. and | succeeded in voting down a motion tu ! indefinitely postpone the bill, and passed It to engrossment by good majority. The bIll provides for a legal rate of in- teTeSt where no express rate IS agreed upon, of ten per cent per Ennum, but the limit to the rate Is fixed at twelve per 1 cent The first argument m favor of the measure IS, that where money IS now loaned at the very profitable rates Of interest that prevails, under the new act it will seek other investments and In that way improve the mines. manufact- ures and other industries and other i'm provements of permanent value. The bill will pass tomorrow by R good ma jOrity.
 There Is strong partiZan feeling ex- istlng just now among the the members of both Houses, having its origin Tn the action of the Democrats upon the reso- luton asking the retention of Gov. Fri tie until the expiration of his term. IL IS thought that some very good meas ures may fail because of this feeling. lt has naturally brought the Governor and his friends into sn sttltude of party independence that can result only in open hostility towards the Democrats. Certainly 1t wac very foolish on the party of overzealous Democrats to throw down the Dtrty gauntlet on such shght prOvUcatlOn. Their national success at the last election has doubtless created unreasonable enthusiasm in them and their mercurisl temperaments have arisen to abnormal altitude.
 The Insane Asylum bill Is resting quietly m the Council. awaiting a pro- pItlous opportunity for consideration. The Sierra Bonita county bill has not yet made its appearance. The whis- pered designs of the Council. as caught l on the fly, are no insane asylum; no | commissioner of immigration; DO coun- | ty divIsIOn; no bullion tax, and no re- l moval of the capital. Perhaps they may l pass the woman suffrage bill, for they | entertain a sentiment that was expressed l by s member of the House on Saturday | They favor universal suffr age for all | men, without distinction of sex. IL IS | scarcely necessary to state that the | Council has more lady clerks than the House. B.