, 1888-01-08
A WORD TO LEGISLATORS.

tant ever held. Hitherto the making of
laws has been comparatively free from
difficulties. The industries of the terri
tory have.not, heretofore been diversified.
Stock raising was par excellence the bust
ness of the territory, and stock men natu-
rally enough had everything their own
way. Lawsj.were then passed in the in
terest of cattlemen which now seem out
rageous. Some of them were undoubt-
edly necessary at the time they were
passed, but quite all Of them have out
lived their days OF usefulness.
The past three years have shown an ex-
t~raordinary change in the nature of
things. Wyoming is no longer simply
the home of cattle kings; it is tho abode
of the miner, the manufacturer, the
mechanic, the farmer and a large and
thrifty commercial class whose industries
must now be fostered, whose interests
must be sacredly guarded and whose
rights must be rigidly maintained. People
have so long been used to the old order of
things that they close their eyes to the
grand transformation scene going on before
them. They are slow to believe that
vicious legislation in the past now sorely
presses hundreds of new corners to the
territory and that the diversified industries
of the fast incoming population demands
the ~abrogation of special legislation of the
past, which, however useful it may have
been. is now ripe enough to become a
Renaissance.
We do not wish to be construed as
having prejudices against either the cat
tlemen or their business. They occupied
the field at a time when it was valuable
for no other purpose, and it is they who
attracted the attention of the world to
Wyoming. The idea which we wish to
emphasize is that the primitive order of
things is changing. The change is inev-
table in the onward march OF c~iviliza-
ton. Individuals may set their faces
against it, they may affect to overlook it,
but the forward march is inevitable just
the same. The sooner this fact is real
lied and appreciated the sooner will Wyo-
ming spring forward into the front rank
of the most thrifty and populous sections
of the country.
Therefore we say the legislators should
not lose sight of this new order of things,
for on their appreciation of the radical
physical changes which are taking place
will greatly depend the utility of the
labors which they may otherwise faith
fully perform.
The first law on the statute book which
demands attention is the 50 called NAV
erick law. 1t is in every respect the most
vicious of all class legislation. A simple
modification OF its provisions is not sudi-
cient. 1t is radically wrong and should
be wiped out of existence.
Counties should not pay the salaries of
stock inspectors. This class of officials
attend to duties for a special class of tax
payers, and that class should pay them.
The prevailing system of rewards is
outrageous. A deputy sheriff in pursuit
of a criminal is paid So day and ex-
penses. In addition he receives whatever
reward is set upon the capture of the es-
capped criminal. The reward is always the
first and oitentimes the only consideration
in the mind of the officer. Ultimately
the taxpayer is forced to shoulder AL enor-
nous and unnecessary burthen.
The territorial veterinarians Office
could now be very well dispensed with. 1t
costs the territory 81, 500 a year in the
salary of a chief, Imany hundreds more for
deputies besides what the counties pay in
two-thirds of the valuation set upon ami
mails condemned because they are alleged
to suffer from some contagious disease.
For our own part, it seems that modern
science is developing a string of con-
tagious diseases which staggers ordinary
comprehension. Ga every side we are
alleged to be hedgcd in by anthrax,
pleuro-pneumonia and tuberculosis, while
above all hangs the impending calamity of
plain, everyday CHAMBERS. Now, if the
people of this territory,should get a little
less science and a little les, of cumber-
some medical DhraseologY and be per
mitted to exercise their own common
sense, wouldn't we'worry along Just about
as well?
There is much talk about the attorney
generalshIp, which Office was created by
the Republicans, but not for the purpose
of filling a long felt want or fitting a plug
into an aching void. With the powers
extended and the responsibilities increased
it might be made an important Office, but
Just now it is rather ..attenuated in the
matter of Importance, so to speak, and
elongated us to compensation for the
amount of work performed.
The so called gopher law should be
wiped out without ceremony. 1t has
proven a fearful drain upon every county
treasury in the territory.
The making Of practical irrigation laws
will be an important consideration for the
legislature. With the examples of Cali
cor,;a oaI noIoroJoI kocnso - manu- Ice