Arizona republican., 1891-02-05
CATTLE THIEVES.
Protest Against the Proposed Change in
 tho Grand Larceny Law.
To the Editor of THE REPUBLICAN,:

Protest Against lhe IfOpOseu NhhhEe LII
 tho Grand Larceny Law.
 To the Editor of THE REPUBLICAN:
 The article in morning paper regard ing the action of the Council in moving reconsideration of the House bill re- lative to grand larceny, etc., shows but one side of the situation. The article shows that $4 burro has ten times the protection that $45 watch has and calls that inequality. So it IS Tn one sense. But l would ask the writer to suppose that if from surrounding cir Cumstances it was necessary for every man owning watch to hang it on a nail on his front gate on retiring and leave it there all night, would he not want watch stealing made a pretty severe offense, and further if it would not be simple justice that the man who stole the hOd carriers Waterbury should be as severely punished as he who stole the millonaire's $250 split-second chronometer. Now that is what the law does with the stock thieves. The prospector who, after hard days tramp, turns loose his burro to rustic on the hill side, goes to sleep safe in the security that the man who steals his bur TO takes as great chances of punishment, if caught, as if he had stolen the most valuable horse in Salt River valley. Isn't that right and just?
 Again they say, "Who would convict a man to sentence in Yuma for steal ing calf" My reply, and it is based upon ten years experience in dealing with this very question, is that more men are convicted or at least caught in stealing calves and yearlings than any thing else because more are stolen and the old COW herself is always reliable witness. A man who finds fresh hide on the corral fence and fresh meat in the camp of a rustler and one of his own COWS bawling around the place doesn't want much more evidence to satisfy himself at least that he has found crooked work. It may be that for years he has been suspeCting, if not absolutely positive, that this man has been steal cattle and horses, but never before has he hadsceItain proof of it. Every COW man knows the difficulty of proving stock stealing. A man may go on for years and be suspected and watched but never caught, and yet when he finally is and the animal happens to be below the value oi $50 these gentlemen say, Give him sixty days in the county jail"
 Again, the men who steal stock are quite different class of criminals from the ordinary petty larceny thief. He is generally load man" in the beginning and success has made him worse. Now, 1 ask these men who want this law amended if they have the nerve to go be- fore the average Justice of the Peace and swear out their own warrant and take the chances of conviction before such court as that of Justice of the Peace in any of our small Arizona towns.
 Should the culDrit demand jury trial the jury would be scratched up from the neighbOring saloons, and probably con sist mainly of friends of the accused. Ii the prisoner should happen to be con victed an get say ninety days in the county iail, about the first hard work ne would do after he was released wouId be to hunt up the man who prosecuted him and see how many times he could hit him with iOrty-iye caliber rifle ball before he struck the ground. Anyhow, that's about the way it would work in Apache County.
 As to the workings of the present law, will say that our county Stock AssOci- atiOn, under this law, put over six of the worst thieves that ever rode the range into safe place, and broke up the hardest gang of horse and COW thieves in all Arizona. It took lots of nerve and hard work, but whenever we got man into court we found no trouble in con victng him. If this law has not worked elsewhere it certainly is the fault of the stOCkmel, not the law.
 Again object to the ideas advanced that it is too bad to give a. man a year in Yuma for stealing Sl0 calf Ger tainly this is queer idea that before we pass any laws we should consult the criminal classes and find out if the punishment is too severe. What are our stock laws for? To protect the stock owners or to make stock stealing pleasant pastime. From time i'm memorial the fOcks and herds on "a thousand hills" have had every safe guard thrown around them that law makers could suggest, because from their very nature and uses they are probably the easiest stolen and less protected than any other class of property. The business man can watch his store; the farmer his crops the banker his money, but the stOckman with his herds scattered all over the mountains and valleys must have them protected by laws so severe and stringent that a man will think we'll before he tries to steal so much as "S4 burro."
 M ~