The herald., 1897-02-22
YUMA 70 LOSE THE PRISON
A Plan 10 Remove the Penitcn-
tiary to Prescott
NEW COURTS FOR ARIZONA
An Act to Erect a 100000 Capitol Build
ing at Phoenix
Wiseonsln's Ex--on2rsssman lndorsed by the
Treasure Terrltory's Press Assoc
elation for Governor
NEW COURTS FOR ARIZONA

| PHOENIX, Ariz., Feb. 19.-What VIII
the upper house of the nineteenth leg
is,ature do with the prison removal Dill,
| that was passed by the assembly yes
| terday? This is one of the questions
| Of the hour in Arizona today, and South
| ern California Is not little interested
| in the outcome. So long as the territor-
| ial prison remains located at Yuma, all
| the prison supplies must come from Los
| Angeles. IT, the institution Is removed
| TO Prescott, which seems not at all I'M
| probable, then all the supplies will, at
I, least be purchased at Phoenix, and
many Of them will come from over the
| Rocky mountains. l think 1t ought TO
| be related, not little to the credit of
| Southern California that she has done
no lobbying against the prison removal
| bill. And this Is as it should be, for
Arizona is perfectly capable of settling
| her questions of internal economy en-
tirely unaided, and If it will tighten the
burdens of her taxpayers to remove the
prison to central location, near the
chief mart of the territory, surely no
other state or section should seek to in
terfere from purely a selfish interest,
The expenses Of maintaining the prison
are over one-third of the entire official
expenses of the territory l talked with
several members of the council yester-
day about the probable fate of the bill
in that branch of the legislature, and
one of them voiced the sentiments of all
by remarking: well, the prison is run
ming the territory into bankruptcy as It
is 1t will cost good deal to remove it,
but L really think 1t will cost even more
to maintain it where 1t is, under the
present contract system"
1t has been the mileage on the removal
Of prisoners from the county jails to the
penitentiary that has SO inordinately in
creased the expenses. Located at or
near Prescott, the taxpayers would be
saved quite q neat sum every year IN
this particular alone.
Resistance was expected on the part
of the Southern Pacific railroad, but
none was manifested. Indeed, it was Il
member who is known as a friend of
the Southern Pacific-Mr. Finley of Pi-
ma county-who called the previous
question on the bill in the house yester-
day and thus facilitated matters.
A circumstance that is worth men,
tioning in connection with this bill Is
that Southern California will not be as
great a loser by the removal as the cas-
ual observer is apt to suppose. Why,
indeed, should she lose anything to
speak Of? Los Angeles is and will con-
tinue to be for many years the metropo-
lis for Arizona, and the list of supplies
that reaches Phoenix. Prescott and Tue
son from the east, instead of Southern
California, is diminishing continually.
and VIII ultimately be limited to a few
manufactured goods, capital, tourists
and settlers.
Aside from the priscA bill-which viii
no doubt reach decisive vote in the
council before the end of next week.
y,Nr rfa,, !,
been considered by the assembly ir the
last six days. Perhaps the most import
ant of these is what is known as the
circuit court bill, that proposes to Gre
ate four new courts of original jurisdc-
tion-one in each of the judicial districts
of the territory. These will be very sim
liar to the superior courts of California.
They Will have appellate jurisdiction
over the police courts and will have
charge of ali the probate business. Such
court is sadly needed in the territory;
of this there can be no doubt. The only
question is one of expense, and, as usual
the thinly settled counties, where liti-
cation and litigants alike are limited,
are making strong fight against the
bill and calling it Democratic measure.
1t is true that for the first term of the
new courts the bill provides that the
judges shall be appointed by the gov
ernor, and a cola teral fact which 10 one
denies is that the present governor of
Arizona is a good Democrat. But what
a howl there esould be If the bill called
for a special election to fill these judicial
places until the next regular election.
1t is claimed by the friends of the bill
that the increased expense will be very
small, if anythinN at all, since the pres
ent probate courts will be abolished ard
probate fees that now FIND their way int
private pockets will then go to swell the
public treasury. The bill has passed
the house already. where 1t was intro
duced and magnificently engineered
through by Speaker Chalmers, who is
as good parliamentarian from the
floor of the house as whel in the speak
ers chair. The bar association endors-
ed it almost to a man, and some Of it's
brightest lights, such as Judge KibbeS
Judge Barnes and Judge Stillwell, have
appeared on the floor of the house in isS
advocacy.
Another important measure that is of
interest to the outside world as well is
locally known as the substitute for Mr.
Goldbergs house bill No. 40 The gen.
tleman from Maricopa somewhat timid-
ly offered measure at the beginning of
the session which provided for the con-
struction OF a $50, 900 capitol building on
the new capitol site in this city. Since
then the bill has grown, until now the
proposition is to construct a $l00,OO0
building and make the future bear al
most all the expense. The bonds, bear
ing per cent, are to begin to mature in
1915, at which time the levying of
special tax is provided for to meet $4,000
worth of the principal year. The In
terest, in the meantime, is to be met very
largely, If not entirely, by the rental now
paid by the general government for the
territorial offices. So reads the bill, at
all events, and nothing therein is con-
tanned relative to that day in the near
future, when, if Arlzonas hopes are
realized, she will join the grand galaxy
of sovereign statee. When that time
comes there will be no rental found
available from the general government,
but then-well, many things may hap
pen before them, one of which Is that the
council may not concur in the bill. The
economical tendencies of the council are
painfully acute to a good many people,
but as a rule there Is no "kick coming"
from taxpayers. Doubtless the council
will be happy when 1t catches up with
the winged flight of Mr.. Chalmers house
bill that proposes to curb bank ex
aminers and curtail their incomes until
they are more In keeping with the legiti-
mate emoluments that flow from the
pursuit of other-though doubtless
humbler-walks of life. Arizona bank
examiners, 1t was explained by Speaker
Chalmers, are In the habit of applying
the rules Of mathematical increase to
their travelling expenses. Thus, when
an examiner went to Tucson to expert
the books Of perhaps three or four small
institutions he charged his full travelling