Arizona silver belt., 1903-03-05
Fight to Dislodge the Boodiers

euucteu to cover tue latBe sums re- ceived from that source into the terri torial treasury, will at least place on record every member of the legislature and show to what extent the newspa- pers of Phoenix and of some other sec tions are influenced by the patronage from the secretary's office. It will be great gain for the people to know these facts, if they will use the knowledge in the future to turn down the politicians and their supporters who have con spi~ed to defeat the will of the people.
 One of the pledges contained in the democratic territorial platform was the following
 We favor the amendment of all laws placing large perqnisites in the hands of government officials in this territory, and demand that all of such perquisites shall be covered into the treasury, and fixed salaries created for all territorial appointees and clerical forces, as may be necessarily required for the effective administration of the government affairs pertaining to each department of the same"
 The recommendation made by Gov ernor Brodie, in line with tie above, Is equally strong, and more explicit iu that he favors the transfer of the busi- ness of corporations from the office of the secretary of the territory to that of the auditor.
 Mir. Cowsn's bill provides for this, and is in fulfillment of the democratic platform pledge On the other hand, Mir. Ashurst, who was a prominent fig ure in the democratic convention and gave his approval to the platform, has introduced bIll the plain purpose of which is to defeat the reform that his party has declared for, and which is iu the interest of the taxpayers. Nearly all the newspapers of Phoenix are ar rayed on the side of the boodlers, and the most shameless of them all IS the Arizona Democrat, which appears to be getting the largest share of patron age in the way of articles of incorpo. ration for publication.
 Last Friday the committee on terri torial affairs of the house, to whom tho Cowan bill was referred. submitted majority and minority reports. The majority report was brief, and recom- mended that the bill do not pass. The minority report, which recommended the passage of the b,ll, was not read, it having been ruled out of order, and so far as we know, not one of the Phoe- nix papers (we did not see the Review had the fairness to publish the minority report.
 However, the attempt to suppress the report was not altogether success ful, as the correspondent of the Bisbee Review secured copy and it is pub published in it's issue of March 1. The minority members state that their re- quest to see the fee books, which should be on file in Secretary Stoddard' s office, was met with refusal from the assistant secretary, acting under instructions from the secretary, and the statement that the fee books for periods past were not kept in the office, but de- stroyed. From the fee book in which entries are now being made, and from copies of letters that the secretary has written, 1t was found that he collected during twenty-five days of January, 1903, more than $3, 900 in fees, and for eighteen days in February, more than Sl ,5OO. Taking these figures as an in- dex, the minority members of the com mittee estimate that Secretary Stod. dard is collecting about $40, 900 year. These figures do not include the sums that the secretary receives for his ser vices as agent for corporations or for publication of articles of incorpora. tion.
 The report further states that he receives about $6, 900 a year from the United States government or territory of Arizona for salary for himself and . his assistant, for the payment of office expenses, such as clerks and messenger and also that other expenses such as llght'. fuel, stationery and office rent are paid for by the government.
 The report recommends that action be taken by the house to compel the