Bisbee daily review., 1903-01-21
(special Correspondeneel

legislature as to any specific legisla- tiOn. I have been around with the members two days and l have not heard the eight-hour law. the mine in spector law or the railroad freigh; and fare bill talked of further than a few remarks of an interrogatiye nG ture II is said, however. that Hon T. J. Morrison, of Yavapai county has the eight-hour law already pre- pared and that will soon be presented to the house It is understood that this bill, oE some other of a similar nature will go through the lower house without any opposition, worthy of mention. still many of the members are in doubt as to its feasibility or that it will be any benefit to the la boring men of Arizona.
 The only members of the Twenty second legislature. who served in the 1wenty-frst legislature are Hon. Steve Roemer. of Cochise county and Hon. Kean St. Charles of Mohave county St. Charles will be energetic in the support Of measures in the in terest of the laboring men, with whom he is in close touch and sympathy.
 There is no sign of the little scrap which the democrats indulged in over the speakership. That controversy was settled in a democratic way. When the friends of Mir. Cowan of Pima realized that they only counted nine noses. while the noses counted for Mir Powers of Maricopa, number ed eleven. they accepted the situation gracefully and a Cowan man nominat- cd Mir. Powers in the caucus for speaker.
 The territorial live stock commis- sioners are all here and will ask for some legislation which I very much doubt will receive the endorsement Of a majority of the members. The bill will provide for a kind of a poll tax to be paid by every man who has a brand recorded in the territory of Arizona. The bill will provide that this brand tax be placed in fund tO be used by the live stock commission in cooperating with the Arizona Rangers in the prosecution of cattle thieves in Arizona.
 It is argued by the friends of the bill that such a law is desired by the cattle men and that as cattlemen will alone pay the tax. no one else should object 10 it. II is further argued by the friends of the measure that this tax would he the means of eliminating from the brand records Of Arizona several thousand obsolete brands as the penalty for the non-payment of the brand tax would be to annul the brand
 This bill will surely meet with oppo- sition. If cattlemen were alone to be taxed, and if it could be shown that all the cattlemen desired to contrib ute to such a fund there nigh. be some show for the measure. but it is pointed out il opposition to it that nearly every farmer in Arizona has a recorded brand and that if he main tained that brand he would have to pay the brand taxes. whereas. he has no more interest in the prosecution of criminals for the theft of cattle than in the prosecution of any other form of crime
 Such a tax would create a large fund as it is estimated that there are over ten thousand brands now on rec ord. If there are that many it would place thirty thousand dollars in the hands of the live stock commission. sometimes called the bull tick" bill has been sent up from Ora ham county which seeks to change the law regarding the election of justice of the peace. The present law pro- vides that when in every precinct having a population of two thousand or more two justices of the peace and two constables shall be elected The present law fixes the population at 5 GOO bpfore a nrecinct chaII ba an+i- tied to to more than one justice of the peace. At Morenci and Clifton at the last election it was understood that but one justice and constable were to be elected. After the election the board of supervisors, on some data presented, decided that both places had population of five thousand and issued commissions to two sets of pre- cinct officers. This was objected to by many citizens who claimed that neither place had the required popula- tion. A suit is to be brought to oust the second set of precinct officers in these precincts. The proposed bill is to stop the tangle gotten into. The bill will. however, hardly find favor.
 Everybody agrees that a new ap- portionment bill should be passed and such q measure will be introduced Pinal county now has two members of the lower house, an equal representa- ton with Graham county. notwith standing the fact that Graham county has about four times the population and twice as much taxable property as Pinal G. H. Kelly.