The copper era., 1903-01-22
In the Supreme Court.

Of election 10 w. H. Settle of Morencl and ". E. Beck Of Clifton under the
 law providing that precincts contain
 ing more than 5000 inhabitants are en-
 titled to two justices Of the peace, will be investigated as 10 its legality by a
 higher authority, for on Tuesday
 night writ Of certiorari, issued from
 the supreme court at Phoenix arrived ] in Clifton, and Ou the following day
 was served on Supervisors Harper and
 Hill by Deputy Sheriff Parks. The
 writ pre-emptorily orders the board of
 supervisors to appear before the court at Phoenix, January 23, with its
 records and proceedings in the case of
 w. H. Chapman ys w. II. Settle. who
 was issu ed a second certificate as jus
 tice Of the peace for Morenci precinct.
 The supreme court, It seems
 will review the proceedings un-
 der which Judge settles appointment
 was made. and If it was not done strictly in accordance with the law,
 the appointment will Of course be set
 aside, and Morenci compelled to do
 business before only one justice. This,
 of course, would be humiliating 10 Morenci, as she was the first town in ] the county officially recognized as 1 having 5000 people:.Of course no one
 knows -tb fecision of the
 supreme codvigt-s s Iss-z<~ft is possible
 that the question may be determined
 on legal points, that is as to whether the board had the rigbt to consider
 the showing made as to the population,
 rather than as to the actual popula- tion. Clifton is deeply interested in this matter, for she, too, was kindly treated by the board, and not only
 recognized as having population in excess of 5000, but was also given second justice of the peace, in the per son Of His Honor, w. F.. Beck, who
 has been doing a considerable amount of business for the past three weeks
 If the case at Morenci is settled ad-
 versely to Justice Settle, it is quite likely that in the course Of due time proceedings of a similar nature will
 be brought again}t Justice Beck of this precinct, and the board of super visOrs put to the annoyance and ex- pense Of again appearing before the supreme court, together with their records and proceedings. In the
 meantime lawyers, and others, are dis cussing all phazes Of the case, and wondering what standing the decisions of Justices Settle and Beck will have in the district court should the supreme court decide that they were illegally appointed. Had the contest been for the one certificate, then there is no reasonable doubt that the de- cisions of the official who held it and qualified would have been legal. But this question is on the legality of the certificate issued to q second justice, and should the action of the super visors be set aside by the supreme court, it seems to be the general opin- ion that the actions of these justices would have been without the law and thfret95a ilIegas h sae ddfihfef ddfifere6jesed e6jsd as the cases could be tried again before Tho other justice, but in timetable cases, which have been paid, together with a considerable amount Of costs, it might be a very different matter. OfI course could be claimed that the case was decided on its merits, and that the parties should have been fined yet the fact would remain that the ac- cused and his money were illegally separated. or course this is purely speculative, for it is possible that the supreme court may hold that census of the Clifton and Morenci districts was not necessary, that the board of supervisors acted within the law in ac- cepting the shOwings made by w. H. | Settle and w. E. Beck as to popula- !! tion and also in issuing certificates to them. At any rate the matter will be | speedily determined