Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1903-03-18
A BUSINESS PROPOSITION.

One of the blanks in the democratic platform called for diverting all fees of territorial officials into the treas ury, and for paying the official sal ary.
 In accordance with this plank, house bill number IA, known as the Cowan bill, was introduced early in the session. It provides for transfer ring the fees of the territorial score tary, received for articles of incorpo- ration from the secretary's pocket to the territorial treasury. It may be remarked here that with this business "cut out" the, salary and fees of the secretary's office would still amount to from s5OOO to sSOOO per year.
 The house was overwhelmingly dem ocratic but this bill met with a cold reception in the home of its friends, even the immaculate platform sup porter Keane St. Charles, joining in an onslaught against it.
 It was finally prassed, after one of the most disgraceful scenes ever en- acted on the floor of an Arizona leg islative hall, some of the members be- ing in disgraceful state of intoxica- tion.
 The bill is now before the council, and Col. Wilson's paper, in its Sun
 
 day issue makes strong plea for members of the council to do justice ot Secretary Stoddard by amending the bill. It contains no suggestion as to what injustice is inflicted on the secretary by the bill, or as to how it should be amended to do justice to him and at the same time do justice to the territory.
 Col. Wilson was elected as delegate to congress on the platform which calls for just such action as the Cow an bill provides for. He was virtually the framer of the platform adopted, and indicated just what he wanted it to contain in order to be good vote catcher. His flop on this plank, as we'll as his quiescence on nearly every other plank the platform contains, has created considerable very unfavorable comment in regard to our delegate, and he is openly charged with dema- gogism, and of violating platform pledges.
 In his platform, Col. Wilson is very pronounced in favor of furnishing relief to tax payers, while in his paper he favors sacrificing their interests for the benefit of single individual.
 Another notable instance of flop from the platform, is that Keane St. Charles on this same question. He was one of the most rabid advocates of redeeming party pledges at the commencement of the session, and continued consistently so until about three days before the Cowan bill came to vote, when he exprienced a won- derful change of heart towards that measure. Of course this political double somersault has created no end of gossip in Phenix, and it is by no means complimentary to the Mohave member, who had heretofore been considered thoroughly honest-in his political convictions and actions. Keane makes the following very shal- in hic for hio tions:
 ''The bill has several weak places in it, principally the section that pro- hibits territorial officers from acting as agents for corporations. This is intended as a slap at Secretary Stod- dard, but it goes long ways beyond that as it deprives several hundred corporations of an agent, as Secretary Stoddard is now agent for perhaps a thousand interpretations. Many of the interpretations would not even know that their agent had been an- nulled by the law and therefore they would be acting contrary to the law.
 MT. St. Charles has evidently been taken into the confidence of the sec retary in the above matter, and has given away secrets of the office. Ac- cording to St. Charles statement, the fees from this source alone amounts to BIO, 900, as fee of s10 per year is charged for each company. The fear that corporations would go on and do business in violation of law because of ignornace of it seems a very groundless one not to say childish and silly. Should their agent be dis charged by operation of law he could easily inform the corporations of this fact and they could select other agents.
 It may be unfortunate for the secre- tary that he is now standing in the way of tax payers, and is receiving revenues which should go into the territorial treasury, but members of the council who are called upon toido justice to him by Col. Wilson, through his paper, should remember duty to the people first. They were not elected to legislate in the interests of any particular individual, even though such person might be designated by Col. Wilson, but for the whole terri tory. The territory, which furnishes all the benefits given to companies in- cooperating under our laws, should be the beneficiary of the fees. Every state in the union that provides laws liberal enough to induce incorpora- tion under them does so for the bene- fit of its treasury, and not for the benefit of any official or individual. There is no reason why Arizona should ignore business principles in the conduct of it's business. The members of the council regardless of all political considerations, will be recreant to their trust should they fail to furnish tax payers all the re- lief the Cowan bill offers. It is not only democratic measure, as incor- porated in the party platform, but it is a measure recommended by level headed, practical business like repub lican governor, and is endorsed by the public generally.
 It is noteworthy that the roll call of SanatorS is laroelv a roll call of form