Arizona republican., 1904-12-07

and should include severe penalties
 against him who gives or receives a
 bribe intended to influence his act or
 opinion as an elector; and provisions
 for the publication not only or the ex-
 pendituIes for nominations and elec-
 tions of all candidates but also of all contributions received and expenditures made by political committees.
 DELAYS IN CRIMINAL PROsECU-
 TONS
 No subject is better worthy the atten-
 tion of the congress than that portion
 of the report of the attorney general dealing with the cases of Beavers, Green and Gaynor, and Benson. Were these isolated and special cases.. I | should not call your attention to them; hut the difficulties encountered as re- ga1ds these men who have been in- diCted for criminal practices are not exceptional; they are precisely similar in kind to what occurs again and again | in the case of criminals who have suf- fcent means to enable them to take advantage of a system of procedure which has grown up in the federal ' courts and which amounts in effect to | making the law easy Of enforcement against the man who las no money. | and difficult of enforceTne ent, even to the l : as regards the man who has money. In criminal cases the writ of the United States should run throughout its bor ders. The wheels of justice should not be clogged, as they have been clogged in the cases above mentioned, where it has proved absolutely impossible to bring the accused to the place ap- pointed by the constitution for his trial. Of recent years there has been grave and increasing complaint of the diff culty of bringing to justice those criIn- inals whose criminality, instead of being against one person in the repub- lie, is against all persons in the re- public, because it is against tne repub- lie itelf. Under any circumstance and from the very nature of the case it is often exceedingly difficult to secure proper punishment of those wAo have been guilty of wronSdoing against the government. By the time the offender can be brought into court the popular wrath against him has generally sub sided; and the . is in most instances very slight danger indeed of any preju- dice existing in the minds of the jury against him. At present the interests of the innocent man are amply safe guarded; but the interests of the gov ernment, that is, the interests of honest administration, that is the interests of the people, are no recognized as they should te. No subject better warrants the attention of the congress. Indeed, TO subject better warrants the ;ltten- tnon If the bench and tie bar through out the United tates.
 ALASKA
 Alaska, like all OUT territorial ac- quisitions, has proved resourceful be- yond the expectations of those wbo made tia purchase. It has become the home of many hardy, industrious, and thrifty American citizens Towns Of a permanent character have been built. The extent of its wealth in minerals, timber, fisheries, and agriculture, while great, is probably not comprehended yet in any just measure by our people. We do know, however, that from a very small beginning its products have grown until they are steady and ma terial contribution to the wealth of the nation. Owing to the immensity of 4 lasko and it's location in the far north | 1t is difficult matter to provide many things essential to its growth and to the happiness and comfort of it's people by private enterprise alone. It saould, there, receive reasonable aid from the government. The government has al- ready done excellent work for Alaska in laying catles and building telegraph lines. This work has been done in the ! most economical and eff" tent way by the signal corps of the army.
 In some respects it has oUtgrown its present laws, w7ile in others those laws have been found to be inadequate. In order to obtain information upon which | l could rely I caused an official of the departments of justice, in whose judg- ment have confidence, to visit Alaska during the past summer for the purpose ] Of asceIsaining how government is administered there and what legisla- tion is actually needed at present A statement of the conditions found to exist, together with some recommenGa- tions and the reasons therefor, in which I strongly concur, will be found in the annual report of the attorney general. In some instances 1 feel that the legis- lation suggested is 50 fmpera-ively needed that l am moved briefly to ern- paasize the attorney generals propos als. q
 Under the code of Alaska as it now stands many P1rely administrative powers and duties, including by far the most important, 6evoIve upon the dis trict judges or uron tte clerks of the district court acting under the direc- ton of the judges, while the governor, upon whom these powers and duties should logically fall, 2ls nothing spe- cific to do except to make annual re- ports, issue Thanksgiving Day prOcla- nations, and appoint Indian policeman and notaries pJblic. | believe it es sencial to good government in Alaska, and therefore recommend, that the con- gress divest the diosrict judges and the clerks of their courts of the admins tTative or executive functions that they now exercise and cast tne0a upon the governor. This would not be an innn- vation; it would simply conform the government of Alaska tc fundamental principles, making the Governorship a real instead of a merely nominal office, and leaving the judges free to give their entire attention to ,heir judicial