Arizona republican., 1904-04-02
PHOENIX, ARIZONA. APRIL 2, 1904
The Retirement of Secretary stOddard

The ketiremeutO Oi ScSEctni SAoeS
 Yesterday the term of office of the Hon. Isaac T. Stoddard as secretary or the territory ended, under the resig- nation sent by him to the president six weeks ago. Mir Stoddard having fixed April first as the time when the resignation should go into effect.
 It becomes necessary, however. for him to remain in office two or three weeks longer, while his successor is perfecting his bond. and so forth
 It is nearly three years since he as- stunned the duties of secretary, to which office he was first appointed by President Mckinley and reappointed by President Roosevelt. During two years of that time the office was one of exceptional importance, because of the great incorporating business built up by the secretary. Now that he Is once more private citizen. 1t Is only fair to MT. stoddard to point out that because of the incorporation business he was the victim of much unfair and malicious criticism at the hands of envious politicians and unfair news papers. He had nothing whatever to do with the enactment of the laws which enabled him to build up the business of his office. The laws them selves had been in force fer many years. and the schedule of fees of which so much complaint was made was framed up and passed through the legislature by his predecessor in office. He merely took advantage of a situa- ticn which the law plainly and fairly gave him.
 transferring all the incorporation fees from the secretary's office to the au- ditor's office, for the benefit of the ter ritory, and large revenue has been gained for the public treasury. The law has worked well, but it should not be forgotten that the act doubled the legal fee for filing articles of incor- poration. while other fees were increas- ed by the new law.
 MT. Stoddards enemies have made IHuCn OL lllc 1dCb lIldl lnc which he created was yielding him substantial income, and very frequent ly 1t has been implied that somehow. he was guilty of some sort of a crime in taking the fees which the law gave him; but he has received little credit for the fact that it was in his power to nullify-for a long time, a least,- the operations of the present law which gives the fees to the territory. At the time the Cowan bill was passed many lawyers held that it was un- constitutional, and had Secretary Stoddard taken the question of valid ity into the courts he might have de- feated the law and retained the fees. At least, by causing litigation he practically could have destroyed the source of revenue, as incorporators would have been led to doubt the legality of corporations organized un- der the new law and would have gone to states equally liberal and where no such doubt existed. It is no secret that when he accepted the situation creat- ed by the new law and refused to con- test 1t in the courts, Mir Stoddard acted in opposition to the advice of many lawyers and friends. It Is a circumstance which the taxpayers, at least ought to remember.
 AS an officer, Secretary Stoddard has been exceptionally efficient, and popu- lar. The office of territorial secretary has been filled by many able men, but by none, perhaps, the equal of MT. Stoddard in business training and ready grasp of official duties. Under him the office of secretary was con- ducted always as a strictly business institution, in which all details receiv- ed prompt and capable attention. Withal. he was uniformly courteous. To territorial and county officials he was obliging to the point of personal loss, as he refused to accept fees for business transacted for them, and in this way he deprived himself of rev. enue to the amount of hundreds of dollars. Any mistakes he made related lO the pOHllcal SlQe or ms position, solely. and throughout his term of office there was no taint of personal or official dishonesty attaching to him. A better politician would have made fewer political enemies, but that is his own affair. Altogether. his record as secretary will rank with the best.
 MT. Stoddard's great opportunity came to him when he was acting gov ernor. however, and the manner in which he rose to the occasion in deal ing with the Morenci-Clifton riots. last June, stamped him as a man of rare executive ability and unusual fierce of character. The record he made then will live to his credit for all time in the history Of the territory.