Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1904-10-05
WHERE CREDIT IS DUE.

The Courier objects to giving re-
 publicans any credit for the passage
 of what is known as the Cowan Bill.
 The Colonel insists that all honors should go to the democrats of the last legislature.
 This is not strange. It IS so sell dom that democratic legislature does anything which is for the bene- fit of the taxpayer and the territorial treasury, that when such a splendid act as the Cowan Bill goes on the statute book by the aid of democratic votes, our democratic friends natur- ally rush to the front and endeavor to horn of all others.
 In the Journal-Miner mention of the Cowan Bill, which was drawn by a republican and passed both houses without the change of word, credit was given the democrats for what they did, but the Colonel is not so generous as he should be in return.
 While on the subject it will not be amiss to direct the Colonel's atten- tion to the conduct of prominent democrats while the measure was re- ceiving legislative consideration. Col. Wilson, delegate in congress, was dIligent in his opposition and wrote an opinion in support of the position that the fees of the secretary could not be increased or decreased during the term of office of an incumbent, but very cleverly lodged the ques- ton of the legality of the provisions of the Cowan Bill. Col. Wilson's Phoenix paper was loud in protesta- tion and fought the battle against this legislation.
 The Journal of the house shows that the three democratic members from Yavapai fought the bill by every means known to parliamentary law. They, with other democratic interposed every obstacle which the ingenuity of Legislative minds could conceive, and delayed ] the passage of the act in the house until the eleventh hour, hoping for it's defeat. These Yavapai legislators worked in season and out of season, i and one of them even in California, 1 to the end that the territorial treas ury might not be enriched by tens of thousands of dollars. If these dem ocrats had been successful, forty thousand dollars which has been placed in the treasury of the terri tory since the passage of this bill would have gone into the personal pocket of a territorial secretary and 5he territorial rate of taxation would lot have been reduced as it was this year.
 The democratic councilman from COconino county voted against the pill, this too in the face of the fact hat he and Col. Wilson claim to nave been the authors of the plank a the Tucson platform demanding egislation of this character.
 While giving honor to all the dem 'crats in the legislature who brought lbout the enactment of the law, it Is lgain stated as fact which cannot De successfully denied, that to the is also due credit for hay ng drawn the act, and daily, after its introduction, continued to labor for ts adoption. All the republican members of the council, ard with ,ne exception, all the republicans in he house voted in favor of the meas Ire and did so because it was just md would benefit the taxpayers of he territory by thousands of dollars annually, and this they did notwith- itanding the fact that republican ,ffcial would suffer the loss of an Income equal to that received by the l president of these United States.
 Mark Smith spent last June on (