Williams news., 1905-04-22
OUR "SUPERB"
 STANDING ARMY

It is said by some of the news papers that the ranger service is costing the taxpayers of the terri tory $60,000 per year. If this state ment is correct, it is lot of money to pay for a very inefficient service. Until within the last few months the Era has always been an advo- cate of the ranger service, but 1t is now convinced that this section, at least, would be better off without them. There has been much con- plaint from Cochise and other coun- ties during the last few years of the inefficient, meddlesome and even vicious conduct of the rangers. The Era has heretofore maintained that the local officers were doubtless as responsible for this condition of af- fairs as were the rangers, but their actions in this town during the past three months have caused it to change it's opinion of their methods of doing business. In January. when the big flood was on, with the town under water and from seventy five to one hundred houses washed away or in ruins, they arrested  Mexicans by the score for being drunk. Some were arrested for theft, and deserved it. They offered to turn the prisoners over to the deputy sheriff, who refused to re- ceive them because the jail had been flooded, and thus augmented the friction which previously ex- isted between the local officers and rangers which came near termina- ting seriously at that time When the cases were called the district attorney dismissed all of them but one. During the past week there has been another striking illustra- ton of their lack of judgment by the sensational arrest of Deputy Sheriff Lee Hobbs for crime com
 mitted on a sailing vessel six thou sand miles from San Francisco
 Almost every citizen of the east end of the county knows that Mr. Hobbs has not been out of the county for many years, except four weeks spent in the northern part of the territory in the first two months in 1902
 The crime for which he was arrest ed was committed in September of that year, and he can prove by sev- eral hundred people that he was in this county at that time. The charge is so utterly absurd as to bring ridicule upon the rangers who claimed to have worked up the case. The treatment accorded Mr.
 Hobbs after his arrest was what might have been expected in Rus sia, but it was not in harmony with the civilization of the present time in America. He was practically kept incommunicado, and was not even given the privilege of taking a change of clothing with him If this is a sample of the work done by the rangers in other parts of the territory, then it is no wonder. that there have been so many complaints against the service. The most un- fortunate feature of the business is that this arrest has aroused a feel ing of resentment among the local officers, which may eliminate in serious trouble at any time. There has been no necessity for rangers here since the riots of nearly two years ago, when they were asked for and did good service. The rangers are well enough for the ser
 vice for which they were created but they are not needed in Clifton. Their place is on the range and in sparsely settled sections where there are no officers For the sake of the peace of this community it is to be hoped that Governor kibbey will find employment for them outside of Graham county.-Copper Era.
 Chas. l.. Bosson failed to get