The Mena weekly star., 1907-06-06
WESTERN UNION
 FIGHTS WINGO ACT
Asks That Law Be Declared Unconsti- tutional and Prosecuting Attorneys Be Restrained From Asses
 sirg Penalties.

to test the constitutionality o
 the Wingo bill, which was passed
 by the last legislature, the West
 ern Union Telegraph Company
 filed a petition for injunction
 Wednesday in the United State:
 circuit court that makes every
 prosecuting attorney in Arkansas
 defendant to the suit. The ac,
 which the company desires tc
 have declared unconstitutional, is
 "An act to permit foreign corpor- atious to do business in the state of Arkansas and fixing the fees to be paid hy all corporations"
 In the first place the Western Union Telegraph Company claims the controversy Is between citizens of different states, and for that reason brings the suit in the Federal court. The ccmpau u ' claims il was organized under the laws of the state of New York on April II, lS4S, and that sub. sequently through various acts of the national Congress, it has been compelled to become ihe carrier of messages for the several departments of the governments of the United States.
 The company claims its exist ence as real telegraph company be- an in 1851. That it either owns or controls l92, 1000 miles of poles and ca bles and over 900, GOO miles of wire; that 1t has 23,000 offices, and transmits yearly about 65,000,000 messages for govern mental and domestic use.
 Coming to the lines in Arkan- sas the company claims it's lines and telegraph poles are situated on the public domain of the state and upon the military and post roads of the United States. It claims the lines of telegraph existing in the state of Arkansas have been constructed by per mission from the state of Arkan- sas and that 1t has invested in the state more than S153.000. The company claims it has always complied with the reasonable, just and valid provisions and re- qulrements of the laws of Arkan- sas and laways expects to obey them.
 The company claims that 1t has rendered reasonable fee to the state for the filing and recording of the papers required. The secretary of state, the complaint states, has refused to file the papers unless the company pay fee of SIS on the first SlO0, 900 of its capital stock and S25 on each additional SlO0, 1000 of its capital stock.
 The company asserts that its total authorized capital stock, representing its entire system of telegraph lines, properties and interest in ocean cables, real es- tate, etc is SlO0,0O0,0 900. The claim is made that the total de- manded bv the secretary of the state of Arkansas as condition for the company's right to con- tinue in business in the state is S25, ,05c.
 The company claims its lines of poles and wires are located in the state for the purpose of do nestle and interstate commerce and that the state Of Arkansa has no power or authority to pre- vent the company from using the same for foreign and interstate commerce or for the transaction ot messages for the government of the United States.
 The company claims that the gross income from it's purely local and domestic business in Arkan- sas has tor the last ten years av- eraged S32.000 a year and that the cost for transacting the busi- ness has averaged at least S20, 900 year. It declares the amount