Arizona republican., 1907-03-02

There were two great overshadowing events in yesterdays legislative session. One of them was the defeat by the council of House Bill No 1 fixing q railroad rate of three cents a mile and the other was the presentation of the governors views on the subject of mine taxation tO both houses in joint session.
 The three cent fare bill was report ed in the morning by Mir. Dickerman of the council committee on corpora tiOns. a majority Of the committee fav- bring the laying of it on the table There was a minority report urging the passage Of the bill. A motion for the adoption of the majority report was followed by an amendment in favor of the minority report and things then began to come to an end. Eugene Brady O'Neill who had in some way come into possession of a copy of a report of the interstate commerce com mission three .-ears ago thought he discovered in it proof that the rail- roads of Arizona in spite of the sparse ness of the population the stiffness of the grades. the cost Of fuel etc. were making more money than railroads in any other part Of the country and he announced that fact. They could therefore stand such a reduction of their revenues as the bill contemplated In the next breath MT. O'Neill asserted that the proposed reduction would in crease the revenues of the companies by enabling more people to travel. MT O'Neill expressed surprise thas the rail- roads were so blind to their own fin ancial interests as to oppose this re- duction. His handling of the figures of the commission report proved one thing more cOnclusively than anything else and that was that MT. O'Neill has not much of head for figures. He struggled along with them manfully for an hour and a half and then with one dying. despairing howl for the peo- pie he subsided
 MT Weedin spoke in support of the bill. He however prefaced his argu- ment in favor of it with a glowing tri- bute to the services of the railroads
 to the territory and the great part they had played in the development of it. Without them there would have been no progress and the mineral wealth and the agricultural richness in which Arizona abounds would have been still hidden. Mir weedin would take noth- ing from the railroads which belonged tO them, vet he said rights of the peo- pie had grown up which should be guarded Altogeter the address of Mir Weedin was in sharp contrast to that of Mir O'Neill who in every word had denounced the railroads as the enemies of the territory
 MT. Dickerman spoke briefly against the bill. He desired only to explain that he had been for twenty-five years in railroad service but he was not moved by that circumstance to oppose the bill which he believed to be unjust. Mir Cleaveland desired in advance to explain his vote. The bill in his opin- ion was unfair and for that reason alone he would oppose it. The time
 had not come amid the conditions
 which prevailed here for a three cent fare but he promised at an early date to introduce Q bill providing for a four cent rate
 The matter went to a vote on the amendment which was defeated by se- ven tO five. The original motion was then carried by the same figure and the bill was laid on the table by the fol- lowing vote:
 Ayes Blakelv. Cleaveland Dicker- man. Hogue. Mcintyre. Roemer. Presi dent DOran
 Nays. Hunt. Lockett. O'Neill Scott. Weedin.
 The council thereupO1 adjourned.
 Previous to the taking up of the three cent fare bill two reports on the bill to prevent the desecration of the American fla~ were presented the mS- iority report amending the bill prOhi- biting the use of the flag as an emblem of a political party. This report was