Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-02-09
BILL TO BE INTRODUCED SOON TO PROTECT INDEPENDENT
 RETAIL MERCHANT
IS AIMED 1T 6. &A. AND 6. 9.
GLOBE AND TUCSON HELD UP AS SHINING EXAMPLES OF
 INDEPENDENCE

which is sure to cause q whole lot o
 sit up and take notice in cochise. Gill
 and Graham counties will be introduce.
 either the last of this week or the frs
 of next, it's aim being ro segls!ate ou
 of business the big departmen: store
 onv operated by the Copper Queen Min
 ingeompany at Douglas and Bisbec. ant
 by the Arizona Copper Co. at Clifton
 Globe and Tucson will be interested tt \ the extent that they are held up t,
 the light as splendid examples of pros II perity as compared with the lcpress
 ing conditions overhanging the indepen dent mere hants of Clifton, Douglas aDd Blsbee by reason of the existence of th, big company stores
 Foremost among coterie of big men I from the southeast now here to work for the passage of legislation which they aver is necessary if many scores of mcr. chants are to be saved from. ruin at the hands of the Copper Queen and 1 other company stores, is C. R. Temple, secretary and treasurer of the Henry. Temple company of Douglas, of which w. R. Henry is the president and John II. Slaughter vice president Mr. Tenn pie IS guest at the Ford and M-. Slaughter at the Adams. Temple is making an aggressive fight and declares his belief that some remedial measur, will surely be passed at the present session. A number of legislators have received letters setting forth in detail alleged conditions in Bisbee and Doug las, which, if true, mean ruin to many merchants inside of the next two years.
 While l am a firm disciple of the gospel of sunshine and good cheer, v said Temple this morning. 'I am not blind to conditions which threaten the prosperity of the communities in which all my interests lie. l am here to make fight for what I believe to be only justice to every independent business man in Cochise county especially. Ii IS notorious fact that through the company store system, not less than sixty-fve per cent of the pay roll never reaches the pockets of the wage earners of the Copper Queen, Calumet and Ari- zona and Fl Paso & Southwestern em- ployes, but goes directly into the store tills and from there to the corporation fountain head in John street, New York City. Sixty-fve per cent is a most con- servative estimate IL is condition which threatens many merchants with cf sA h. A. market and if allowed to continue will practically eliminate business realty values in both cities. If the merchants are forced out of business, rentals will be eliminated and property values thus destroyed. l am not aa alarmist by any. means but am here to present the facts and seek the legislation to deal with them. It is an old saying that figures never lie and in our case believe they will open eyes to the truth and the necessity of remedy.
 :" Free mercantile conditions have made Tucson in seven years a striking example of what legitimate competition may do for a city of this free southwest 't hao kioNH rum h iitIt htAicdH H6ul- let in seven years to the most prosper ous city of the great southwest. It's pay roll does not compare with that of Bisbee or Douglas, yet its merchants are own their own homes, are happy in the possession of substantial bank accounts and are unit for any for the benefit of the city. Such thing as sullenness and resent ment are unknown there because there is no reason for them. Everyone stands for the town. IL ought to be so in Bis bee and Douglas, but when merchants and business men of every walk in life find themselves confronted with the menace of a monopoly which threat ems them with ruin. they cannot help feeling resentment. They were induced to invest their money in Bisbee and Douglas and now find themselves at the i mercy of mining company and rail way company combine whose purpose. seemingly, is to control every branch of business in the two towns and place the communities at their mercy. It is not just, it is not right, and when the naked truth is laid bare I do not believe that the people of Arizona will stand for it.