Arizona republican., 1909-02-11
Of Judge ). H. Pinney in Re
 gard toRai|Poad Legislation MORE HARM THAN GOOD
He Believes Would Result From an Ill-Advised Move ment at This Juncture When the Territory Needs Development.

The following communication from Hon. D. H. Pinney on the subject of the pending railroad legislation will no doubt receive careful attention, consid- ering the source from which 1t comes. Judge Pinney has been a member of the supreme bench of the territory. He is now extensively interested in it and its development and he is without any interest In any railroad company or enterprise: --
 To the Editor of The Republican, Sir:
 have read the editorial in the even ing Gazette also the interview in this mornings Republican by R. P. <Davie. vice president of the sugar plant, on regulating the railways in Arizona. That there is some matters connected with the freight and passenger busi- ness, and especially the freight busi- ness in this territory that should in some proper manner be regulated goes without saying as. 1t seems to me How and in what way that can best be reached is a question Will the ap- pointment- of three commissioners and a secretary at large expense to the lCiAkNOAg dNNOlhRtSl oPNNAeAA suits? The larger and older states have tried the system of railway and warehouse commissioners for years past, and as rule the system has proven more satisfactory to the men who obtained the appointment than to any one else. tE -
 Does Arizona. with its two hundred thousand population really want such a commission? As one who has in the past had something to do with railway commissioners in.the east l. should say no. There will be more fault found with such commission than without 1t And as taxpayer and an old res ident of the territory. 1t seems to me that the better policy is to go slowly in this and other directions in dealing with and handling the railroad busi- ness of this growing territory. There are two sides. to every question and in many respects I like the conservative statements of MT, Davie. Arizona can better afford to put upy With some things that are claimed to be unjust on the part of the railway companies than to stop railroad building such as is needed here more than any other one thing today. It is not the Ques- tion of dealing with Mr., Randolph or MT. Murphy for they are merely rep- resentatiyes of foreign capital. It costs far more to build and conduct the railroad business across and through such country as Arizona and New Mexico than elsewhere. And this country is fast growing out of the rep- utation it has had in times past-of being a land of desperadoes and cow boys. We know that a grand and pa triotic class of citizens have done much towards, aiding to place Arizona on the plane where it rightfully be- longs. We stlll need more such citi- zens, and We still need and must have the money of foreign capitalists. When we advance to statehood and have gained more in the way of upbuilding it will be time enough to tackle the question which some of our ambitious earn a name of being special cham pions of the peoples cause-a noble ambition in and of itself. but we can better afford to go slowly than we can afford to jump into something that may do us more harm than good In people trust that the managers of our railroad systems will at once see to 1t that justice and fair deal is given to this people.
 D. H. PINNEY.