The Mena weekly star., 1909-03-04
The Eighteenth Judicial District.

Editor Mena Star:
 Mir. Hamilton of Polk county, has introduced a bill in the house of representatives to create new judicial district to be composed ot the counties of Polk, Montgomery and Scott.
 Mr. Hamilton is a good man and that he is a Democrat goes without saving, but I want to ask him to state how many citizens and tax payers of Polk county solicited him to introduce this bill and if it is not true that few attorneys of Mena did not inspire the measure.
 In the management of his own private affairs our representative would not hire two men to do a days work for him when one could do 1t as we'll and at half the price. Yet this is what he wants to do for the taxpayers of these three counties. He has forgotten that the Democrat ic party is pledged to the doctrines of retrenchment and economical administration of the state govern ment in all it's branches.
 Among the reasons assigned by him as rende~ing the new district necessary is the onerous duties de- volving upon the present judge of the Ninth circuit. This is only a pretext and is no reason. This judge is not complaining of brain flag nor string halt, for he is swift sprinter for reelection. The possi- ble thirty-six weeks of court that, under the law as it stands, he may have to hold each year has no ter TOTS for him. The sixteen weeks of vacation affords him ample time to cat ,h up with his hunting and fish ing.
 Mir. Hamilton, through his tender regard for the officials of this dis trict would give them twelve more weeks of vacation or in fact con siderably more than one-half of the entire year.
 How about the Eighteenth? !? Polk county has never held four entire weeks of circuit court at any one term, Scott and Montgomery trans. acts their legal business in the cir. cult court in two week at each term This would give the proposed Eighteenth district sixteen whole weeks of judicial labor at a salary of $25O0 or $3000 for the judge anC then the prosecuting attorney anC the court stenographer would come in for their additional quids.
 Does this look like retrenchment, Is it the exercise of prudence anC economy? Does anyone believe that. with the exception of a few lawyers who are betting .overgrowr humble bees in their bonnets, saic bees being tuned to judicial strain there are one hundred intelligent voters in Polk county in favor oi this bill? Did Mir. Hamilton con. suit the lay members among the taxpayers about this measure? Before the creation of chancery districts there might have beer some excuse for this new district. As it is there IS none. The measure is clearly without merit.
 The title of the bill should be so amended as to speak the truth. Say, for instance: An Act to Be En- titled an Act to Create a Sinecure and Haven of Rest for Some of the Favorite Limbs of the Law Dwelling and Being Within the Bounds of the Ninth and Eighteenth Judicial Cir cults of Arkansas.
 Upon the Courtesy" theory the Thing" may pull through, but it is to be hoped that such an unneces- sary and unjust measure, so far as the taxpay ers' interests extends, will receive the disapproval of Gov ernor Donaghey. T. Taylor.
 It is but fair to Representative Hamilton to say that he, when last in Mena, in a public meeting called especial attention to the above men, toned measure, said he had intro- duced it by request, and desired the people at large to know of it and to inform him as to what their wishes were. He said his actions would be governed wholly by what most of the people wanted, so far as he was able 10 find what their wishes were.
 Error in Place Only.
 The report that Golf Bros. X Gamble's store at Cove had been