Arizona republican., 1909-02-18
PHoENX, ARIZONA, FEB. IS, 1909.
WORD FROM THE FRONT.


 the democratic members of the legis- lature yesterday, advising against railroad legislation on the ground that it would provoke opposition to state hood, is entirely confirmatory of the opinion given by The Republican yes terday morning that such legislation would not create a favorable i'm pression in the senate. Mir. Smith doubtless had something more than an opinion. He would hardly have sent those telegrams unless he had had positive knowledge of the danger which the legislature seemed to be inviting.
 Oklahoma, wild and woody as it has since become, did not while statehood was pending indulge in legislation which would induce congress to sus- pect it of incapability of managing its own affairs. Oklahoma waited until it was safely out of the woods.
 We do not want to be understood  as believing that these bills now be- fore the legislature are unjust, or that they would be improper if we were already a state. We do not think congress would consider their justness or unjustness, but we think congress would consider the impropriety of any .nNo irer fn laUiCla- ton of this character.
 Most states have railway commits sions with more power than the De Souza bill contemplates bestowing upon it's commissioners, and many states have much more stringent laws than any that have been proposed in our legislature.
 But the states are in a position to enforce their laws which are thus made serious. Arizona has no such power, so its laws of the same char acter would be ridiculous and the territory itself would be put into a ridiculous light
 In a strict sense none of this pro posed legislation is antagonistic to the railroads, and it could not be made so for the railroads would not recognize it,, and could not be made to recognize it, so long as Arizona is a territory and so long as the Hep burn law gives the interstate com merce commission an exclusive juris- diction, a part of which some mem- bers of the legislature are proposing to delegate to a commission. How do you think such folly is likely to strike the senators?
 It is said that the commission bill, which will finally be passed, will be entirely satisfactory to the railroads. What if it is? We can nGt get state hood from the railroads, and any satisfaction the railroads may feel with the legislation will not prevent the rest of the world from laughing at us.
  the situation throughout this whole business-a misconception of the na- ture of a railroad commission which is not, as some suppose. representa- tive only of patrons of the roads. Its real business is as a representative of both roads and patrons.
 The railroads have no need of such a representative in a territory and could not in any way make use of it if they desired. The patrons, however, do need a representative-an agent of themselves, whose interests are en- tirely their own.
 An association of shippers would be far more effective than any terri torial railway commission which would exert about as much influence on the railway situation in Arizona as did the famous War Board of Los Ange- les on the military operations of the United States in the Spanish -Ameri- can conflict