Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-11-17


Iown business prosperity is affected to
some degree by that of the livestock
Industry. For more effectively guard
ing against the invasion Of contagious
disease among livestock. the law con-
tains certain sanitary regulations. in
Icluding the authority to deny the right
lof entry to infected livestock. and TO
quarantine diseased livestock within
the territory. and to DESTROY same. if
necessary for the eradication of con
tagious disease This branch is I'M
der the immediate supervision of a
territorial veterinarian, and who re-
ports to and consults this board. and
has been conducted with great effici-
ency in this territory for many years.
1t should be borne in mind that the
man or woman who eats meat or but
ter or drinks milk is deeply concerned
in knowing that what is used is not
the meat or butter or milk of a dis
eased animal. In this branch of the
work the entire human family are
quite as deeply concerned as the owner
of livestock himself.
AS a necessary corollary to the laws
creating an inspection service there
are certain provisions in the same
chapter providing for fees for the in
spection of animals inspected for
shipment and slaughter, and also GER
tain license taxes, the proceeds of
which are deposited in a special fund
and used to defray the expenses OF
maintaining the inspection service and
enforcing the law. These revenues
consist chiefly of a license tax i'm
posed on the business of Strengthening
meat cattle, sheep or goats for the
purpose of barter and sale: and a
license tau imposed as a condition 10
the continued right to the u.s. of live
stock brand. commonly termed brand
tax This money is expended as oc
casion may require in the payment OF
the salaries of inspectors. expenses in
CURED in investigation of irregulari
ties and violations of the law, and the
employment of special counsel when
deemed necessary for the prosecution
of cattle or horse thieves. The amount
of these revenues is not adequate for
the payment of salaries 10 all inspec
tors, but as far as it goes, il is ex
stiles seem most to require it. /
would be quite impossible to maintain
an efficient service without funds 70
the purpose; and therefore the repea
of either section of the law relating
these sources of revenue would be
calamity to the livestock industry
Some hostility to both the butchers
license and the license brand tax has
been manifested in previous legisla-
lures, due as this board believes. to a
ack of understanding of the conditions
The natural disposition of the aver
age citizen is to protest against re-
straint. the purpose of which he does
not fully understand. and to resist the
levy of a license tax when he has not
learned the necessity for il. nor the
purpose for which the money is to be
used. But we hope that better I'M
derstanding of the subject will remove
that prejudice which arises as n first
impulse. So far as the butchers
license is concerned there are other
more important reasons to Justify the
proposition that the Strengthening of
cattle should be confined To licensed
butchers under bond, than the mere
question Of raising revenue, towit:
meat is not like ordinary farm produce
which may be properly hauled from
the farm to the customer and from
door to door over dusty roads and ex-
posed TO heat and flies
Surely ordinary sanitary precaution
would suggest that meat ought to be
handled as far as practicable. By men
who are equipped With the facilities
common 10 well conducted butcher
business. if the public health is TO be |
considered. SO far as the experienced
cattleman is concerned. he well un-
stands why he does not want the |
of cattle to be carried on
in out of the way places. and the meat
peddied in the mining camps The |
safety Of the cattleman's property lies
in combining the Strengthening of cattle |
to fixed and definite Strengthening !
places where the brands are well /
known. both by the inspectors and the !
public, and where the animals and |
hides may be inspected. The reason
or this IS apparent and is founded on |
experience.
The brand tax. aside from being the
contribution to a fund ex-
pended for his own protection. ais
operates as n restraint upon the use Of
too many brands upon the range
There are peculiar reasons why there
should be i'm use the least number of
brands consistent with necessity The
cattleman understands this, and it is
not necessary to discuss it. The plac-
ing of a reasonable tax burden on each
additional brand has tendency to
reduce the number of brands in use
We have these laws on our statute
books They do not prevent every
nor does the executive arm
accomplish . strict enforcement OF
them. But FOR that matter, the law
which prohibits homicide does not pre-
vent all murder, nor is every murderer
caught and punished. Our livestock
law is. in the main. a good law, re-
duces cattle stealing to the minimum,
keeps the territory practically free
from contagious diseases of livestock,
and is worth far more than it costs
both to the stockman and the general
public. 1t could be more rigidly en-
forced if there was more money avail
able 10 accomplish the work II is
dOuhtle SuScenfihIa of inonroXarOept