Weekly journal-miner., 1919-01-15
CHANGES ASKED IN
 LIVESTOCK LEGISLATION

PHOENIX, Jan. ll.-The days of the petty cattle rustler and the ped dler pirate are numbered in Arizona and thousands of dollars will be say cd to the stockmen of this state Ii the incoming legislature acts upon the recommendation of the State Livestock Sanitary commission and the Arizona Caftlegrowers' associa- ton.
 Some radical changes in the pres ent livestock laws arc imperative, declared a member of the sanitary 'board in discussing the situation to- day, and it is for the purpose of providing needed protection to the stock interests as well as simplify ing the work of the office that rep resentatives of the sanitary commits sion, acting in cooperation with the representative of the cattlegrowers association will go before the com legislature with the request that these changes be made"
 The first step in the interest of of flee efficiency and one which will do away with endless confusion among cattle owners will be to simplify the branding classificatiOns. While an exact plan has not been fully formu- lated it is the concensus of opinion among members of the board and association that all brands in actual use should be re-recorded, and the entire system revised.
 This is made necessary, it is ex- plained, by reason of the fact that there are now 2O,O00 registered brands, and the vast portion of these are not in actual use The result is endless confusion due to the fact that it is extremely difficult to ob' tain a brand which is not already on record.
 Old Problems Growing Serious.
 This is an old problem and one that is growing more serious every year, it is said. In times past at tempts have been made to effect a remedy through voluntary action but this has been proven failure. Very few "dcad irons" have ever been vol untarily cancelled.
 The proposed action, it is made clear by members of the sanitary board, will cause no inconvenience to the owners of present brands, but rather is designed to assist them. No one would be compelled to change from present brands but would sim ply re-record them. In this way thousands of brands which have been out of use for years would be made available for the use of new appli- cants
 The proposed change is not in tended and will not disCOmmode cat | tie owners but is devised simply to | provide a means whereby the appli- | cants for new brands may be ac- commodatcd. There will be no fee for re-recording.
 Answering another possible objec- ton it is pointed out that the pro posed new system would not in any | way limit the number of brands held | by any individual or company. If for any reason the present owner de sircs to retain irons not in actual use he would have that privilege.
 Then there is the matter of keep ing records of the 10000 brands now in existence to be considered. Under the present system a complicated system of cataloguing and indexing is required; brands are constantly being verified and checked and re- all of which requires time of clerks which could be placed to better advantage in other phases of he work.
 To Prevent Wholesale Thefts.
 Another law which should be according to the livestock is that of permitting to slaughter five head of heir own stock at a time 10 be ped He'd There is no intention to inter- .