I understand your point. However, the CS is (i) an ally, (ii) supplies me with luxury goods that stop my Civ from becoming unhappy, (iii) under attack by another Civ with which I am friends. So, I want to stop the other Civ wiping out my allied CS without having to declare war on that Civ. I want to prop up that CS, and I'm not really concerned about the miniscule influence points.
This kind of situation is one of the things that makes Civ5 a great game.
Any idea how many turns it takes a gifted unit to show up?