Weekly Phoenix herald., 1885-02-12
COUNCIL AND HOUSE.
Brief Review of a Weeks
 Work.
The OratOry and Pugnacity of the 18th AssembIy--T
 Third House.


 Ie PRESCOTT, Jan. 8, 1985-The HEE ,f ALD representative omitted his reg IS ular letter last week, descriptive c V passi ng events at the Capital City v, The reason of this omission is du Is to the fact that he was waiting fo ,t definite action to be taken on meas - ures of special interest to the peopl f of Maricopa county, He had hoped to be able to tell your readers tha - some of those measures of vital i'm. l portance to the people of Salt Rivel
 Valley, and now under cons1dera'
 tion, had been favorably or unfavor- , ably treated. The matters alluded
 to, however, are yet awaiting the verdict of the thirty,s1x gentlemen whom the people of Arizona have f selected as their judges and jury for the period of sixty days. Perhaps the most important of the measures so far as Maricopa is concerned-is
 the
 INSANE ASYLUM BILL,
 introduced by Judge Porter. It has
 passed the first and second reading
 and has been made the special order
 of the day for two o'clock. on Mons
 day. Your readers have already
 read the Act in the HERALD, and can
 judge of its merits and demerIts.
 That it's passage would be of great
 benefit, not only to the people of
 Phenix but to the Salt River Valley
 1n general, goes without saying. The proposed measure has some strong support and also meets with some
 strong opposition. The main objec>
 ton agalnst it's passage iii its present form is the amount of the appropli> ation asked from the Territorial treasury. The opponents of the bill say that $100,000 is too much; and when the blll comes up for final passage, it is almost certain they will offer amendments reducing the sum named. Your correspondent is of the opinion that the bill will pass but that the appropriation will be much smaller than the act now calls for. Another measure of general interest to the tax payers of Mari- copa is that introduced by MT, Arm- strong for
 FUNDING THE DEBT of your county. The HERALD repre- sentative has not yet seen a copy of i the bill, and therefore can not speak | as to its details. As soon as printed, | you will be furnished with a copy, | and then your readers can form their own opinion. IL is certainly a mat ter deserving the most thoughtful consideration of your people, and they should be fully consulted as to whether or not they desire the pass sage of an act that will so closely affect their interests. In a matter of such moment, the voice of the hum- blest taxpayer should be entitled to as much consideration as that of the merchant or banker.
 THE WATER QUESTION
 is quiescent at the present. There is disposition on the part of both Houses to deal carefully and con- siderately with question of such vital importance to the farming in terests of the Territory However, there seems to be a general feeling that some legislation is required whereby just, equitable and eco nomical system may be adopted for regulating the use, supply and ape proPriation of waters from the streams of the Territory. It is felt that some check to the willful waste and extravagant use of the most precious gift which the people of Arizona possess, IS urgently de- handed There is no danger that vested rights will be disturbed, but there is a disposition to do equal and exact justice to all The bill intro- duced in the interest of the Mineral Belt railroad, giving that corporaS ton the right 10 construct dams, ditches, fumes, dykes, etc., at that point on Salt River where the pro- posed line will cross the stream, will hardly become a law. It virtually gives the company the entire control of the waters of the Salt River above Q canyon, a [ .ivilege which is not likely to be given to any individual 2 corporation, by an Arizona legisla- ture. Todd's bill asking for an ap- propriation for the
 FAIR ASSOCIATION has been the one other feature of the weeks legislation of special interest to the dwellers in the Garden City. The amount of the appropriation asked is S1O,OOO. But little is said the matter, and it is dlffi- cult to deter mine how the bill will fare in either house. On one thing your people may rest assured Mir. Todd will spare no effort or neglect no opportunity to carry the bill through. Before closing this short { sketch of the measures affecting the interests of Maricopa, it may not be amiss to say a few words in gen+ eral way, of the n.en on the ground who are supposed to be looking after these interests. First, as to the in both houses, it can be said that MessIs Todd, Porter and Armstrong are working faithfully fnr what they consider the hest inA 1