Arizona weekly enterprise., 1889-09-14

climbed the golden stairs, and the middle aged who were the active forces of the time are fast approaching the shining shore. The country, O. course, has improved very much; the long trains of mules brought all our supplies from the Colorado rlver and a blackboard ride of five days and nights was the schedule time to get to San Diego, Cal. The country has also changed new towns have arisen, large tracts of land have been improved by means of the building of irrigating canals and sufficient has been done in this direction to demonstrate the fact that Arizona, by the use of water for irrigation, is rich in agricultural and horticultural possibilities, hardly equaled by any state or Territory Tn the Union. But there are many ob stacles in the way of the development of the resources of the country, and to my mind these obstacles are so great that the immediate future of Arizona looks clouded until some of them are removed.
 Rep.-Will you kindly state what these obstacles are, or some of them?
 Gov.-Go where you will, you find the mining interest at q stand still, mills and hoisting works lying idle, miners out of work and corresponding stagnation in business. One naturally asks what does this mean? Have the mines given out? The answer comes, No; there is an abundance of ore, but with silver demonetized and the power by the monied world to crush out its purchasing power, it has fallen so low that, except that small portion of ore of high grade. it will not pay to work 1 find an abundant harvest but no market for the products, or rather no market that is remunerative to the producer, and if you are going to continue to have prosperity, of neces- sity the producing classes must be made reasonably prosperous.
 It is true that great deal has been done in the way of getting out irriga- ting ditches and bringing under culti- vation large tracts of new land; it Is also true that these lands yield abun- dantly and it has been demonstrated that, taking the Territory as whole, there is hardly anything that can be produced in any climate that will not grow here. But to stimulate new en- terprises of this character the men who till the soil must get reasonable reward fo: the same, and after quite a general intercourse with the people, l do not find one who is satisfied with the returns he is getting for his labor. This state of affairs can never be changed unless the facts are looked sternly in the face and a remedy is sought and found It is quite un- pleasant for me to make this state ment, but there is no use to deny the facts if you ever expect to find a remedy.
 Rep.-In what direction would you look for a remedy and what would you suggest?
 Gov-If silver was restored to its rightful position as money, and you had a north and south railroad so that the products of the south could be sent to the north and exchanged for the,timber and coal that is found in abundance in that section, it would at once give employment to tens oi thousand of miners. Every mill now lying idle, would be put to work and hundreds of new ones would be built. There would then be created home market for hundred fold more pro- duce than you now raise and Arizona would become one of the most popu- lous and prosperous states in the Union.
 Rep.-How, in your judgment, can these results be brought about?
 Gov.-It is quite evident that silver cannot be restored until its friends gain sufficient power in Congress to do it and, outside of this question, the | people of Arizona are constantly menaced with laws of Congress, rul ings of departments, &c., that are de | structive to the welfare of the people At the present moment an act designed l simply to reserve from sale the reser voir sites has been construed to reserve from sale all the public lands. If yor want to build railroad to give al outlet for your products, you canno spend dollar of your own money iol this purpose unless Congress says vol may. If you have officers sent her, to execute or adjudicate your laws however much you may dislike then you cannot get rid of them unless tn, President consents.
 My remedy for these admitted evil
 would be to seek as speedily as possi
 ble a condition of independence, s' that you would have some chance tC protect your own interests, and coul( join shoulder to shoulder with thos
 who are fighting to give silver it
 rightful position in the monetar,
 world and be of some help to them.
 l mean, as speedily as possible seel
 to become a free and independen
 state in the federal union. It
 claimed, know, that we are not abl
 to sustain a state organization. A well might farmer continue to us the old wooden blow because he is no able to buy better one. AS long a , he continues to use the wooden plol ! AAS NAlA III lliC 1lIlDt cunious condition, and so it will be wit Arizona. In your present conditio
 you cannot change harsh ruling of
 department; you have no possible ir fluence in the legislation of Congress
 and all we have had in the past ( may expect to receive in the future : what we get as supplicants on th pended knee. We ask of this friendl Representative, or that friendly Sem
 tor, in the name of charity an f humanity to intercede for us that tn I unfriendly blow may be averted, ( 3 that great calamity may be passed . us; and when our friends in Congre . ask us to stand up like men ar throw off the swaddling cloths an - assume mems apparel and q positio - of manhood, we in reply tremble wit fear and say we are too poor!
 Rep.-It has been printed in son
 Al I