Arizona weekly enterprise., 1890-03-15
OUR LAWS.
OUR CORRESPONDENT PUNCTUR ES
 MORE OE THE BUBBLES.
Meaningless Enaetments on Our Statute BOoks---UnwOrthy Discrimination Against Foreigners--Othsr
 Faults Discovered.

BOoks---UnwOrthy Discrimination
 Against Foreigners--Other
 Faults Discovered. GLOBE, March 4tb. | EDITOR ENTERPRISE :-I used to look upon all public men as men of wis dom, and thought that it was in con sequence of their wisdom that they were chosen to represent the political interests of the people; but the older l grow and the more I observe our political events the more I am led to a full realization of the truthfulness of the words uttered by Sweden's greatest statesman when he said to his son: "My son, behold with how little wisdom the world is governed r"
 l had come to regard the average public man as very ordinary being, when the 18th legislature came along and added the climax of distrust to my already shaken confidence. The men who composed that body, instead of growing more intelligent with ex- perience, seemed to lose.
 The two best laws they enacted were passed ill the very beginning of the session; nearly all the rest were hard ly worthy of even thought from a legislative body. Some of them would have been meritorious had their authors been prudent in framing them.
 Act No. 31 provides for the assess ment of irrigating ditches, provided that private irrigating ditches, wholly owned by parties using water there from on their own lands, shall be ex- empt from assessment and taxation, | except in so far as such ditches en- nance the value of such land upon which they conduct the water"
 Evidently the Solon who fathered this law meant to do benifcent work for the Arizona farmer. If fe did SO intend let us all appreciate his kind ness, but deplore his gross miscalcu- lation.
 It has been practically demonstrate ed that the most of the land in south ern Arizona is next to worthless for agriculture unless rendered fertile by. irrigation.
 In order to successfully irrigate the husbandman necessarily has to resort to ditches.
 AS soon as he conveys water to and upon his land the land becomes very productive and the value thereof is greatly enhanced. If it were other wise he certainly would not go to the unnecessary expense of putting ditch upon it,
 Now, along the Salt river in Gila county is a tract of land probably as productive as any in the territory. The farmers there own their ditches and are gradually growing comfortably supplied with this worlds goods. With out their ditohes they would not at tempt to farm their lands, for they could not make back their seed which they had put into the ground.
 The land whereon they are now building up comfortable homes would be rendezvous for the coyote and wild cat. The land which is now ap- proximately estimated at from $20 to 'Foo <lIzv1 poo poI ,+prcI V lca.c; U11- no more than any other desert land.
 Now does 1t not appear that ditches enhance the value of the lands upon which they conduct water? And what does this bill effect? Nothingl Un- der the old law all improvements $ were. to be assessed at their full face value \ and 1t remains the same under fhi5 one
 Ditches are no more than improve ments and must be assessed as such. If they were not improvements the farmers would not have them. They would have no need of them.
 In place of effecting benefit for the people in this instance the legis- lature simply passed law which will remain dead letter upon our statute books, unless Wolhey and Congress erase 1t therefrom.
 Act No. 38 is Gan act to prohibit the boards of supervisors of the various counties of the territory from allow. ing illegal demands and to provide for the punishment of & violation | thereof
 Under the laws as they existed prior to the passage of this act, 1 think, the compensation of district judges would have been an improper county charge. (this is what the bill refers to) and only an act of the legislature could make it a proper one. If I am right in this (and think amp the punish ment was already severe and quite appropriate. The author of the act ia question failed to include his penal ty, hence the old punishment is still the one to be inflicted.
 Perhaps the author intended to make it more severe, but no one can tell. As he mentioned 1t nowhere in the conte8s he leaves us only to guess at what he intended. May be he thinks he can be returned to the 18th and then he will finish what he begun in the 18th. In case of his reelection I would suggest that his constituents employ fer him a clerk to draft his bills-one who can make the title and contexs conform to each other.
 Perhaps the 18th legislature forgot the Harrison act" when they passed that bill to reimburse Winslow school district in Apache county. They were very condescending indeed to take cog nizance of the misdeeds of Apache's superintendent.
 Did they not know that there were taking step which would have been out of place for the freest and most un- tramelled legislature in the United States?
 If the people of Winslow district were entitled to money they did not receive, through the carelessness, neg lect or any other cause attributable to their officials, their proper redress was by means of law. And if the court : would not recognize their claim as just, the legislature should not. Their bus , mess is to say what the laws shall be and the courts are to punish violations , thereof.
 This one act, although it is insignif- , cant, shows clearly that the 18th as g - whole did not understand what power ? belonged to them and what did not. F We now come to another of theil f useless acts, and a more unworthy one