Arizona silver belt., 1891-11-28
WHAT Hour ntlr ms Doxr FOR Us.

lips oi politicians who hunger for plsC
 and power. The alleged advantage
 arising from it was never questione
 until the figures of the sum.totd c
 Territory, county, municipal and com
 mon school indebtedness of Arizon
 reflected the fact that home rule wa
 the will-o the wisp that lured us tc uu
 fiuancial ruin The debts, which ng
 gregate S3,5OO,000, were created b,
 resident Arizouans, and ten of tn,
 eleven counties constituting the sub
 divisions of the Territory, on the lStl
 of March, threw up the sponge ant
 were permitted, by legislative enact
 pent, to refer to all claims previous {,
 that date as tour late eindsbtedness. fol
 which no provision is made for its re
 demption.
 The Territory was inaugurated De
 cember, 1868, at Navajo Springs, with
 n clean balance sheet, and in 2S wears
 it has become virtually bankrupt
 through inefiiciency, and mismanage-
 msnt tinetured with dishonesty of of
 tieials wholly representing "home rule. l"
 which once alluring words have lost
 their ssvor Our financial straights
 coming to the knowledge of Congress. It put down the brake on further home rule legislation with the view of pre- serying Arizona from hopeless insul
 yency and although the act Is embodied In the organic law of the Territory. ten of the eleven counties (Gila exeeutedl disregarded the injunction thus sIsesd upon her cratic le.Isistion pntil tb.ir credit and that oi the Territory i, at toe lowest ebh, and by our system of finance We are looked upon as a com mnnity of prodigals.
 The amount of our indebtedness con yerted into silver dulllrs and placed in continuous line whould make chain of silver eighty-two and four-ffths miles in length Or, to mako atother comparison, it would pay for all the city and town lots, horses, mnles asses, goats, and hugs in the Territoty of Arizona, at their assessed yalus, and leave balance of s227, j76. And vet the same class of statesmen who created this debt arc regaling the ears of the people, wherever they can get an a1dience with the twaddle that bv in. | oreasing our expenditures (which it is admitted the maintenance of State government would dol, Arizona would | be placed upon ''apaying basis
 Home rule, in Arizona, has been ban upon intelligence, premium upon ignorance, stupidity and dishonesty, as shown by the Territory's financial ledger during flush times" when tax payers were regarded as geese aud every one accorded the privilege of plucking a feather, unti even the grave of our credit presents a dilapid ap- pearance. The Territory is freis hted with financial atliction, and vet there are persons, with knowledge of this fact, who say: "Ts can not be worse of, and therefore let us have a State and trnst to luck, hoPing that once in the sisterhood the zest of life may again return bringing with it the cheer ing news that cent per cent was q trIae less than formerly, and that in the inn proved condition of affairs We eau bor- row of banker, on a month or a years time without the formality of an en- { durser. A change is wanted, and various reasons are assigned why Arizona should become State. The most DC. [ tent of which is, ''I want, before I die. to again enjoy the privilege of voting | for President, and then when pro- { visions grow short hy reason of happy l indoleuce, pull up stakes, yamose tire , ranch and try my luck in some virgin { field, and there when awake talk of the C blessings of statehood and smoke a { pipe. " It is this class of citizens who { hang upon the honey of the lips of the 0 stump orator and assist hlm, by their vote, in eztinguishing the vital spark } of our Territory's credit without caring il ] damn what becomes, financially, of r heir tax paying ueighbOrs. Q The miners are alleged to be in favor i 'i the statehood movement, but we are b oth to believe that those who have V identified themselves with Arizona, who tl 'wn property and many with families @ md homes, class of citizens who have i, lone more for Arizona, and have been he means of bringing into the Territo- y more capital than any other class, re in favor of destroying what little redit the Territory has left. We give (, hem credit for more intelligence, and te onhdently believe Shat on Tuesday \ ext they will be found at the polls, le rrayed with other friends of Arizona, n asting their ballots against the con m .itution. GU
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