Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1891-11-18
MORE ABOUT rnr CONSTITUTION.

subject of Statehood. The propo-
 sition laid down by the JOURNAL
 MINER, that it is an easy matter for
 a smtrt non-taxpaying citizen, to
 figure out that the government ex-
 penses will be only slightly inereas-
 ed by statehood, is dismissed like a
 former argument, with an illustra-
 ton, the subject of which, in this
 instance, is small boy, instead of
 an old woman as in the former. Re
 ferring to our statistical facts con-
 corning the State of Washington, we
 are charged with "not knowing what
 we talk about, or of willfully trying
 to deceive, and are also charged with
 not giving the truthful explanation of the reason that the territory cn-
 tered statehood with a surplus of
 over xI5,0O in her treasury and not
 dollar of debt; and at the expira-
 ton of one year her balance sheet
 showed debt of $35s,0O0. The
 fact was stated just as 1t exists, and
 it did not seem to need any expla- ! nation, hence none was given. We
 have been repeatedly told that the
 expense of state government over
 territorial could be computed into
 a definite sum- and the history of
 the above State was given as
 practical result, and not as any
 theoretical proposition. The trouble
 seems to be that too many explana-
 ti1ns are required in connection
 with this new constitution and the
 high flown theories advanced in sup
 port of it. The explanation given
 in this case, however, makes the
 point raised by the JouRNAI~MNER
 all the more potent, so far as that
 explanation is based on facts, and
 not on mere presumption. There is
 nothing in the official reports to in- dicate that this money has been
 spent for public buildings, but as- suming that it has, as intimated by this correspondent, it does not alter the facts in the least. In fact the intimation that Washington as . state has been so reckless as to 20 in debt in this way, is coupled with an intimation that Arizona will fol- low in her footsteps if she is admit 1 ted as a State, is certainly not a | good argument in favor of economy. But lest we may be charged with | misrepresentation in drawing such | conclusions, we will quote the Ian guage used by J. F. w.:
 "While Washington was a Terri tory, she was deficient, as we are. and as all territories necessarily have been and are, in public buildings for state use and purposes, for agricul- tural college purposes, for univer- sity purposes, for deaf and dumb asylum purposes, for institutions for the blind, etc; nor did she have any school of mines. In these she was deficient. She didn't have the money to pay for them, nor did she have the lasting security to guar antee the payment for them. if en- acted. We have not got them either"
 The correspondent then goes on 10 numerate the quantities of land y-~-~s~S e shs etstS sad tfso ps1 poses for which granted, of the 'otal value of s5,OOOOOO, in addition O provision allowing the state five per cent. of all the money received oy the government for public lands old Tn the state. Yet with all these lonations the State changed her ( balance sheet from no debt and a ( urplus of cash in her treasury, to ( Iebt of $35S.O0O. From this it will I e seen that the subject, from the C of a constitution advo- r ocate, had better been left alone e 'ithout the explanation. It must be a remembered, too, that very much of a he land. probably nearly all of it that c ne State of Washington received as salable land, and no doubt that
 large portion of it was sold, while F le constitution framed for Arizona Il laces prohibitory price on nearly st l the lands that will be received h om the general government. is 'ashington was admitted in the re idst of a boom that she was ex- W 'rlencing as Territory, and it is st ue that her taxable property was to rgely increased and that her popu- Ii, ton increased about 100000 dur pt g the year, both of which features sO ould have been an element in mi TOT of increasing the surplus in in T treasury rather than of making 1s iebt for the state, so that to take at 8 history of the young state, with no the explanations that an adyo- wi te of our new constitution can de- 4.O 'e, it does not seem to afford any cls 'at amount of encouragement to sta honest investigator of the con- of tuition and statehood. fel Now, take a look at Arizona's ye, ldition, as compared with Wash off ton when the latter State was ad- val ted. The fact of this State hay. GAG contracted the debt spoken of to-, fer the condition she was in, i, in in itself of an alarming nature, $50 could Arizona be admitted un be similar conditions, it would not out necessity be any occasion for con 'En to her citizens. But the con- tior ons here are alarmingly differ enc
 at present. Instead of hay eY-s a cash surplus in the treas taY
 our debt, territorial, county
 municipal, amounts to T