Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1892-10-05
Governor murphy'. Report.

Governor Murphy's Report.
 The New York Sun of recent date, on reviewing the annual re- port of Governor Murphy, has the following to say concerning Ari- zOna;
 Governor Nathan c. Murphy, in his recent report to the Interior Department, says that Arizona, as a law abiding, intelligent, proper ous commonwealth, now challenges comparison with any of her neigh bors, and ought to be admitted into the Union as State.
 There is no doubt that the south western territories are improving in various ways. lt was a great gain for them when Geronimo and his gang of outlaws were hunted down to surrender, and, with their af- filiated bands, were sent out of the region. Minor Apache disturb ances have since occurred, but life and property are reasonably secure in the southwest. Governor Mur- phy says that immigration in TO- cent years has been of most de- sirable character, and social and moral conditions have rapidly im- proved" Secretary Noble two years ago spoke of Arizona as this pros perons Territory" and since then 1t has made gains in various ways.
 The assessed value of property in Arizona is S27, BPS, l62, and tho en- tire debt, territorial, county, and town, is but S3,S5i,725; and this may be funded, under the authori- ty of Congress, in 50-year bonds at l five per cent. The debt has not been increased for the last two years; in fact, 1t has been little diminished. Arizona's mining in- dustries yield large output of gold, silver, and copper; its sue cessful stock raising IS attested by the export of several hundred thou sand cattle a year; it has about HOO miles of railroad in operation, and artificial irrigation has been carried on to q great extent, making large areas once arid wonderfully productive. All the fruits of southern California are raised in Arizona also, and according to the Governor, mature earlier. He in- sists that the practice of putting low valuations and high tax rates on property in the territory gives an imperfect idea of :ts real value, which he estimates at S70,0o,oo0. Careful attention is given to educa- tion in the territory, where, accord ing to the last census, there were 2l9 schools, which gathered in about third of ali the children. At its own cost Arizona has found ed normal school at Tempe and a university at Tucson.
 All this, however, while a grati- lying recital of Arizona's progress, does not show that she ought to be admitted as a state of the union. The estimate of her Governor is that the territory now contains 70, 000 people. If so, it must have made a gain of over l0,0Oo m the last two years, whereas 1t had gain ed only about 1900 in the ten years preceding. But, admitting the 70,000, this IS not an adequate population for admission To the Union. Were it twice as great it would still be far below the ratio now fixed as that of representative apportionment in Congress. It is true that Arizona deserves admis sion to the Union as much as Wyo- ming, which had less than HOO more people in 1890, when she was made State. But Wyoming ought not to have been taken in at that time. 1t was a gross partisan out rage that admitted both her and Idaho then, when New Mexico and Arizona were left out. New Mexico, as the census soon afterward show ed, contained more people than Idaho and Wyoming combined. But two wrongs will not make a right, and the proper remedy for the outrage committed by the Fifty first Congress is not to be found by initiating its example.
 What should be done is to re- unite Arizona to New Mexico, from which it was separated nearly twenty years ago, and then to admit them as State. Identical in origin, closely allied in the character of their people, in their industries, pro- duets, and commercial interests, they would enter the Union, not like the rotton-borough States, of which Nevada is a type, but with numbers far exceeding those of the new Congress apportionment, and we'll deserving two Senators. Such State, instead of adding another weakling to the Union, would enter with resources of the highest promise in the race for prosperity with it's neighbors.