The Arizona sentinel., 1892-11-05
What Mark Smith Says He Has
 Done For Yuma County. A Levee Appropriation and Increased Postal Facilities.

provement is not in itself, an ade-
 quate reason for the granting of sucl an appropriation.
 Mark Smith has been here, and tell us of the thousands of bills presenteC
 to Congress, and referred to its Com
 mittees and of the difficulties en-
 countered in obtaining favorable ac-
 tion from the Committees, and havin:
 your bill placed on the Calendar. Th'
 clashing interests of sixty million peo
 pie center in those Committee rooms
 It is whirlpool, maelstrom of con
 ficting ideas and desires, the battle ground of the giants of the nation
 Across this rushing whirl, an approp
 riation bill, presented by a mighty State, freighted in the craft of State hood and propelled by as many oars as she may have votes in Congress may ride serenely and steer straight to the desired haven, indifferent tc the surrounding turmoil, but the little cockleshsll which carries Arizona's in terests. devoid of votes and oarless, her only motive power the diligence and personal influence" of her delegate, is driven here and there in the swell of the greater craft around her, and can only hope to enter the portals of Congress when the personal influence of her Delegate shall induce some State vessel to tow her in astern.
 Mark Smith, in his speech here, said that he had obtained an aprop- riation of ten thousand dollars for the Yuma levee through his diligence and personal influence" acquired during his six years service in Congress.
 If it is true that he has done this thing, in the face of such difficulties, it is an evidence of marked ability, and entities him to the undivided support of his party and the personal gratitude of every citizen of Yuma County. This appropriation is en- tirely local. It will be expended in Yuma, and not only shall we benefit through the security of life and prop erty gained, but every cent of this money will go to our laboring men and merchants. Yuma has bright future. Many enterprises are under way here which will inevitably build up another Riverside in time, but at present we are suffering from the de. pression of business common all over the Southwest and the expenditure of this appropriation at the present time constitutes a debt of gratitude from every citizen of Yuma county to the man who was instrumental in ob- taining It, but that man is not Mark Smith.
 He dared not stand before our peo- pie and tell them that thelr gratitude was due to him, but left to Hon. Frank Cox, uninformed as to the truth, the pleasant task of telling the people of Yuma that their homes would be protected from desolating floods and their pockets would jingle with silver coin put thero through the diligence of Mark Smith. "Frank" thought it was the truth, and so was able to tell the story, in his own elo- 1uent way, to the willing ears of future bene6ciaries, and send every man away to his wife and children with the feeling that he owed some thing for the safety of his little home stead, to the diligence" of Delegate Mark Smith.
 Col. Benyard, the U. s. Engineer Officer in charge of this District, ar- rived in Yuma last Saturday to look over the line of the levee, and secure deeds to the right of way preparatory to letting contracts for it's construc- tion, and while here stated that "It is one of the unwritten laws of Con- greSs that no appropriation for the provement of Rivers and Harbors shall be made until a preliminary survey and estimate has been made by the U. s. Engineers, and even then, appropriations are rarely granted unless favorably. recom- mended by the Engineer Officer. This is the first time within my knowledge that this rule has been broken" and he continued, "but of course when you have Senator Dolph working in your interest, you can obtain almost anything"
 There can be no doubt, that after serving six year in Congress, Mark Smith was fully aware that sur vey of the proposed levee would be necessary before the appropriation could be secured, He never ex- pected to secure it, and introduced the bill, knowing that it must be defeated, but thought it would be good Democratic thunder to turn loose on unsuspecting Arizonians, far removed from Washington, and ignorant of the manner in which the business of the country is con ducted m Congress. Owing to the eloquent speech of Representative Bowers, who was not aware of the irregularity in the bill, it passed the House, but was stricken out in the Senate, because no estimate ac- companied it.
 At this point, Mark Smiths con- nection with our leveeappropriation ceases, and it never occurred to- him