Arizona silver belt., 1896-01-25
THE MINERAL MARKET. {.
THE IMMIGRATION ACT VOID.

The Supreme Court of Arizona, on the 17th inst, dismissed the appeal of T. c. Jordan in the action brought by him against MaIicopa county for salary as Commissioner of Immigration, and in which case Judge Baker, in Novem- Der last, rendered decision against Jordan and declaring the act of the Eighteenth Legislature creating the Board of Immigration illegal and void.
 The result was long since foreseen and predicted by the SILVER BELT. In fact we, as one of the appointees of Gov ernor Hughes under the act, refused to qualify as Commissioner, being con- vinced, after careful examination of the statute defining the powers and limita- tions of legislatures, that the act pro, viding for the creation of the Terri torial Board of Immigration was uncon- stitutional.
 But the scope of Judge Bakers decision (now affirmed by the Supreme Court is not generally understood. The principle underlying that decision has wlde application, and under the same construction of the statute has a nugatory effect upon several other laws enacted by the redolent Eighteenth Legislative Assembly-notably the acts authorizing tax levies to provide for the erection of the Normal School, the Re- form School and for g dormitory at the Territorial University. The SILVER BELT was first to assert the illegality of the acts here mentioned, and our opinion is fully sustained by Judge Baker and the Supreme Court.
 Judge Bakers decision is based upon an act of Congress-act of June, 1878, c. 16S, 20 Stat. 101-incorporated in the Revised Statutes of Arizona, p. 36, denying to legislative assemblies the right to authorize towns, cities or other municipal corporations ''to incur here after any debt or obligation, other than such as shall be necessary to the ad- ministration of its internal affairs" In the case of counties, says Judge Baker, these necessary debts and obligations "are ordinarily to provide court house for the administration of justice, jail for the confinement of prisoners, , offices for the various officials of the county; and, under certain cir eumstances, highways and bridges for the accommodation of the public. After stating the duties of the Board of Immigration Commissioners as de- fined in the act, the Judge says: "How can it be said that these duties are necessary to the administration of the internal affairs of the county? *I It is true that such duties, when per formed, may incidentally benefit the county, and the same observation may be made concerning many quasi-public improvements but if the public funds exacted from the people for the support of local county govern ment is to be diverted to such uses, then, it is clear that county govern Inent can no longer be maintained.
 Judge Baker was not necessarily confined to the section of the Revised Statutes quoted, upon which to base his opinion of the illegality Of the act in question. He might with equal propriety and force have cited section 8 of the organic la~, page 37 R. s. A., which prohibits the legislature passing any law authorizing any debt to be contracted, except to meet current obligations, to suppress instructions or provide for the public defense, when the total indebtedness of the Territory is in excess of one per centum of the assessed value of taxable property in the Territory. As Arizona's indebtedness exceeds eight per cent of the value of all taxable property, it is very clear that the Eighteenth Legisla- tnre had no power to incur obligations for purposes other than such as shall be necessary to the administration of the internal affairs of the Territory and the several counties thereof.
 The report of the grand jury of Gila county, at the October term, 1895, l calls attention to the ilIegality of the acts of 1895 authorizing additional levies for the Normal School, Reform School and University, and presents an admirable argument in support of their position, quoting the organic law, which in the case of Gila county | (her indebtedness exceeding the four per cent limit gives additional grounds for opposing the aforementioned levies. snpperted by the statutes aad the de.