Arizona republican., 1896-02-27
ARIZONA'S pENlTENT[hRY Is It in California or
 Arizona? Interesting Case in a Los An-
 geles Court.
The Claim Decided Against by Judge Weliborn, Goes to Higher
 Court.


 now serving a thirteen months sen tence in the territorial prison at Yuma, had applied through his attorney, Cal vert Wilson, to Judge IWellborn of the United States district court, in Los Angeles, for a writ of habeas corpus upon the ground that the prison build ing in which he is confined is within the limits of the state of California and cannot, therefore, be the Arizona prison or serve as prison for Arizona convicts. He was indicted and con- victed in the United States district court of Phoenix for disposing of ar dent spirits to Indians.
 The position of Chavez shows at some lengths the grounds of his appli cation, and is somewhat novel paper.
 His assertion that the prison is in San Diego county, California, it is learned, is based upon construction of articles of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, between the United States and Mexico, and an article of the con- stitution of the state of California un- der which that state was by congress admitted into the Union, and the or ganic act of Arizona. It is claimed that the southern boundary line of the state begins at the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, and runs due west in a straight line to a point about three miles north of San Diego. The fact that the Colorado after its junction with the Gila bends some dis tance to the north leaves a strip of land north of this southern boundary line of California between this line and the Colorado river, as the land ly- ing north of this line is within the state of California. Upon this narrow strip of land is situated the Arizona prison.
 Judge Wellborn, -sfter taking the matter for some time under advise ment, delivered an opinion from the bench Monday denying the application, not upon it's merits, but upon the tech nical objection to the petition that if Chavez were held in the manner he claims, still as his confinement is upon ground claimed by Arizona, and upon which Arizona is exercising jurisdic- tion, it is, as far as Chavez is con- cerned, a part of Arizona, and he can not by habeas corpus raise this ques- tion, whether or not the land is really in California.
 The decision of Judge Wellborn does not stop the matter, however, says the Los Angeles Herald, as ChaveZs at torney has, in expectation of this de- cision, prepared a similar one for pre- sentation to Circuit Judge Ross, and the questions involved will in any event whichever way the decision may be rendered by Circuit Judge Ross, and as rapidly as possible carried to the United States. supreme court. The result of decision favorable to Chavez would be-unless Arizona pro- vided another prison in some other part of her territory-to make a whole sale prison delivery upon similar ap- plications of the other convicts Be- sides the jail delivery, and of equal i'm portance to Arizona, would be the loss to her of her water frontage on the Colorado river south of it's junction with the Gila river.
 California San Diego county particularly-would be the gainer by a decision in favor of Chavez of a large portion of the town of Yuma, which is situated upon the same nar- row strip of land between the boun- dary line and the Colorado river, and would be further enriched by the addi- tion of the greater part of the fertile bottomlands on the east bank of the Colorado river south of Yuma and cov- cred by what is known as the Ago dones grant.
 The placing of this strip of land in California by judicial determination would not invalidate any of the titles of owners to property on the disputed part of Yuma, for when the United States patent for the site of the town was granted in 1876 to the mayor of Yuma in trust for its inhabitants, the townsite was described in the patent as being portions of section 22, in a township in the Gila and Salt river base and meridian (the Arizona gov ernment survey), and portions of sec 1 tion 35, in a township in the San Der nardino base and meridian (the Cali fornia survey), as can be seen by the l patent survey and the plats in the gen. eral land office.
 1 The pOSttlOn OdheH Dy GndVez III claiming this strip of land to be in California is strengthened by the ob- servations of the last international boundary commission composed ot representatives from both Mexico and the United States, when resetting the monuments upon that portion of the i international line commencing at the l junction of the Colorado and Gila riv- CTS and running west to the Pacific ocean, dividing California from Lower 1 California Spoken of in the treaties