Arizona republican., 1897-10-05

their issue, and the right Of the rail road company to have and receive them," and later petitioned the legis- lature to memorialiZe congress to pro- tect them in this declaration. It is proper to say that the parties who So declared represented all the principal taxpayers of Prescott and many of the heavy taxpayers of the county, ger orally, at the time the bonds were issued.
 1.-The governor of the territory, at the time, Hon. F. A. Tritle, in let ter addressed to Messrs. Christy & Janney of New York tthe parties who had purchased, or were about to pur- chase these bonds to place with their customers) under date of February s, 1886, testifes to the validity of these bonds
 Hon c. Meyer Zulick, ex-gover- nor of Arizona, addresses these gen tlemen, later, in the following lan- guage:
 The bonds were issued as direct ed by law, and subsequently, approved by congress. We believe them to be pre-eminently good. Yavapai county is one of our eldest, best and most prosperous counties, with abundant taxable values to make good, both principal and interest, all he robliga- tions, and I know of no legal re- straints that now exist, or that here after are liable to exist, to impede her doing so.'
 'tMr. Hazeltine, cashier of the Bank of Arizona, under date of Feb ruary g, 1886, addresses a letter to Christy & Janney of New York in which he says as follows:
 "'Our county is large than some whole states, and is rich in cattle, sheep and horses. The people of Prescott, of course, are eager for the early completion of the road. The country people are equally anxious for it, with few exceptions, compris- ing those who live right on the line of the A. & P. and sefishly think they have little interest in the rest of the county. A well-to-do stockman, liv- ing forty miles from town, has just called upon me to ask how the rail- is getting along. He told me he would rather pay S100 extra taxes each year for ten years than have the road fail. And he is but sample of many more of our country customers I am myself secretary of our live stock association, and know their feeling as regards the enterprise"
 He concludes his letter by saying:
 "I might add that our president, MT. Sol Lewis, and his brother, cap italists of San Francisco, own or con- trol almost the entire debt of Yava- pal county, and not only do not object to further bonding the county in the interest of this railroad, but are among the strongest supporters of that measure
 'sNow, while it is true that it is un- fortunate that the owners and man. agers of the F. & A. c. railroad so conducted the affairs of the company as to bring about the destruction of the property, that fact in no sense relieves the county of the moral and legal responsibility it incurred when it issued it's bonds for the construc- ton of the road, which bonds for many years prior to the collapse of the railroad had passed into the hands of innocent parties, who received the interest regularly from the county up to the time that this spirit of re- pudiation took life.
 'fI do not believe that many of the citizens of Yavapai county and the territory who have supported the idea of repudiating the payment of these bends, have done so with thorough appreciation of the situation, and I do not believe that they are in accord with the disreputable methods and charges put forth by some of the democratic press and last years de- feated populist candidate for dele gate to congress.
 "I am sure that 1t will only be matter of a short time when the acts of the loan commission will begin to show results favorable to every tax payer of the territory, and the fund ing of the subsidy bonds will be looked upon with favor by every citi- zen who believes in fair and honest dealing
 ''It is silly twaddle to say that be- cause the P. & A. c. railroad failed and another road was built under an act that exempts them from taxation, that the county should not pay it's notes. The F. 6 A. c. railroad was the beginning of the development of the resources of this rich territory, and made possible the present pros- porous condition of Yavapai county If that road had not been built, Ari- zona would not, in all probability have the north and south road, which has done more and means more real good to Arizona than all else that has happened, or will happen, for many years to come; demonstrating the wisdom of the clear headed men of the county and legislature in aiding by subsidy the building of the P. & A. c. railroad, which was the step ping stone to much that Is beneficial to Arizona
 ''In regard to the charge that the commission acted hastily, etc., that we should have awaited the action of the courts, I would say that the com mission, as we'll as every one in the territory acquainted with the facts, understood and believed that counsel had been engaged to resist the pay ment of the bonds as a result of po- litical prejudices, and for no other t0 frih h11Hc