The Florence tribune., 1899-08-19
Arizona and the Arld Lands.
IBrom the Los Angeles Times.l

discussien- that has arisen iu the South. west regarding the proposed cession oi the arid lands to the States nd Terri. tories in which they are located, The Times asserted that-the movement in Arizona for such cession was confined to small clique of persons, repre- sented by three or four newspapers, and that the great mass of the people of that Territory are strongly opposed to such 8 measure, as being contrary to the public good. The truth of this statement is confirmed by declarations of Arizona papers which The Times has received from a volunteer cores pondent in the Territory. For in- stance, the TRIBUNE, published at Flo renee, in PiHal county, says
 Among the worst breaks ever made by Gev. Murphy-and their name is legien-was that advocating the ced- ing of the public lands 'to' the Terri tory. Even his own collar-bound syn dicate newspapers'no longer dare advo- cate such & senseless measure. erealiz. ing as they do that ninety-nine out of every hundred citizens of Arizona are strenaously opposed to it. What the people want is national system of irrigation, and this they could never have.u nless the government owned and controlled the public lands"
 Again, the same newspaper has the following:
 "phe FRFRUNE is very proud of its work in opposition to ceding arid lands to the Territory, and returns it's heart felt thanks to Col. NJ. H. McCerd and the newspapers of the Territory for coming to its support. The result has been that the guns of Gov. Murphy have been silenced and a public sem timent has been aroused such es no land-shsrlc or land-grabbhg syndicate can stand up against. Now let the people pull together for the San Car los reservoir, as it is the entering wedge in Arizena for a national irri- gation system"
 It is further mentioned in the TRIB- uNE that petition for the removal Of Gov. Murphy is being generally signed in Jerome, and already contains ever 1900 signatures. One of the reasons given for the circulation ofthe petition is the eGovernor's position on the ces- tion of the arid lands. The Times does not wish to encourage a rEi6 ou the Governor, but it holds stket he has taken wrong and unteuahle position on this subject.
 Another leading paper, published in Arizona, at Tucson, bysex-Gov. Hug hes --one ef the oldest papers in the Ter Eritory-contains thefollowing
 "ExzGov. Mceord's contribution against cediHg tthe arid lauds to the TerriteFy, butinstead have the govern ment make appropriations for building reservoirs and reelaiming the land has been received by the Territorial press F with marked approval, which would indicate Stslat the ex-Governor has touched very practical side of Ari- zona's newspaper fraternity"
 The same journal, in another col- 'umn, says:
 Iii the government will turn it's at- teutien to this subject and make req soRasle appropriations flor building dams and water catchments through out the arid regions, it will prove to 'be one of the most profitable, wealth creating and home producing invest ments it can make"
 Then comes the Stafford Arizonian, published in Graham county, with the following contribution to the literature on the subject:
 1.-The question whether the people of Arizona, who are interested, favor ced- ing the lands to the Territory or hay 1 ing the government reclaim them, is one that will undoubtedly. in the near future, be presented them for a de- cision. Should the people of Arizona be so foolish as to take a stand in favor of ceding these lands to the States and Territories, about all that would be accomplished thereby would be to show that there was division among the people of the arid belt on this important subject, and thereby re- tard congressional action. If the peo- pie of this Territory, however, would view the matter in it's true light, aud come to understand the question in all it's bearings, there would be so little division of sentiment that 1t would cut no figure"
 Finally, the Phoenix Rspu biican, which represents Gov. Murphy, ap- pears to have somewhat modified its famboyant and dictatorial tone ir writing on this subject. In recent issue, the editor of the Republican, re- ferring to a statement published ir The Times, wherein the writer as-