Arizona republican., 1901-05-06
THAT MINING PROCLAMATION
Reese M. Ling has Changed His
 Opinion Regarding It.

Sunday printed a long interview with MT. Reese M. Ling. of Prescott who is now in the east on mining business. The interview is embellished by an ex- cel'ent portrait of MT. Ling. Much that MT. Ling says is of local interest, though not a great deal of 1t is new. The following episode related by MT. Ling will be remembered by all per sons who lived in Arizona last sum mer:
 Some very peculiar things happen in politics in Arizona, as elsewhere" |" said he. but I never saw quite so much fun as last year, when Maricopa county had a contesting delegation at the democratic convention at which Mark Smith, our present congre ssional representative was finally nominated. was chairman of that convention, and perhaps I didn't have busy time for spell. Both Smith and Colonel Wilson were nominated, and each fac ton held heated meetings during the dispute which lasted three days. Pan- demonium was at its height when l was made chairman, and when l started to ascend the platform l was pinioned from behind and threatened with all sorts of dire things if I would attempt to put the question that was then be- fore the house. Though l wanted to show my temper I decided that 1t was bsst to be cool and polite. and while the excitement was at it's height I was lowing and scraping to the audience, i,S I al 1Ad a m overwhelming reception. All the prom inent politicians were armed. but the difficulty was settled without any gun plays.
 We don't have much of that sort of thing out there nowadays. you know, It's the only country to live in, from every point of view, though must say Detroit just about strikes my fancy as a nice summer city. My county. Yavapai. is known as the treasure vault of the territory and the condition of the mining industry was never more promising than at the present time. The United Verde, the greatest copper producer in the world. is located over at Jerome. This fla nous mine is owned by Senator Clark
 
 ip the line of copper. 1t is one of the largest gold and silver producers on the American continent"
 Mir. Ling seems to. have undergone change of opinion within the six months, for in the course of his inter- view. he said:
 Fraudulent imitation of the value of mining property is severely drowned upon in the territory, Governor Mur- phys mining proclamation condemn ing a fake scheme. issued two years ago. having had a salutary effect in this regard"
 It will be remembered that Mir. Ling was one of the democratic orators who went about the territory during the campaign last fall, denoupcing the governor for warning investors against flake schemes" claiming that he had thereby given the mining industry of the territory black eye
 MT. Ling continuing, says of the mining industry here: ''The high prices of copper have stimulated mining for that metal all over Arizona, and ac- tivity in the territory generally is un- precedented. At present copper is be- ing mined and shipped extensively to the smelters at Fl Paso and Colorado, and at many points the development of copper ore is so active as to war rant the assertion that Arizona will soon lead in the production of the red metal. The copper production of the territory for the pear 1900 was esti- mated at s30.000,000. Gold was placed at $T,000,000, while silver amounted probably to not more than $1.000,000. Activity in copper Is widespread. and, in fact. there is no other region in the world where this metal finds a wider distribution than in Arizona. The territory ranks third in the pro- ductlon of precious metals. Colorado and Montana only having precedence. In my county, the most richly miner- allzed county, so far as present dis coveries have determined, steps are being taken to unearth its vast copper properties, and several important deals -are now on. The copper mines of the county almost invariable carry heavy percentages of gold. so that in many eases the mines and prospects are known as coppergold propositions.
 statehood? Well, we've been cry ing for admission to the union for a long time now, and We hope that con- gress will soon recognize our qualifi- cations. This would be greatly to the advantage of eastern investors, many of whom have placed their money, with advantageous results. There IS considerable Detroit capital, by the way. interested in various Arizona en- terprsas and health seekers find the