Arizona republican., 1905-11-18

remittitur as to the amount of the judgment and it was for the purpose of correcting this that the remittitur was recalled.
 At this juncture began the battle royal. Attorney General Clark cleared the battle ground by moving for the dismissal of suits Nos. 923, 92f and 926. These were the petitions for the writs of mandamus filed for hearing before Chief Justice Kent while the supreme court was at recess.
 This having been done the mining assessment cases came up on the de- murrer of the territory to the applica- tion for a writ of cert 'orari filed by the Copper Queen Consolidated Min ing company, bringing into review the action of the territorial board of equal iZatiOn in raising the valuation on pat ented mines in Cochise county.
 The demurrer was argued at length by Attorney General Clark, who as- sumed that the contention of the appli- cant would be that the territorial board of equalization had not in the absence of a specific statute, power to raise or lower the valuation of taxa ble property by classes, as had been done in the case of the patented mines. That question, said Mir Clark, was the only one brought before the court by this action and the decision of the court on the demurrer would dispose of the entire controversy.
 The attorney general said that though the statute did not specifically give the territorial board the power to do what had been done, long ago it had been construed that the statute did confer that power. Successive boards had exercised it for eighteen years without question and every class of property except patented mines had been raised or lowered.
 The law had been passed. said the attorney general, in 1887. and had never been changed, though every other rev enue law of the territory had since then been altered at one time or an- other. The question of the power of the territorial board had been raised soon after the passage of the law and the matter had been submitted to the then attorney general. Clark Churchill, who construed the statute to give the board the authority which the present board had exercised.
 This continued and unopposed con strUction of the statute, said Mir Clark. under a decision of the supreme court of the United States, made it the law. | The attorney general recalled the fact that the legislature of 1900 had created a code commission to codify the stat utes of the territory, to eliminate all crudities from them, remove all incon- sistencies and improprieties. The com mission originally consisted of John C. Herndon of Prescott. l.. H. Chalmers of Phoenix, and c. w. Wright of Tue son. On the death of Judge Wright. said the attorney general, Hon. Rich ard F.. Sloan, a present member of the supreme bench, was appointed to sue ceed him. Associate Justice Nave, who had just been seated, was the sec retaTy of the commission from the time of it's organization until it passed out of existence.
 This commission, said MT. Clark. went carefully over the statutes. What was obscure was made plain, and what was improper and incongruous was eliminated. The members of the com mission and the secretary being law yers, said the attorney general must have been cognizant Of the statutes under consideration and must have known what construction had been put upon it. They must also have known of the decision of the United States supreme court with reference to the construction of statutes which for a long period of years had been allowed to go unchallenged. The speaker was therefore of the opinion that the com mission entertained the idea held by him that the statute had been made to confer the power upon the board which had since been continuously exercised by it. Therefore amid all the changes which had been made by the code com mission this statute had been left un- disturbed.
 The address of the attorney general lasted an hour and a half. At its con- clusion an adjournment was taken un- til 10 o'clock this morning, when Colo nel Herring will reply.