Arizona republican., 1908-04-01
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. m the January following begins a ' biennial session of sixty days. An ! extra session cannot be held without { the approval of the federal govern ment.
 The powers exercised by the legis- i lature are quite as full as the powers Of the average legislature. Ii pre- ! scribes the method of taxation, de- 1 public purposes shall be, and. in the customary style of American legs- 1 latures, sits in judgment upon all the questions that interest the public wei fare. In one important particular the | legislature the territorial government generally. and counties and towns are under a federal restriction: without the approval of congress, public in debtedness cannot be incurred to an amount exceeding four per cent of the assessed valuation of property in the community affected
 Arizona has a simple judicial sys- tem. There is a supreme court, con-
 sisting of a chief justice and four as-
 sociates, all appointed by the presi dent, They are also the trial judges of the territory. each justice holding court in district assigned to him.
 
 and each of them holds United States court in his district at stated inter yals. to try criminal cases brought under federal laws. and to pass upon federal questions generally. There is no complaint of consequence against the fact that the judges are appointed bv the president of the United States instead of being elected by the people. With very rare exceptions they are ap- pointed from the Arizona bar For several years the standards of the Arizona judiciary have been SO high that the people have become proud of their courts.
 The government of the counties. cities. towns and school districts is just the same as in the states. All the officers are elected by the people. In short, it is next to impossible for the visitor to find any signs of the territorial slavery. vassalage. or dis | content of which he has heard through congressional debates: he soon per ceives that Arizona affords no shining exception 10 the rule that large pro- portion Of congressional oratory is merely warm atmosphere. The visitor is told, and the settler soon learns, that AriZona's citizens are typical Ameri- cans. and are educated, enlightened. entcrprising and progressive. daring and self-reliant. broad in their views Of all religious. racial and political questions. and good humoredly toler- ant of differences of opinion-in these respects strictly typical of the western American. The settler learns that his To, ,fI laws are more strictly and inpartially enforced than in most of the states. and that he can go in safety and se- renity to every part of our 113.000 square miles. And unless he be a most extraordinary person. he will find that after six months residence he has become one of Arizona's most en- thusiastic rooters and boosters.
 From the foregoing it should not be assumed that the people are entirely indifferent on the question of state hood. They do want statehood, for purely sentimental reasons. It is not because their representative in con gross is called a delegate instead of a representative. but because they feel they are entitled to have every right that citizens of the states enjoy. and because they feel that Arizona in the fullest sense has made good. and, should be recognized accordingly. But there is no tearing Of raiment over the questiOn-indeed. among citizens generally it is seldom discussed. and their attitude is assumed by many to be one of apathy: but the fact is that the yoke of the territorial government is not felt and there is q prevalent feeling that statehood is a certainty of the next few years. anyhow. so why bother about it. And in truth. there is no state of the union in which good government is more Loyalty up held by the people than here In Arizona.