Arizona republican., 1909-09-17
PHoEN1x, ARIz.,- SEPT. IT. 1909
Los Angeles Proposes New State.


 such dissensions in California between the southern counties on the one hand, and the central and northern counties on the other, that there is a serious minded movement in Los Angeles for a division of the state. It is pro- posed to get the sanction of congress. and the consent of the legislature of California, and form a new state of the region lying south of the Te- hachapi mountains. A large meeting of representative business men of Los Angeles was held the other day at which resolutions in favor of state di- vision were adopted with enthusiasm. While the resolutions did not mention Arizona, the speakers who advocated the creation of a new state composed of Arizona and Southern California were vigorously applauded.
 For years there has been a latent sentiment in Southern California in favor of state division. The rivalry between the northern and southern sections is sharp. San Francisco and Los Angeles find themselves neck and neck in competing for the trade of the interior Of the state, as well as the trade of Nevada and Arizona. Sentimentally the two sections have little in common. For a long time the people of Northern California sneered at the bombastic claims put forth on behalf of Los Angeles and vicinity, and it is only recently that there has been an awakening to the fact that the supremacy of San Francisco com mercially is seriously threatened by the ambitions and rapid growth of Los Angeles. The people of the south ern section have had to go it alone in practically all respects, without help from the state as a whole They have felt themselves out of touch with the older districts of California, and .,on- ditions were ripe for the present re- volt when the state board of equalfza- tion touched a match to the powder.
 The state board at its meeting d few days ago arbitrarily increased, for purposes of taxation, the assessed valuation of the fourteen southern counties by 16S millions of dollars. The action of the board was taken after prolonged wrangling, a minority of the members standing out against the increase. The members responsible for this drastic action seek to justify their action by asserting that values in the southern counties have increased enor- mOusly and that these values are not properly shown in the returns of the local assessors. The Los Angeles peo- pie admit that the values placed upon their property by the state board are not above the market value, but they bitterly insist that it is unfair to raise their assessment 33 per cent while leaving the assessment of the northern
 
 they charge discrimination of the rankest sort against Los Angeles for the benefit of San Francisco.
 It is altogether probable, of course, that nothing tangible will come of the movement for division of the state. The constitution of the United States provides that mo new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdic- tion of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states or parts of states, with out the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the congress" Assuming that it may be possible to obtain the consent of con- gress, it is altogether unlikely that the legislature of California would con- sent.