Graham guardian., 1910-07-29
RATES OF LEGAL ADVERTISING
JULY 20, 1910.
GREENLEE COUNTY


The Statehood bill abolished the
regular November elections for 1910
and provided, in the absence of such
election, for the continuance in
office of all the officials elected in
1908, until the election of the new
State officers. This provision must
be plain to everyone. 1t specially
provided that all officials elected in
1908 should remain in Office until
succeeded by officials chosen by the
people in the first State election.
Now comes the question of Green
lee county. According to the law
passed by the last legislature Gre
ating the new county of Greenlee
by dividing Graham county, Green
lee county would come into exist
ence after September 1st, for the
purpose of holding primary cleo
tions for county officers who would
be elected in the regular November
election.
The November election being
abolished by the Statehood bill,
which practically took no notice of
the dividing of Graham county and
the creation of the new county of
Greenlee. the creation of new
county by dividing Graham county
became null and void.
For all intents and purposes then,
if county division is right and
is wanted by the people, it should
be brought up at the first session of
the new State legislature, which
would provide for the manner in
which the new county would be
created.
To overcome this mode of pro-
cedure, those who wanted county
division at once, sought the aid of
the governor and prevailed on him
to call a special election for choos-
ing the officers of the new county.
The Statehood bill abolished the
regular Territorial November cleo
ton; it made no provision for the
election Of officers for Greenlee
county, and in fact, such a thing as
county division was never even con-
sidered by Congress. We are told
that the governor can provide for
the holding of a special election, so
that the new county can come into
existence, but we fail to see where
the governor gets the power to do
this act.
Anyway, this special election COM
plicates matters to such an extent
that no one can tell whether the
provisions of the act of the legisla-
ture creating the new county of
Greenlee can be enforced, or wheth-
er they are null and void, and the
matter is serious enough to be the
cause of much deep thought and
consideration by the people.
AS the matter stands now the
board of supervisors have no power
to call a primary election for Green
lee county. If the new county
comes into existence September 1st,
and the law is to be followed, it
will take sixty days notice for pri-
mary election and thirty days more
for holding an election.
The governors proclamation calls
for an election to be held November
Sth, yet the election cannot be
called, according to law, until De-
cember 1st.
1t is impossible to see how the
governors act can be made legal,
when the law provides specifically
for primaries and an election, which
in this case cannot be held on the
date proclaimed by the governor,
November 9Th.
Will the governor issue a new
proclamation changing the date of
election in order to comply with the
law?
If the governor does not issue
such proclamation, can the election
for officers for Greenlee county be
legally held on November 9Th?