The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-07-01
STATEHOOD OR ARIZONA
SETTLED BOND ROMANCE
Pima County in the New State, Is
sued Bonds that Were Stolen,
FlOated and Repudiated.

sued Bonds that Were Stolen,
Floated and Repudiated.
Washington, June %. - When
President Taft with the gold pen OF
Postmaster General Hitchcock and
the the long eagle quill of Delegate
Andrews of New Mexico wrote "Wll-
liam H. Taft" upon the statehood
bill he put at an end a quarter cen
fury worring for The aoiders Of the
bonds of Pima county, Orizona, and
wound up n Of the most complica,-
ed financial romances that has puz-
zled legislators here for many a day.
Back in the early days of Arizona,
the residents Of Pima county, were
ambitious to have a railroad con-
structed from Tuscon, the county
seat, to Globe, Orizona, the locality
Of a great mining field. Accordingly
the territorial legislature passed i'll
1882 a mandamus act requiring Pima
county bonds to be exchanged for
i vi odu JULIUS III LllC CONSTRUCTOR Oh
this road.
According to the statements of the
Mon. Mark Smith, former delegate
from Arizona, who appeared before
the Senate Committe in Territories
during the recent statehood hearings,
the state for this railroad was grad
ed with a pillow for 10 miles out OF
'luscon. Ties were laid at intervals
of about 20 feet, the rails were tied
to the ties and that finished the
building of the Tucson-Globe short
line.
The supervisors of Pima county
duly exchanged county bonds suffi-
Gent to cover the building Of these
ten miles and placed the rest of the
bond issue in the safe Of the court
house. These bonds were taken
from that safe, though no one knows
how or by whom, and were next seen
being floated as high grade securi-
ties around the New York market.
Then came the trouble. The citl-
zens Of Pima county resisted the
payment of the bonds and the case
was fought to the supreme court OF
the United States. The bonds were
sold by a we'll known New 70
bonding house which evidently had
bought them in good faith and had
resold them to their customers with
all the guarantee that their firm
name implied. The bond house to
clear itself took up the cause of the
bond holders. The supreme court
decided in favor of Pima county and
held that the bonds were never valid.
The bond holders then took the
usual alternative and went afl>r
Congress to pass a law validating
the bonds. Sonora is a gumerits CT
saving the people of Arizona from.
becoming known as regulators and
thus impairing their credit were
brought to bear by the bond holn-
ers upon congressman. For years
Congress refused to take action.
Mark Smith was one of the most de-
termined fighters against saddling
Pima county with the debt. Insist
ency, however, told, and one yea.
ut happened that it was the only
session when Smith was out of Con-
gress for years before and after this
fight Congress yielded to the bond
holders and validated the bonds By
a special act. Later the supreme
court decided that in view of the OF
Congress the bonds were valid. The
bond holders, however, were never
able to get their money or the in
terest on it.
When the statehood bill came up
this session therefore the bond hold
ers were there with their best foot
forward. The Senate listened to
them and gave the bond holders a
sufficient grant of land to pay the
bonds at par with interest.