Arizona republican., 1911-11-26
Big Guns of Both Political Parties Have Spent the Past Seven Days in Going After Votes in This County.
REPUBLICANS HAVE
 MADE GOOD GAINS
Speeches of Wells, Smith, Cameron and Others Have Caused the Tide to Set in Toward the Republican Ticket.

Maricopa has been the battle ground of the politicians this week, the state and congressional candidates of both political parties being engaged in the spirited contest for votes which has been waged in every nook and corner of the county. Barbecues and mass meetings were held in Mesa and Glendale and mass meetings without the barbecue feature were held in Tempe. Phoenix. Buckeye, Casa Grande and other outlying precincts.
 The presence of the big guns of both parties had the effect to awaken great interests in the campaign and so far as the republican meetings were concerned enormous crowds gathered to hear the political issues discussed
 The democratic speakers. particu- larly H. r. Ashurst the radical can didate for the United States senate. Early in the week began a series of personal attacks upon Ralph Cameron and Hoval Smith dropping for the time being their reliance upon the constitution as an issue to win Mari copa county voters to their cause. In every instance the charges were refuted to the satisfaction of the peo- ple and the accusations proven to have no foundation in fact.
 Judge Wells in his speeches at Mesa. and again at Glendale devoted his time to a review of the value to Arizona and particularly to Mari copa. Pima. Yavapai and Coconino counties of the enabling act and made a decided hit He contended that in the flood of discussion anent the constitution the people had lost sight of the provisions of the enabling act and had come to look upon 1t as merely the granting of permission to the people of the state to draft constitution.
 Besides providing for the drafting and ratification of a constitution, the enabling act did mOre-it provided that the national government should give the new state 10,000,000 acres of land. the largest donation of the pub lie domain ever made a single state bv the United States, and of that vast acreage S,OOO,O00 acres are to be devoted to the upbuilding and maintenances of the public schools, insuring to Arizona public school system comparable with the best in any of the older states of the unlon
 Cameron. while anxious to secure statehood. was not content with se- curing the mere right to hold a con stitutional convention; he guarded every interest of the state. Nor dld his energy and industry end with the securing of a grant of land such as had never been secured by any other state. He was mindful of the burden of debt which hung over several Arizona counties: COconinO. s31S,0OO; Pine. s6s6.OOO: Maricopa. s563.OOO; and Yayapai. s677, 900, payable in each in- stance in 1912, and though he did not have an iota of power in congress eX- cept that of his personality, and without vote, he fought down all opposition and had the general gov ernment do another unheard or thing assume an indebtedness of S2,244,000 due isolated counties in far-away Arizona and to meet its payment turn over 100000 acres of lands with the proviso thSf any surplus of receipts from its sales after the debts had been paid should go to inc school fund of the state of Arizo- ma.
 We are too prone" said MT. Wells, "to think of the enabling act simply as an act empowering the people To adopt a constitution and elect state officers. but as I have shown you there is an extremely practical view to be taken of that law, and one m which the taxpayers of Maricopa countv. and I am one of them. nave an extremely practical interest. Hau if m. heen for the level headedncss and tirelessness of Ralph Cameron while that enabling act was being discussed by congress, and were It not for his ability to convince con- press of the justness Of ms cause we would. as taxpayers of the county he called upon to pay the enormous s,r of s563. 900. Thanks to Ralph Comaron we are relieved of that burden"
 1obn Williams in his Tempe and pboaniv speeches took occasion to cau attention to the section of the constitution creating the corporation commission and defined its duties He ouoted the language which prescrloes'. after defining corporations, that the commission has practically power ol life and death over them, except they he corporations which do not offer their stock for sale.
 .On its face that would appear to include all corporations. said MT.
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