The copper era., 1911-03-31
AFFAIRS AT WASHINGTON.
Current News of the Week, and Some of the Events of Importance in Which
 Arizona Fixtures.


 Washington, D. C., March 27.-The opening of the Roosevelt Dam was very prominently featured in the eastern newspapers, and the big story was perhaps as valuable to the Terri tory as the great engineering project itself. There is a peculiar fascination in the tales of western development and enterprise to the people of the east, and the wonderful accounts of irrigation projects are responsible for taking more people from the over crowded cities than anything since the first passage of the homestead law of which former Congressman n Grow was the author. When the first stories of the productive powers of irrigated lands were published a few years ago the public was very skeptical, and in the east the general impression was that real estate speculations were responsible for what were regarded as champion yarns. But all that has changed, and now the stories of great irrigation projects are read with avidity. In the case of Arizona there has been SO much publicity, and so general an in- terest as result of the probable ad- mission of the Territory to the Union, that it's affairs are attracting unusual attention, and the controversy of statehood, the Mexican war scare, and lastly the Roosevelt Dam, all serves to put Arizona in the limelight. The benefit of all this is that people are talking about the Territory, and are studying it's great natural ad- vantages, and the homeseekers are considering it as probable place in which to work out their futures. And when statehood comes, as it is bound to, there is bound to be a great migration, and it does not need a prophet to foretell that the east, and the whole country is going to contri- ment of the new country.
 Delegate Cameron has been in close touch with the Forestry Service in reference to matters concerning the Tonto National Forest in which is in- cluded the Roosevelt Dam, and has been trying to get action in the way of new highways. and while progress has been slow in this direction, yet there has been considerable accom- plished in the way of securing more adequate fire protection and iu the installation of better telephone facilities throughout the Forest, and the Delegate has been advised that this feature of the work is to be con- stantly advanced. The very nature of the work of the Forestry Service makes but little legislative action necessary, but there are likely to be some matters that will come up wherein MT. Cameron can add to the great value of the affairs of the great region of which the Roosevelt Dam is the center.
 The letter of MT. Joe Dillon, chair man of the Democratic Committee of Arizona, inviting MT. Albert Sames to join him in calling the leaders of the two great parties together for the purposes of taking action to secure Statehood, has not escaped the attention ot the Capitol, and while the Gins and outs" of the pro- position are not understood here, yet the comment has been to the effect that if the two parties really mapped out plan of campaign that would be acceptable to President Taft and his advisers that considerable good might be accomplished. It is generally re- garded here that the Democrats are responsible for the Constitution thar has been sent on here, and it has been carefully noted that the Citi- zens' Delegation which visited here recently, was composed entirely of Democrats. Without going into the merits of the Statehood controversy, it is a fact that is apparent to a large portion of the membership of Congress, that the attitude of the Arizona Democrats has aroused a spirit of antagonism, and if the move by MT. Dillon is intended to indicate that his party is not fighting the Administration, it might be a very good thing for members of that party to emphasize the fact that they wish to join the sisterhood of states, and that they are more anxious to bring about this result than they are to exploit party interests and push their new ideas up to Congress with the demand that they be given full re- cognition. Official Washington looks with favor upon Statehood for Ari zona, but the power of controlling the course of things rests here, and Arizona is grieviously mistaken in thinking it can dictate terms. MT. Dillon has evidently been brought to recognize that the above is too true, and he is therefore evidently trying to bridle his wild horses on the Dem ocratic reservation.