Weekly journal-miner., 1911-07-19


 county the board of supervisors de cided that the petition filed by them was in accordance with the law and ordered that on the 29th of this month the people of Yavapai county should declare at the polls whether they favored prohibition or the i- censed saloon. Accordingly seventeen days from today all registered voters will have an opportunity to declare their opinion in the matter.
 Adjourned Session.
 At an adjourned meeting of the supervisors of Yavapai county held in the court house yesterday after noon the petition calling for pro- hibltion election was considered by the board.
 Supervisors Smith, Harrington and Stewart were present as were AttOr- neys Reese Ling, for the opponents of the petition and attorney N. A. Vyne representing the signers.
 At the opening of the session Su- pervisor Smith addressed the board. "I have been trying for seven years to get the taxes down to two cents ($2 on the $1OO) and in behalf of the taxpayers of this county 1 am unalterably opposed to this petition. If this county goes dry it will mean a loss of $70,OO0. In September we will have to refund to the saloons in this section S15,OOO which we have already received. I have thoroughly investigated the matter and I can prove to you that prohibition will mean an actual loss of $74,S00. The cost of the election alone will be $S.OOO. The Prescott brewery will be forced to shut down and that in itself means that thirty men will be thrown out of work right here in Prescott. This petition that we are about to consider represents $l0S,000 and there are five men in this county who are not on that petition who present more taxable property than is represented by that petition which contains 575 names.
 Before we go ahead gentlemen, I want you to consider these letters that I have here; they contain the names of sixteen men from Walker, eleven from Humboldt, nine from Crown King. eight from Mayer and two from Jerome, saying that they have not signed the petition, or who have leIt the country. Many of the names we are to consider are the names of men who have left the territory. others are dead, in many eases the men are not on the great register and in other eases the num- bers beside the names do not cor respond with the numbers on the register.
 'I object to considering this peti- tion and if I can have my way we win refuse it-let the matter be brought up before the courts and if they order an election we will call It and the taxpayers will not be able to lay the blame on us but on the courts who have ordered us to call the election.
 l suggest that this law. which al lows $50 men to demand that the board call a prohibition election be so amended that it read-only real estate owners should be qualified tC sign-and I will vote for that law
 II have lived here many year, and l strenuOusly object to out siders coming in and stirring uT trouble The man who started that petition does not pay one cent of taxes and the attorney who is repre- senting the signers only pays a Ii brary tax of $1OO.
 "I hope you will let the matter go to the courts.
 Supervisor Stewart glanced at a copy of the petition and remarked
 1 see Une udultS Ol HiSu pu tHAs petition that I know have been out of the county for two years and more.''
 Supervisor Harrington suggested that they cheek off the names and throw out those that are known tc be ineligible. The board and tho attorneys then started in to consider each and every name on the petition
 According to the filers of the peti tion the largest proportion of sign CTS come from Verde, Skull Valley and Walnut Creek, the Verde they say being almost unanimous. Tn, smallest proportion comes from th' Pres colt district
 After four hours of steady worE spent examining and looking uI every name on the petition it wa, found that there were 353 names or