Arizona republican., 1913-03-13
COUNTY BOARDS
 IN CONFERENCE
Maricopa. Pima. Coconino and Yavapai Supervisors Meet to Discuss Matter of Liquidating . Murphy '' Railroad Bond Issues

Conferences with Governor Hunt. with members of the legislature and with the state land commission and q session at the board of trade oc- cupicd the whole of the first day of the supervisors convention on the state land question yesterday. From the time they met in the office of the Maricopa county board of supervisors until they finally adjourned the after noon meeting at the board of trade. the supervisors of Pima, Yavapai, Cuconino and Maricopa were inn mersed in the business of getting data on the situation of the state lands available for the use of the four counties named tO refund the "Mur- phy" railroad bonds. No definite action was taken, although it is quite well known what the nature of the final recommendations will be. The supervisors took it all out in finding as much information as they could so as to be in q position to formulate a set of requests and recommendations to the land commission and the legis- lature relative to the selection and disposition of the million acres granted them under the enabling act.
 4 meeting this morning with Sen ator H. A Davis and his committee on state lands from the senate will be one of the most important events of the day Following that will be more conferences with men who know about the land situation and probably another and final meeting at which the work will be cleaned up.
 The matter on which the discussion rages is that of the selection and manner of sale of a million acres of state land granted to the four cOun- ties under section of the enabling act This land was granted to be used to pay the interest and prin- cipal of certain bonds which were is sued for building railroads and which have never been paid. It is notable and somewhat explanatory of the zeal of the supervisors in this matter that MaricOpa's bonds take approXi- mately $10,00O a year out of the treasury for interest. The bonds were validated by congress while N. o. Murphy was delegate in congress for Arizona. Consequently they are some times known as the Murphy bonds
 " the bonds. the supervisors of the va rious counties expected that imme- diate relief from the payment of in- terest on the bonds would ensue The matter has dragged along until now, the desire for a settlement has crystalized into the conference of members of the boards of supervisors of the four counties. Maricopa, Pima, Yavapai and Coconino.
 While the state land commission attacked the situation last fall they did not succeed in setting aside any particular lands to be used in paying stipulated in the enabling act that no agricultural land should be sold for less than $25 an acres or in more than 160 acre tracts. Grazing land similarly must fetch at least $3 an acre for tracts not exceeding $40 acres There is an element in the senate that seems opposed to the sale of any public lands. The impending laws preventing the sale of public land were part of the reason for the hurried calling together of the su- pervisors The boards want some way provided so they can sell the land that the commission may de- signate so as to take up the bonds
 Those who attended the meetings were Harry Heap, Yavapai; w. B. Coberly and J. w. Estill of Pima; P. M Shafer of COcOninO, and Moeur, Orme and Luke of MaricOpa