The Coconino sun., 1920-10-08


 close the door to opportunity, lies with you. The land board of Arizona con- sists of the governor, the secretary of state, the treasurer, the auditor and attorney general. They appoint the land commissioner and they deter mine the land policy.
 Simms Is Responsible.
 Unfortunately, as your governor, have been on the minority on that board, or this vicious leasing system would have been changed ere this. My opponent for governor, now secretary of state, who has been serving on this land board, stands for the present land leasing policy, the results of which have desribed to you. With the sup port of the present treasurer, who is candidate for secretary of state, and the present attorney general, who is a candidate for reelection, they have succeeded in continuing in effect this policy by which few outfits are gob- bling up this rich heritage of yours, and closing the door of opportunity to thousands of new citizens who are coming into this state, at the same time robbing you of the rightful rev. enue which you should be receiving from this source. Is it any wonder, then that these big outfits all over Arizona are fighting me? The men most to blame, however, are those placed in charge of the administration of this great heritage for the benefit of you who own it and who are prov ing unfaithful to their trust.
 l understand that my opponent is accepting full responsibility for this land leasing policy. He could not we'll do otherwise. Since, as a member of the land board, he has gone on record many times in support of it, and since his principal packers in this campaign are the men who have profited by it.
 l here and now, challenge Nit Simms, my opponent for governor, to appear upon any platform with me in this state, at time to be fixed by him, and debate with me this land ques- tion. will state my case against the land board and the land grabbers and let him then justify if he can, the po- sition which he bas taken in their be- half. do not mean to say that will debate this question with some orators hired by Simms or the land grabbers, but l will state my own case, and I. want the people of this state to hear from the lips of my opponent, all he has to say in justification of his course. When they have heard from both of us, am willing to let them judge as to which of us they wish to trust for the next two years.
 He declared the law is all right, but that he is opposed to the wrong inter- pretation and irregular administra- tion of that law by the present land board and land commissioner.
 The governor devoted large part of his address to answering published questions directed at him and other questions handed him during the meet ing.
 One of the questions was: "What is your reason for not vetoeing the land lease law bill, which you are now talking against? 2"
 He said that his reasons were that he believed in the right to lease more than one section, honorably, without the subterfuge up to then employed in getting dummy lessees; that he believ- ed that homesteaders should be per- mitted to lease such lands as they needed, which right was granted in the bill; that he endorsed the bills grant of the right to appeal to the courts from decisions of the state land department.
 The bill corrected certain evils he believed needed correcting, but does not operate as it was intended to op- crate. Though he did not veto the bill he did not sign it, because it was represented to him by the attorney general that if it became law with out his signature it could be repealed later, if desired, through the initia- tive.
 "Why were the Azbill brothers pa- rolled ?" was another question. He ex- plained that they were released dur ing his absence from the state at the request of the warden on order by the secretary of state and that as soon as he returned to the state he reversed the order.
 "Why were Sickles and Bailey, murderers of Ed Duffy, of Williams, not more carefully guarded" The governor said prisoners escap- ed sometimes from any prison. At the time of this escape a guard saw them. The convicts took the chance of being shot. The guard, however, did not shoot. Investigation later de- veloped that this particular guard did not believe in shooting.
 The governor referred to the pres ent efficient administration of all state institutions as compared to the waste and uniformly bad conditions that prevailed in all of them when he. took office. He referred to the fact that the state tax levy has been decreased 121s cents this year.
 During his discussion of the land question, he asked Les Hart, who was in the audience, whether he approved of conditions under which he had to pay $40,000 for the use of l04 sec- tions of land, besides having to pay the lease. He asked who got a part of that $40,000, and said he knew that George Taylor didn't keep it all.
 The governors talk was at all |