Arizona republican., 1920-07-07

lawful distribution and allotment of said trucks may be equitably made to our state highway department as con- stitUted under our laws.
 I shall be glad to furnish you any information touching our state high way law that you may desire and beg that you will call upon me at any time for any legal information or interpreta- tions of our law as the legal advisor and chief law officer of the state.
 Very respectfully.
 (Signed) WILEY E. JONES.
 Attorney General.
 We'll Informed Here
 The foreg oing letter was transmitted to the agricultural department which was supposed to know more about the road laws of Arizona than the war de- partment had been able to be, en- crossed as 1t was with the conduct of a great war and the following reply was received from T. H. Mcdonald, chief of the bureau of good roads. MT. Mcdonald, it will be observed, is pos sessed of a familiarity with the good roads legislation of this state which to the attorney general must seem al- most uncanny:
 November 14, 1919. Hon. Wiley F. Jones,
 Attorney General,
 Phoenix, Arizona.
 Dear Sir
 Your letter of October 4 to the Sec retary of War, regarding the distribu- tion of motor trucks, has been referred to me for reply. Also, your letter Of October 31 to me has been received. You take the position, because Sec ton 5123 Inadvertently cited as 512G of the Revised Statutes (thiS section was amended March 19, 1917, Session Laws, page 103) of Arizona, 1913, pro- vides that 25 per cent of the state road tax fund shall be paid out upon the authority and under the direction of the state board of control and the state engineer and that 75 per cent thereof shall be distributed among the several counties according to the amount col 1 lected from each and be paid out upon the authority and under the direction | Of the county board of supervisors of the county and the state engineer, that | the state highway department of Ari- zona may be said to consist of the | state board of directors" with respect to 25 per cent of the above mentioned fund, and the board of supervisors of | each of the fourteen counties with res pect to 75 per cent thereof, the state | engineer merely exercising the func- tions of civil engineer in preparing the plans and aiding in the work car ried out by the boards. It is your view, therefore, that the sending of the | trucks to the state engineer is a denial l of them to the state highway depart ment as created by the Arizona law and that the state engineer is deny ing the lawful and proper use and alIot- ment of them to the board of super visors.
 In a letter of November 27 1916. to the governor of the state, the secretary ! of agriculture referring to the above mentioned and other sections of the Revised Statutes of Arizona with re- spect to road matters, expressed the opinion that the state did not then have state highway department with in the meaning of the federal road act with which you are familiar, because l there was no centralized authority with whom the department could deal and il 1 would be impracticable to attempt to cooperate with the state through sew eral of its departments which have partial authority over road construc- tion. Presumably the governor con- cured in this view, since no reply was made to the suggestion in the depart ment's letter that consideration woulo be given to any argument or briefs which he might wish to submit on the question, and in the act of the state legislature, approved March 8, 1917 (Session Laws, page 24, assenting tc the Federal Aid Road Act,) the state engineer, with the approval of the state | board of control, was expressly author ized to enter into all contracts and | agreements With the United States | government relating to the survey | construction and maintenance of roads under the provisions of said act of l congress, to submit such scheme or program of construction and mainte- nance as may be required by the sec- retary of agriculture, and do all other things necessary fully to carry out the | cooperation and contemplated and pro- | vided by said act. Upon consideration of this statute the secretary of agri- culture, in a letter of March 2S, 1917 l to the governor, held that the state board of control and the stae engi- neer constitute the state highway de partment of the State of Arizona with in the meaning of the Federal Aid RoaC , Act.
 By Section 21 of the Act of Marcf 20, 1917, (Chapter S9, Session Laws page 129), entitled An Act in Relation to the Management and Control c. State Institutions,' the board of con trol was abolished and a commission of state institutions created. The fuI text of the section follows:
 "The board of regents of the
 University of Arizona, the boards
 of education for the government
 and control ot the Normal schools
 of the State of Arizona, the Ari-
 zona stae fair commission the