Arizona republican., 1922-03-02

| hearing was given senate bills / and
| z, Senator Stoddard's measures for
the reapeal of house bill SO and house
Dill 1S9 OF the regular session, one of
! them a constitutional amendment,
authorizing the state to lend it's cred
1t to irrigation districts and the other
| to give force to the amendment.
House bill SO had been ordered by the
legislature TO be submitted to the
people at a special election last No
vember. On account OF Irregularities
in the legislation. Secretary Hall de-
clined TO prepare the ballots and he
was sustained by the supreme court
in a mandamus action. 1t was ques-
toned whether the bill could be sub
mitted at the coming regular election.
Senator Lines of Graham has in
troduced another bill covering the
same ground as house bill SO.
Orme Opposes n. B. 80
The open hearing was arranged to
give the friends and opponents of
the bill an opportunity to be heard
and there were present representa-
tives from the county chamber OF
commerce and the taxpayers com
mittee. President Michaels OF the
Paradise-verde project was there as
a supporter of the legislation.
The first speech was made by
John p. Orme for eigh years presi-
dent of the Salt River Valley Water
Users association. Mr.. Orme said
that having been a resident of Ari-
zona for forty-five years he would
yield to no man in his zeal for the
welfare of the state. He was there
fore opposing this legislation as ruin
Gus. In his official capacity with
.-.oko- rV~n~~ aCcarfo fi0ya ha had
visited twenty six government pro-
jects and a. large number OF private
ones. Not one of them, he said, had
come nearly within the estimated
cost of their construction and none
Of them could succeed without the
federal government behind it. He
predicted that If the state should un-
dertake to underwrite the bonds OF an
irrigation district under the terms Of
this legislation, say for $2.000,00O or
100000 it would find itself under
the necessity of putting UP three
times as much to save itself as it had
already guaranteed.
In the course OF his remarks Mr..
Orme gave the cost per acre Of the
various projects, that of the Salt
River project being IS per acre. Mr..
Lines Of the committee inquired what
had become the value OF the lands
in consequence OF the project; what
was the rental value? Mr.. Orme re-
piled about SIS. but he said that dur
ing the cotton boom some lands
rented for as much as $50 a year
though in most cases the renters were
unable to pay and If they paid they
had nothing to show for it. Mr..
Michaels said he knew of land which
brought cash rent OF sS5 an acre.
Addresses against the legislation
were made by President Stapiey OF
the County Chamber of Commerce;
Captain Crenshaw Of the Taxpayers
committee: Charles II. Akers, and
several others.
Mr.. Michaels spoke in favor OF the
bill and deprecated that the oppon-
ents had centered their attack upon
the Paradise-Verde project when
there were twenty-one other projects
in the state. Captain Latimer. repre-
senting the farm bureau spoke Wig
orously against the bill. Secretary
Hall only recounted the legal en-
tanglement.
Principle Wrong
Mr.. Robinson and others declared
that the principle involved in the bill
was fundamentally wrong. Others