The Coconino sun., 1923-10-05
HUNTS ARIZONA PLAN
UNDER MICROSCOPE

UNDER MICROSCOPE
The Bisbee Review, staunch demo-
cratic paper prominent in party af-
fairs, has this to say of Gov. Hunts
Arizona plan," under the caption of
What Does Arizona Want 2"
| Governor Hunt appears before the
federal power commission and an
nounces that Arizona will never ratify
the Colorado River pact. Col. e. r.
| Fly, of Yuma, appears the following
day and is confident Arizona will rat
| ify the pact. James p. Grand, of Ari-
zona, wants to construct power de-
velopnlent dam at Diamond Creek;
the California delegation tells the
commission the government should
build at Boulder Canyon.
And the government, through its
chief officials, discusses legislation
"for the benefit" of the west. Sam
Lloyd, the puzzle expert, would prob
ably be stumped if he tried to untan-
gle the Colorado river controversy
We do not know whether or not the
people Of Arizona want the pact rat
flied; we doubt seriously that they
are in favor of the state plunging
head over heels in debt for the pur-
pose of finding out, at the cost Of at
the very least $50,000,0 900, whether or
not Arizona can make a success of the
power business.
One thing is apparent from reading
the proceedings before the federal
power commission: The proposals of
the Arizona delegation were a COM
plete surprise to the people of this
state. The governors committee con-
Quoted its meetings behind closed
doors, it framed its plan without dis
cussing any phase of it publicly, and
the good people of Arizona did not
know, until they read press dispatches
from Washington, that they wanted
to experiment with state-owned pow
er development projects.
Every man who is interested in the
Colorado River question seems to
know positively just what the people
of Arizona want to do, yet there is a
wide divergence of opinion between
these ultra-wise gentlemen. Where
did they get their information as to
what the people of Arizona want done
along the Colorado River
It is loyal and patriotic for Ari-
Zonans to shout that this state has
special rights on the river inasmuch
as so per cent Of the dam sites are
within the boundary of Arizona. But,
shout as loud as we may, there is
one thing that always stands before
this state like stone wall; the clause
in the enabling act, adopted when
statehood was granted, reserving to
the government the ownership and
control of strip along the Colora
do River three miles in width. The
river and all its dam sites may be
within Arizona boundaries, but they
were taken over automatically by the
government when statehood was
granted Arizona. That may have been
an injustice, but it still stands today,
whether right or wrong
1t is a stubborn enemy to fight, that
clause in the enabling act, and It'll
Arizona far more than the
general public realizes. Arizona can
not climb onto a high horse and in
start building dams on
the river of this state, for those dams
would be on federal land; it cannot
vote bonds to go into the power busi-
mess and be assured of any cooper
alton from the government until that
clause in the old enabling act is either
removed or altered. 1t cannot direct
that Arizona shall have the right to
tax all projects on the river in Ari-
zona for those projects would be on
land subject only to federal taxes,
as far from the jurisdiction of tax
bodies in this state as if they were in
We believe the present meeting Of
the federal power commission will ac-
complish great deal in regard to |
the Colorado river. Every conceiv-
able plan for development Of the river
is being presented and discussed in |
detail But we doubt if the ARIZONA |
plan" will receive any encouragement
from the government.
Uncle Sam need not be expected to |
turn the development Of |
the Colorado river over to Arizona, |
or to even consider the plan serious
", particularly because I the state |
ownership plan has not been approx
ed by the people Of Arizona who win |
have to foot the bill, eitner in an un- /
official manner or by a vote Of the
people, And we doubt that Arizona |
is going to rush head over heels to
the polls to saddle such a tremendous |
debt on the shoulders of state that /
already finds large proportion of |
its property holders unable to pay
even their present taxes.