ARIZONA. 



ARKANSAS. 



this great storage reservoir will cost, it is esti- 

 mated, about $2,500,000. 



Mining. It is stated that Arizona led in the 

 increase in copper production in 1898. A St. 

 Louis dispatch in June said that a company just 

 incorporated has a claim in Pima County on 

 which is a hill 225 feet high, that by actual meas- 

 urement shows 3,500,000 cubic yards of copper, 

 gold, and silver ores, or about 8,000,000 tons. 



Great activity has been shown in the copper 

 districts this year, and one estimate placed the 

 probable product as high as $13,000,000, with 

 half that amount in gold and silver. Among the 

 important copper districts are Clifton, Jerome, 

 Bisbee, and Globe, and new properties are devel- 

 oping in the vicinity of Tucson. 



In November it was reported that a rich bed 

 of porphyry and porphyritic schist carrying gold 

 and silver had been discovered in Placerita gulch 

 in the northern part of the Territory, and that 

 several samples of a 46-foot cut across the cleav- 

 age of the schist showed an average of $4 to $8 

 per ton, while in other places averages of shafts 

 and pits showed values of more than $12 a ton. 



About the same time much excitement was 

 caused by the discovery of great beds of plati- 

 num in the Cataract creek country. Gold and 

 aluminum are also found there. The principal 

 claims are about 40 miles from Williams, and 

 that town was said to be almost depopulated, 

 while the road between was swarming with con- 

 veyances of every kind. 



The Territorial Geologist says: "Arizona shows 

 the occurrence of several of the rarer minerals, 

 such as vanadinite, wolframite, and hiibnerite, in 

 quantities sufficient for commercial exploitation. 

 An important development of the turquoise in- 

 dustry has been commenced at Turquoise moun- 

 tain, in Mohave County. Ancient Aztec work- 

 ings have been cleaned out, and hundreds of pre- 

 historic implements have been found. The Ter- 

 ritory contributes to the list of beautiful gems 

 in addition to turquoise. The peridotes are highly 

 valued and in greater demand; so also the ruby- 

 like garnets of the Navajo country. The onyx 

 of Yavapai County has not lost its beauty or its 

 measure of appreciation." 



Legislative Session. The Legislature met 

 Jan. 16, and adjourned March 16. Morris Gold- 

 water was President of the Council, and Henry F. 

 Ashurst Speaker of the House. There were 4 

 Republican and 8 Democratic members of the 

 Council, and the House was composed of 11 Re- 

 publicans and 13 Democrats. Including the gen- 

 eral appropriation bill, 69 acts were passed. 



A new county, Santa Cruz, was created from 

 the eastern part of Pima County, making the 

 whole number of counties 13. 



An act abolishing the Loan Commission was 

 vetoed, but passed over the veto. The Immigra- 

 tion Commission also was abolished, and the 

 boards of supervisors of first-class counties may 

 appoint commissioners of immigration. Another 

 act abolished the Board of Equalization. 



A residence of six months in the Territory was 

 made a condition for a voter, and poll taxes must 

 be paid before registration. 



The Governor was authorized and directed to 

 appoint, within tAventy days after the passage 

 of the act, a commission consisting of three com- 

 petent lawyers, not more than two of whom 

 should be of the same political party, to revise 

 the laws of the Territory, eliminating all " crude, 

 useless, imperfect, and contradictory matter." 



To encourage the building of railroads a meas- 

 ure was passed exempting them from taxation 

 for ten years. Canals and reservoirs constructed 



for irrigation and manufacturing were also ex- 

 empted. 



Other important bills were for taxation of in- 

 surance companies and for regulation of the ac- 

 knowledgment of deeds and the release of mort- 

 gages. The militia law was repealed. 



Memorials to Congress were adopted, asking 

 for an appropriation of $20,000 for building a 

 dam on Gila river, for increase of legislators' 

 pay from $4 to $8, and for statehood. 



Other acts were: 



For compulsory school attendance. 



Regulating homestead exemptions. 



Amending the prize-fight law. 



To lower the interest on Territorial warrants. 



Providing for free libraries and reading rooms 

 in municipalities. 



Making privileged certain communications to 

 physicians and surgeons. 



Fixing the age of consent at sixteen. 



For the protection of the American flag. 



To encourage prospecting, and fixing assayers' 

 rates. 



ARKANSAS, a Southern State, admitted to 

 the Union June 15, 1836; area, 53,850 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 97,574 in 1840; 

 209,897 in 1850; 435,450 in 1860; 484,471 in 1870; 

 802,525 in 1880; and 1,128,179 in 1890. By esti- 

 mates based on the school census of 1897 it was 

 1,302,185 in that year. Capital, Little Rock. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Daniel W. 

 Jones; Secretary of State, Alexander C. Hull; 

 Treasurer, Thomas E. Little; Auditor, Clay 

 Sloan; Attorney-General, Jefferson Davis; Su- 

 perintendent of Education, J. J. Doyne; Com- 

 missioner of Mines, Manufactures, and Agricul- 

 ture, Frank Hill; Railroad Commissioners, ap- 

 pointed in March, Robert Neill, J. G. Wallace, 

 Henry W. Wells; Mine Inspector, Robert Boyd; 

 Land Commissioner, J. W. Colquitt; Inspector 

 of Wines, Carl A. Starck; Board of Charities, 

 S. H. Davidson, T. H. Matthews, J. J. Thomas, 

 J. W. Meeks, G. M. Heard, succeeded in March 

 by G. L. Basham, and J. G. B. Simms, succeeded 

 by W. A. Jeffers; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court. Henry G. Bunn; Associate Justices, Simon 

 P. Hughes, C. D. Wood, Burrill B. Battle, and 

 James E. Riddick; Clerk, P. D. English all 

 Democrats. 



Valuations and Finances. The amount of 

 taxable property in the State, exclusive of Crit- 

 tenden County, is $176,423,418. Crittenden Coun- 

 ty's total in 1898 was $2,089,025. This indicates an 

 increase of about $1,000,000. The value of real 

 property is $118,718,357; of personal, $57,705,061. 



The rate of taxation, as fixed by the Legisla- 

 ture for this year and the next, for State pur- 

 poses, is 5J mills, an increase of three quarters of 

 a mill. Of this, 2| mills are for general purposes, 

 2 mills for schools, and a quarter mill for pen- 

 sions. The necessity for the other mill is ex- 

 plained by the Auditor as follows : " First, our, 

 agreement and solemn pledge made to the United 

 States Government to pay her $160,000 within 

 the next year, as the balance on our debt found 

 due to the Government and duly acknowledged 

 by act of Legislature of 1897; and, second, since 

 the Legislature had passed the funding act, call- 

 ing in all old bonds which bear 6 per cent, for 

 exchange for new bonds bearing 3 per cent., it 

 was certainly nothing more than common ordi- 

 nary honesty to provide a fund out of which the 

 interest on the new issue could be promptly and 

 fully paid when due, which will be done out of 

 balance of one-mill sinking-fund tax after paying 



