Opening Message to the Arizona Legislature From the Governor / State of the State Address

              Message
OF
Geo. W. P. Hunt
GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA
TO THE
FIRST LEGISLATURE
OF THE
STATE OF ARIZONA
MESSAGE
OF
Geo. W. P. Hunt
GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA
TO THE
FIRST LEGISLATURE
OF THE
STATE OF ARIZONA
MARCH 18. 1912
Message of Gov. Geo. W. P. Hunt
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives of the
First Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Grateful to Almighty God for the political liberty which has
come to us; grateful for the spirit of American independence
through which that liberty has been preserved to us; proud of the
Arizona record which has preceded and led to this hour, and grateful
for the privilege of participating in its momentous, never- to · · be- for­gotten
events, I greet you, the chosen representatives of the people
of the sovereig, J1 State of Arizona. Likewise a servant and repre­sentative
of the people, and your fellow worker, I greet you, and
in the name of the State welcome you to these legislative halls, not
only conscious that JTour presence will grace them, but confid() nt
that your deliberations will be marked by an order of intelligence
so high and a patriotism so pure as to serve as a worthy model for
the legislators who, in years to come, and through our common­wealth's
varying fortunes, will occupy the seats you now adorn.
In compliance with the law's direction, and in conformity with
long established custom, I have the honor, as Governor, to herewith
submit to you my report upon the condition of the State, and to
respectfully recommend, in connection therewith, such legislation
as to me seems to be warranted, and as I believe will inure to the
benefit and happiness of the people we jointly represent..
It is fitting, first of all, that I should congratulate you, and
through you, the faithful, loyal citizens of Arizona, that the seem­ingly
endless struggle for recognition as a sovereign common­wealth{
has finally come to a successful, triumphant end; that the
persistent, determined efforts of Arizona's yeomanry have at last
been crowned with splendid victory.
I need not recite the story of that heroic, unequal struggle,
nor count anew the years of its duration. I need not turn again the
pages of that painful history, marred by calumny and slander,
marked with falsehood, written in ignorance, ended in a political
party's shame. These things we would, if we could, forget; but I
4 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
cannot pass without a tribute to the unfaltering courage, the
unequalled devotion, the splendid faith, which distinguished the
soldiers who fought, these dark and dreary years, Arizona's forlorn
fight; who bravely bore their beloved banner, while the future
seemed only to spell despair; who, by their exalted example,
moulded the Arizona character and brought to her name immortal
fame. I can not pass without a tribute to those heroes, tried by nre,
whose honor and bravery and bulldog, tenacity have left their indel­ible
impress upon the Arizona, aye the American mind, for the
present and for future generations. I glory in the fact that the
impress of this dauntless people's greatness- greatness of mind, of
heart and of soul- is upon you, their chosen representatives, and
that their unfaltering adherence to principle is reflected in your
selection and inscribed across the face of the commissions you
bear- given you to still further advance the cause of humanity and
of progress-- the cause in which Arizona, of all the States of the
Union, is today the leader.
A great and grave responsibility faces this youngest of the
Nation's commonwealths. I doubt not that you gentlemen- inas­much
as most of you were active and prominent in the incidents
which brought it about-- have a full realization of that responsibil­ity's
magnitude, and without respect to partisan affiliation or
thought of partisan advantage, will measure up to the standard re­quired
for its faithful discharge.
From a position of comparative obscurity Ari7.0na has emerged
into the spotlight of unequalled prominence. From the post of a
pitiful beggar, long scorned, and reviled and winked at, she has
stepped forth a royal heiress, a queen whose every subject is a
sovereign; from the rank of a distant and little regarded province,
her station has become that of a leader of men and of States- aye,
more, the leader of a mighty and irresistible movement, the chief
exponeJ:. lt of an imperishable principle.
T; h. e government of Arizona, as founded upon the Constitution
which the people have ratified, is the very embodiment of popular
government. It is the most definite expression ever pronounced
by man, of a social and political organization in which every citizen
is the equal before the law of every other, and government is truly
by consent of the governed. Born in a day when the encroach­ments
of predatory wealth have strained the endurance of the
masses near to the point of breaking, it appeared as' a flaming signal
in the night, lighting the way to an almost unhoped- for deliverance.
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE. 5
It gave strength to millions of faltering feet, life to countless flag­ging
spirits, courage to the despondent, fresh vigor to the weary..
It placed upon its makers- the people of Arizona- at once a solemn
duty and a momentous responsibllity. With the eyes of th~ world
upon them, it is for the people of Arizona to vindicate their claim
that all power may with safety be vested in the governed; it is for
them to demonstrate the practicability, the advisability, the wisdom
of genuine government of, for and by the people. An estimate can ·
not be made of this responsibility's immensity-- not for any fear
the friends of popular government may feel for its outcome, but
rather for the stupendous results to widespread mankind, hanging
on the outcome of the trial.
Upon you, today, this responsibility is concentrated. You are
the people's representatives. You have the people's commission
to awaken the provisions of the Arizona Constitution into life; to
give definiteness to its principles and intelligent direction to its
purposes; to build upon its strong foundation a structure of
beauty and symmetry and utility.. Your responsibility is not lessen­ed
because your duties are so clearly defined'- it is rather enhanced
by the fact that you are expected to visit upon the varying views
your minds may hold and to which the spoken word or written page
may give expression, such careful scrutiny that not one may find
favor except it breathe the spirit of the People's Rule.
My charge is to all of you, Republicans and Democrats alike,
for I know you are all inspired by the same love of country and
State, the same patriotism, the same lofty motive for the sacrifice
of time involved in your attendance here; but I want to say to the
Democratic members of this legislative body, that upon your
shoulders rests the lion's share of the burden. You are the ones
whose pledges touched the Arizona chord of human sympathy;
you are the representatives of the party which made and into whose
charge and keeping has been entrusted the Constitution of our
State; your overwhelming majority, expressive of the people's ap­proval
of Democratic achievement and popular confidence in Demo­cratic
sincerity, affords you full power to crystallize into intelligent
law the people's will; upon you and upon the party whose colors
you fly will be visited the people's approbation or condemnation.
You can not shirk, or evade, or minimize the responsibility you have
; nor, on the other hand, can the glory it is in your reach
win be dimmed by the sophistries of cunning foes.
I have perfect faith in your ability, your conscientiousness,
6 (} OVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
and determination I have entire confidence that you will carry
your commissions back to the people of your respective counties
discharged of every item. I promise you that you will find in me
a ready and an enthusiastic co- operator-- in some measure. I trust,
an aid. Laboring thus in the common cause and for a common pur­pose,
I venture the prediction that the conclusion of your labors
will mark the beginning, of an era of public hopefulness, confidence
and enthusiasm far exceeding the brightest dreams vouchsafed in
the past to . Arizona's optimistic, unconquerable pioneers"
OONDITION OFTRE STATE.
In natural resources and the possession of patent possibilities,
AJ.- izona is bounteously blessed. Her acres are broad and fertile,
her mountains and streams rich with mineral wealth; her forests
are well- nigh virgin; her skies are blue; her climate as of another
Italy; her balmy air bears health on its never receding wave; her
people are honest, hardy, self- reliant, brave, Thus endowed, all
things are possible to the forty- eighth State of the Union" What­ever
of ills there may be--- industrial, financial or social-- there is
that wherewith to right them; and with all these assets to show
against the liabilities of fast passing handicaps, I feel justified in
reporting to you that the condition of the State is good"
Recent reports from almost all sections bring the news of
bounteous rains with which to gladden the hearts of husbandmen,
and remove the fear of a season of drouth from the minds of the
stockmen" The metal markets of the world give impetus to one of
. Arizona's greatest industries by announcing the steadily rising
price of copper, a condition which will doubtless remedy the slight
falling off, during the past year, in the production of this mineral
which finds its natural habitat in our wealth- laden hills, and occa­sion
renewed activity on the part of prospectors, developers and
promoters, and reawakened confidence on the part of investors.
The completion of one of the world's greatest irrigation sys­tems,
insuring an abundant supply of life- giving water for the fer­tile
acres of the Salt River Valley; the approaching completion of
another, or its kind unparalleled in the Union, giving like assur­ance
to the favored farmers of Yuma Valley; the ope: ling of the
Parker Indian Reservation and the allotment and reclamation of
the splendid body of land inclnded therein; the promising prospect
of similar development on a scale of great magnitude in Pinal
County; the development of artesian wells in San Simon and Sul-
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE, 7
phur Springs Valleys in the south, and Verde Valley in the north,
and scores of other projects of greater or lesser magnitude, and
widely distributed over the State, for the impounding and storage
of water, combine to give certainty to the belief that Arizona will
soon take her place as the chief agricllltural section of the Union,
and that her cities and towns, keeping pace with rural advancement,
will grow and expand and develop into mighty centers of popula­tion,
Add to these proofs of material prosperity, the fact that
during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, three new banks opened
their doors, and that the Bureau of Vital Statistics reports an in­crease
of 383 in the birthrate of native Arizonans, including forty­seven
pairs of twins and four sets of triplets, and you will not
wonder that I am delighted to report that the State gives evidence
of excelling in many directions and industries"
As to the public institutions of the State, I can only report in a
general way, as it has not been possible for me to give to the various
institutions, as yet, the critical examinations they should have, and
concerning which I shall have more to say hereafter, For such
information as they afford, I refer you to the reports of the various
officials and superintendents, for thE' fiscal year ended June 30,
1911.
Thus discharging that mandate which imposes upon me the
duty of reporting to you as to the condition of the State, whose
laws you are charged with writing, I beg to respectfully submit for
your consideration and disposition, the following recommenda­tions:
RECALL OF THE JUDICIARY.
Your first legislative act should be the enactment, for submis­sion
to the people at the next regular election, of an amendment to
the Constitution providing for the recall of judicial officers, who,
by Presidential requirement, were formally excepted from the pro­visions
of the Recall article,
In unmistakable terms the people of Arizona have twice de­clared
their belief in the righteousness of the power to discharge,
through the medium of the Recall, dishonest and unfaithful public
servants, Twice, in this connection, they have declared their oppo­sition
to the elevation of the judiciary into a privileged class, their
opposition to the creation of a law which holds the judge to be
something more than human. But their wishes were set at naught
by a President's unwillingness to yield a prejudice, so they wisely
8 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
yielded temporarily a principle, secure in the knowledge that with
Statehood once attained, and with the Initiative at their command,
they would have it in their hands to restore to the Constitution the
power so rudely taken away.. The Democratic party promised to
carry this evident intention and obvious desire into effect, and it
becomes your duty to promptly and faithfully fulfill that promise...
Do not alter the Recall as it was approved by the people of Arizona,
by the transposition of a sentence, the remoulding of a phrase, or
the substitution of a word. Give it a trial just as it was. Return
to the people that which was unfairly and arbitrarily taken from
them. Then add, if you will, a section in which the people may
express their desire, should occasion require, for the recall or resig­nation
of the State's federal judiciary, anJ for its Senators and
Representatives in Congress.
ANTI- LOBBYING LAW.
As I stated upon the occasion of my inauguration as Governor,
I hope to see your second act the serving of notice upon all the
representatives of Special Interests, and interests of any nature
or description, that secret lobbying, which has too frequently pros­tituted
legislative bodies and brought shame to legislators, is dead
in Arizona. A. mandate of the Constitution places upon you the
duty of guarding by la. w against secret lobbying, and I have no
doubt you will comply with that mandate. But pending the enact­ment
of such a law and its formal approval, I think you should
by joint resolution declare that no lobbying will be permitted ex­cept
it take the legitimate form of public hearings before properly
constituted committees of the Legislature, participated in only by
properly registered agents, who are willing to set forth the com­pany,
the individual or the cause they represent. Individual or
private lobbying should be denounced and prohibited, and by the
rules of your body, a violation of such prohibition visited with
summary punishment of the member offending or permitting the
offense. Thus will necessary and legitimate efforts on behalf of
any just and proper cause be dignified, the self- respect of the legis'
lators insnred, and the decency of the State protected.
INVESTIGATION VS. JUNKETING.
It has been the custom durin~ many sessions of the Arizona
Legislature, to expend a week of valuable time and no little money
in what came to be known as junketing- in so- called investigations.
by legislative committees, of the various institutions of the Terri..
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
tory. Many of you are as familiar with the result of these visits
as I am, and remember them best for the social pleasures they af­forded,
and the opportunities they gave for enjoyable outings" In
the belier that you are here for work- that you realize the limita­tion
of time which confronts you and the need for the exercise of
the strictest economy consistent with the performance of your du­tieS,
I recommend the abandonment of this junketing custom; the
devotion of the time thus saved to the moulding, of needed legisla­tion,
and the utilization of the funds which have heretofore been
so expended in an expert investigation of the State's institutions
by competent examiners,
There is in my possession at this time sufficient information
and data to convince me of the urgent need of such an investiga­tion.
It is apparent that in several of the institutions there is a
glaring lack of business system, while the utter absence of the
uniformity of the handling of accounts prevents anything like an
adequate audit., It is not my purpose to suggest that there have
been improper transactions to the advantage of any individual,
nor have I any reason whatever to believe that such is the case;
Lut I assert that there have been, and under the system, or lack of
system, in vogue, there still are many and frequent opportunities
for graft, while the leaks which all competent business men exert
themselves to avoid are going on daily, I am glad to say that not
a few of these l~ aks hav~ been stopped, but pending an expert in­vestigation
and the installation of modern methods in the conduct
of the State's varied business, it will be impossible to establish
anything, like perfect order out of what has been little short of
chaos. To do itself and the public justice, the present administra­tion
must be accurately informed, in detail, of the conditions which
have prevailed, and now prevail in the different State institutiollS
and departments, and to this end I ask for authorization to pro­ceed
with such an investigation as is here suggested
POPULAR ELEOTIONS.
You are cognizant of the duty imposed upon you by the Con­stitut,
ion of the United States, to choose by joint- ballot two Sen­ators
to represent our State in Congress, and I assume that you
have perfect knowledge of, and are in hearty accord with the
spirit and purpose of the instruction under which you will carry
out the law.. The people of Arizona, by means of the direct pri­mary
or advisory vote, expressed their preference for United States
Senators by naming the Hon Henry F, Ashurst of Prescott, and the
10 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE,
Hon. M. A. Smith of Tucson. Their formal ejection by you is of
course assured.
It will be one of your duties, as well, to provide by law for the
selection of Senators in like manner hereafter; and no less a duty,
I think', to give recognition to the people's desire, as reflected in
the Democratic platform, for the chooRing by popular vote of dele­gates
to the National Conventions, and the expression by direct
primary of the people's preference for Presidential candidates.
CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATES.
There are numerous mandates of the Constitution which it is
your duty to observe, and which I have no doubt will be accorded
prompt consideration. Only through the medium of the laws
thus indicated and directed, can many of the Constitution's most
important and most beneficent provisions be given life and potency"
It is your duty to carefully see that each such law faithfully carries
out the intent of the Constitution makers, and reflects the spirit
of the demand which brought these mandatory provisions into ex­istence,
I shall not refer to many of these mandates in detail,
inasmuch as the Constitution sets them forth with all necessary
particularity; nor shall I attempt any definite reference at all ex­cept
to those certain ones which I deem to be most vitaL
INITIATIVE, REFERENDUlVI AND RECALL.
The Initiative, Referendum and Recall being the groundwork
and foundation of Arizona's system of popular government, should
be strengthened, and, as far as possible, simplified by statutes,
showing by item and without ambiguity the steps necessary to be
taken to invoke either of these powers reserved to the people, in­suring
proper publicity of all proposed laws or proceedings, and
otherwise giving full effect and practicability to the Initiative,
Referendum and Recall articles of the Constitution,
SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS.
Next, if not equal in importance, is the enactment of laws to
carry into effect the several mandates having to do with suffrage
and elections, and I earnestly add to the Constitution's instructions
my recommendation of laws which will insure the purity and fair­ness
of the ballot, at both general and primary elections; prevent
discrimination against and injustice to any candidate or candidates;
guarantee an honest count, and put a stop, if possible, to all sys-
tems of campaigning tending to debauch the electorate and bring
dIscredit and disgrace upon the highest of all American privileges.
This system should include a most comprehensive and stringent
Corrupt Practices Act, carefully desIgned, by means of adequate
before- and after- election publicity requirements, and otherwise, to
guard against the employment of large sums of money in the nom­ination
or election of candidates desirable to great financial in­terests.
It should provide effective machinery whereby all forms
of bribery, both large and small, and intimidation and fraud may
be reached and punished. It should provide an up- to- date plan of
registration, guarded against the many irreg1llarities heretofore
practiced. In order that the direct nrimary method of nominating
candidates may be relieved of a criticism which is now properly
directed against it, electors should be required to register their
party affiliation, or the lack of such affiliation, and prohibited
from participating in the primary of any but their own designated
party. Cases have been known when large numbers of voters, act­ing
under the instructions of cunning bosses, have been " loaned"
to an opposing party for the purpose of influencing the nomination
of undesirable or weak candidates, thereby defeating the aim of the
primary law, which is to insure the nomination of those candidates
whose attainments make them the choice of the larger number of
their respective parties.. The direct primary system of nominations
is an essential feature of government by the people, but in State
affairs, at least, where party competition is a necessary incentive
for the exercise of care in discharging governmental functions, the
adherents of each party should be protected in the selection of their
standard bearers from the machinations of shrewd manipulators of
an opposing political faith In this, and in all other respects, the
primary law should be made simple, workable, fair and efficient.
In line with the best progressive thought of the times, the
headless ballot, somewhat similar to that now designated by the
Arizona Primary Law, should be adopted for use in general elec­tions,
and in order that equal advantage may be given to each
candidate, regardless of the alphabetical order in which his name
might appear, there should be systematic rotation upon the ballot,
without distinction to party affiliations. Thus, for example, would
!' Z", a Republican candidate for Sheriff, find himself at the head
of the list of aspirants for that office an equal number of times as
" A", the Democratic candidate.
The qualifications of electors should be definitely fixed, and
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE. 11
12 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
the rights of . Arizona citizens so protected as to never admit the
possibility of a repetition of the outrage visited upon them by the
terms of the Enabling Act, when thousands, qualified under the
statutes, were denied the privilege of voting..
With the regulation of registration, and the purity of the ballot
properly safeguarded, I would recommend the repeal of the so­called
educational qualification law now upon the statutes. This
law, well meant, as it doubtless was, and intended as a means of
checking wholesale bribery, has been found in the slight practice
it has had- chiefly in municipal elections- to be susceptible of
serious abuses at the hands of partisan registering officers and elec­tion
boards. Under its operation, the arbitrary powers vested in
these officials are so broad and so susceptible of prejudiced con­struction
as to invite partisan discrimination and bring what
seems to me to be deserved criticism upon its authority.
A VOTE FOR EVERY MAN.
A subject I would mention also under the head of Suffrage
and Elections, and one I deem worthy of careful consideration,
relates to the inability, under the present law, of citizens of the
State, whose necessary business or employment takes them away
from their precinct or county on election day, to vote. This is
suggested chiefly by the nature of the employment in which rail­way
trainmen are engaged, and in behalf of this class of citizens,
even though no others were concerned, I would suggest and recom­mend
a law which will protect their right of suffrage. I am well
aware that such a law must be drafted with great care and sur­rounded
with numerous safeguards, in order to prevent abuse of
the ballot, but it occurs to me that a form of certificate might be
issued by the county officiaJs having the Great Registers of the
respective counties under their charge, to be also signed by the
Judge of the Superior Court and the Chairman of the Board of
Supervis~ rs, setting forth the name and the description of the
voter, the cnaracter of his employment, and fill such data as may
be : r; equired by the registration laws, and the necessity for such
transfer, and that upon such certificate he might be permitted to
vote, for State and National officers only, in whichever county, by
reason of his employment, election day finds him. For the use
of such voters a separate ballot containing only the names of
didates for State and National offices should be provided.
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
EQUAL SUFFRAGE.
13
A very great percentage of Arizona's citizens, both men and
women, of varying political faiths, apparently distributed through
every social sphere and numbering the followers of all the callings
and professions, are in favor of equal suffrage. Just what their
percentage, or whether it constitutes a majority of the people, I
cannot say, but it appears to me that the movement is amply rep­resentative
to demand, in fairness and justice, the right to a decid­ing
vote. Whatever the views of any individual may be, as to the
merits or demerits of female suffrage, if a majority of the people
desire to extend the privilege of the ballot to women, they have
the right to do so. This is the basic principle of the theory of
popular government, to which Arizona is wedded, and to the insur­ing
of which the majority party in the State is pledg, ed,. I therefore
recommend that you submit to a vote of the people, at the next
regular election, a constitutional amendment extending the suf ·
frage franchise to women, and venture the belief that if this great
privilege be extended the State's high standard of intelligence will
in no wise suffer thereby.
PUBLICATION OF STOCKHOLDERS.
A powerful influence in the determination of public questions
is exerted by the newspapers. Their messages of publicity, speak.
ing day by day and week by week, to every voter in the land,
possess 11 limitless power for good or evil. It is a deplorable and
ominous fact that many of the largest newspapers of the country,
possessed of the widest circulations and the most ably edited, are
owned, directly or indirectly, openly or silently- but generally the
latter- by special interests, and maintained for questionable pur­poses.
The power of these newspapers is little or great, as the
people are informed or ignorant of the personnel of their owners,
and I urge the passage of a law requiring each newspaper in Ari..
zona to publish in every issue a full and complete list of its own­ers,
stockholders and holders of its securities in whatever form
they Imay exist.
STATE AND SCHOOL LANDS.
A mandate of very great importance is that contained in Sec­tion
10, Article X, of the Constitution, concerning the disposition
of State and school lands, and your very particular attention is di­rected
to its requirements, and to the matters which naturally ac­company
it.
14 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
DudeI' the terms of the Enabling Act, Arizona is the grantee
of an immense area of the unappropriated public domain, amount­ing
in round figures to more than five millions of acres, which lands
are to be devoted to certain specific uses, Approximately one- half
of this grant is for the benefit of the State's common school sys · ·
tern, while the balance is so divided as to form the foundation of
separate funds for the various State institutions- educational, re­formatory,
penal and charitable. In dollars and cents this in­heritance
represents an immense fortune for the State, In the
possibilities its wise and judicious handling will present, it means
advantages for the present and succeeding generations which can­not
be estimated" I trust that the laws you will enact, to regulate
and direct the disposition to be made of these lands, will embody
the ideas of true conservation, and while affording, every possible
legitimate encouragement for the reclamation of the State's barren
stretches, will prohibit and prevent the squandering of the State's
rich patrimony.
The law should be drafted with thought of the numerous oppor­tunities
there are in Arizona for the development or impounding of
water, and that only water is needed to make the waste places
bloom. The law should make due allowance and provision for the
probability that the State will wish, as a business proposition, to
reclaim or assist in the reclaiming of its stretches of arid lands, and
the building of homes where now only ~' olitude dwells,
Your attention is called to the fact that these State lands have
not yet been selected, and to the immensity and importance of the
unclertaking. Under the terms of the Enabling Act, it is the duty
of the Governor, Attorney- General and Surveyor- General, or some
officer clothed with the functions of the Surveyor- General, La make
such selection" You are aware that the State bas no Surveyor­General,
but that defect may be easily overcome by clothing the
State Engineer with the powers of the Surveyor- General, and in the
interest of economy I recommend that legislation be enacted to that
end,. It is obvious, however, that owing to the multiplicity of duties
already incumbent upon the officers named, the immensity of the
task comprehended in the selection of five milhons of acres of land,
and the vital importance of the most careful inspection, to the end
that wise and judicious choice may be made, justice cannot be done
the State's interests without other and additional provision. I
therefore recommend the creation of a Commission to consist of the
three officers specified in the Enabling Act, and at least one other
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE 15
member, the additional member or members so authorized to receive
a salary commensurate vvith the importance of the duties If de­sired,
this Commission could be clothed not only with authority
to make selection of the State's lands, but with authority to dis­pose
by sale or lease, in accordance with the provisions of the law,
of the lands so selected
I recommend that a fund be created to enable the Commission
having under its charge the selection of these lands, to make such
investigation as may reveal the whereabouts of deposits of water,
oil or gas, feasible sites for water storage or other physical
features tending to enhance the value of the areas adjacent thereto
or affected thereby- to prospect, in short, for the choicest portions
of the unappropriated domain, and then, by judicious legislation,
to prevent the squandering of these rich lands or their grabbing
by the sharks who may always he found in the wake of every well-provisioned
ship.
By means of a law which will combine the wise requirements
of the Enabling Act with a far- seeing policy of development and
conservation, the State- and particularly its cducational fund- ­may
be greatly enriched, and I bespeak your most earnest consider­ation
of the subject.
IRRIGA. TION LAWS.
The era of development upon which Arizona is entering re­quires
modern machinery for the working out of her great agri­cultural
and irrigational problems Some of these problems, as
some already have, may be solved by National aid; I trust that
means will be found by which the State, in the development of its
areas of granted lands, may solve others; but still others, simple
and fem:; ible, should be solved by private ~ nterprise, under the
operation of district irrigation laws similar to the best approved of
such laws in force in other States of the so- called arid west I
urge you to consider this question carefully.
EDUCATION.
Education is at high tide in Arizona The percentage of illit­eracy
is ~ mall. Our institutions of learning, from the Universitv
to the common schools, would do credit to any State in the Unio~
But there are opportunities for great advancement still, and ad­vancement
in education will insure advancement all along the line.
I therefore charge you to give careful thought to the subject of edn-
16 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
cation, to the encouragement of the institutions where the youth
of Arizona are being fitted to solve the problems which will come
to them in the battle of life, and to further strengthen the system
which is the greatest bulwark of human liberty- the common
schools.
FREE BOOKS.
I am convinced that a great impetus would be given to educa­tion,
and its privileges spread over a far greater area, if the State,
or each of the counties of the State, would supply text books free
or at a nominal cost. As the matter now lies) many poor families
are compelled to seriously cramp themselves in order to supply the
required text books for their children, or to suffer humiliation by
declaring themselves paupers. More frequently than otherwise
the children of these poor parents go without tlll' books needed for
their schooling, and thus lose the benefits of a system which is osten · ·
sibly maintained for the benefit of all alike, The seriousness of this
situation is intensified by the circumstance of all- too- frequent
changes of text books and the exorbitant prices charged for them
Should the State supply free text books, either by publication or
by contract purchase in large quantities, it stands to reason that
they would be more uniform, changed less frequently and cost but
a fraction of the prices now charged for them,
AGRICULTURAL SCHOOl. S.
The time has arrived, I think, when more particular attention
than it has heretofore enjoyed, should be given to the subject of
technical education along the lines suggested by our State's chief
industries- agriculture and mining, and particularly the former
The University of Arizona, to be sure, maintains most excellent
mining and agricultural colleges, with several experiment stations
in different localities' reinforcing the agricultural college, but the
possibilities and influence of the imtitution might be w! onderfully
increased at little cost, At present there are no feeders to the
agricultural college- in other words, no preparatory schools, such
as the' high schools afford for other courses of college study.. I
would therefore recommend the extension of agricultural class
work into the high schools of the State, by means of a State en­dowment,
small in amount at first, but sufficient to encourage the
establishment of agricultural class work in such high schools as
shall qualify to receive it. By means of such a course of study,
the greatest possible number of students throughout the State
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE 17
would be reached at an impressionable age, in their own agricul­tural
localities, and with least cost to themselves and the State.
Thus would the high schools more fully serve as feeders to
the State University, by qualifying students for the collegiate
course in agriculture and possibly, if you deem it expedient, in
mining as well, as they do now in the other branches, I can think
of no more effective way in which the University can be strength.
ened and enabled to maintain high standards of scholarship, and to
render the maximum service.
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR UNIVERSITY.
I deplore the policy which has heretofore been pursued of
building the State's greatest educational institution on a crazy­quilt
patchwork scheme From year to year, or from period to
period, as the requirements of the University dictated, and as the
necessary appropriations could be secured, buildings- generally
of a cheap and unsubstantial character- have been added to the
plant, apparently with no definite id() 3 for the future" I realize
the impossibility which has existed, and which now exists, of erect ·
ing at one time all, or even a considerable portion of the buildings
which will be required for the institution fifty years hence; but I
recommrnd that befor. e any more appropriations are made for im ·
provements, a comprehensive and elaborate plan for a University
not only beautiful but adequate for the needs of a century, be
adopted, With a goal to work to thus established, buildings may
be added from time to time, unit by unit, so placed as to fit appro­priately
into the finished scheme, so designed as to harmonize archi­tecturally
with those surrounding it and to come after, so con­structed
as to endure for ages This is the modern method of
systematic g, rowth by which the world's greatest institutions of
learning are being developed Whether view'ed from the stand­point
of economy, efficiency or architectural superiority, it is the
proper plan,
REVENUE AND TAXATION.
Of serious moment, and one in which all the people are vitally
interested, is the question of producing, in such way as to occasion
as little burden and hardship as possible, revenue to maintain the
g, overnment of the State, an expense which is appreciably in ·
creased by the withdrawal of the funds heretofore received from
the federal government. To meet this discrepancy, to provide
for the unusual requirements occasioned by the transition from a
18 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
Territorial to a State form of government, and to make possible
th£ various institutional improvements demanded by a rapidly
increasing population, while the benefits to be hereafter derived
from the grants of public lands are as yet not available, is a prob­lem
of no mean proportions, and one which should be faced with
seriousness, considered with prudence, and its solution adopted
with caution. So far as my efforts may go, every care shall be
exercised in the expenditure of public funds, and while, as I have
repeatedly declared, no penny wise : lnd pound foolish policy shall
prevail, there shall be no expenditures without the clearest warrant
of law or without the assurance of a fully compensating gain,
Fortunately for the State, the Constitution. in A. rticle IX
thereof, provides the foundation and authority for a modern, ad­vanced,
equitable and adequate system for the securing of revenue
by taxation" I trust that the First State Legislature will leave
little to be desired in the definition and vitalization of these Con­stitutional
provisions,
For the present, and with such statutory law as there is at
command, I earnestly urge the taxing authorities to perform their
duties faithfully and fearlessly, with full assurance of the admin­istration's
support, and to assess all classes and characters of
property, wherever situated and by whomsoever owned, in large
or small amount, not only equitably and justly, but upon the basis
of a fair valuation" It is a notorious fact that certain classes of
property in Arizona have never flupplied a fair proportion of the
public revenue, and although sporadic efforts have been made to
correct this situation, it has never been corrected to the present day
As a consequence the small property Olvners, and particularly the
owners of agricultural lands, though least able to bear the burden,
are supplying a great deal more than their proper proportion of
the public funds
It is a matter of such common information as to occasion no
disputation that the large mining corporations, the railroad com­panies'l
the telephone, telegraph and express companies, operating
in the State, are escaping the payment of their fair share of taxes;
and your particular attention is directed to the laws affecting
these companies. to the end that they may be ' forced to contribute:,
equally with the owner of a horse, a cow, an humble home, or a plot
of ground, to the maintenance of the institutions of the State" Let
it not be said that in Arizona wealth or position, place or power.
are potent to secure immunity from the laws of the land or allevia ·
r
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE HI
tion of the requirements visited upon those in more modest station:>.
Other and progressive States, through Tax Commissions of
from one to five members, composed of the best fitted men to be
secured by appointment, are finding a satisfactory solution of the
revenue problem. Should such a system, which I recommend to
your careful consideration, be found advisable for Arizona, it
should properly take the place of the Board of Equalization pro­vided
by the Constitution, and which was made amendable by stat­utory
law,
PRESENT STATUS OF STATE FUNDS.
The present status of the State Treasury presents a situation
for which an immediate remedy will have to be provided, When
the State officers took charge on the 14th day of February, with
four and one- half months of the present fiscal year remaining, and
little prospect of an appreciable accession of funds before next
December, the General Fund showed a balance of about $ 107,000,
a sum entirely inadequate to meet the demands which wlll of neces­sity
be made upon it The reasons for the smallness and insuffi­ciency
of this balance are not of chief moment at this time, but it
is not out of place to say in passing that the condition may be par­tially
explained by the fact that the Territorial Board of Equaliza­tion,
in making its tax levy for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1912, reduced the levy from seventy cents to sixty- five cents on
each one hundred dollars, thereby materially reducing the revenue,
while the expense of maintaining the Territory's institutions, owing
to a rapidly growing population, is increasing year by year,. This
reduction of the tax rate, at a time when it was neither wise nor
judicious, and incapable of justification on any ground except that
of political expediency- a State campaign being then imminent­has
left the General Fund, as well as several of the special funds,
in a most unpromising condition, On the first day of the current
month the General Fund showed a balance on hand of $ 101,539,. 37.
If it were not necessary to take into account at all the unusual and
una/ voidable expenses incident to the transition from a Territorial
to a State form of government, the readjustment and remodeling
of rooms in the Capitol to accommodate officials heretofore non­existent
or housed elsewhere, the extra clerk hire occasioned by
the large volume of new business, the expense of this legislative
session and the salaries and expenses heretofore paid by the fed­eral
government, the balance in the General Fund, based on former
averages, would be eaten up by the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
20 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
and there would be nothing whatever on hand with which to pay
the expense of maintaining the State government between that time
and December, when taxes will begin to come in.. Then add the
unusual and extraordinary expenses I have just enumerated
to the ordinary demands which will be made upon the
General Fund, and it is not difficult to see that the financial status
of the State, so far as immediate requirements are concerned, is
most unsatisfactory. If any other or further illustration were
necessary to show the extraordinary handicap we are confronting,
it might be shown that at the beginning of the present fiscal year,
July 1, 1911, the General Fund contained a balance of $ 176,499 .. 74.
Deduct from this $ 4: 4,452.27, which was taken from the General
Fund to wipe out deficits of that amount in the prison and asylum
funds, and there was still a surplus in the General Fund, from the
preceding year, of $ 132,047.45, with which to maintain the State
government until the receipt of taxes in December. Contrast this
with a certainty of a deficit at the close of the fiscal year on the
30th of next June of from $ 75,000 to $ 100,000 and I think my mean­ing
will be made quite clear. If not, one more comparison of
figures will make it so. On February 28, 1911, the General Fund
showed a balance on hand of $ 195,560.. 64. Leave out of considera~
tion, then, the unmiual and extraordinary expenses mentioned
above, compare this balance with the balance of $ 101,539 .. 37 shown
by the books on Febraary 29th, just past, and the discrepancy
amounts to $ 94,02L27.
If not a full one, this is a clear statement of the financial
status of the State, as it relates to the current and necessary gen­eral
requirements, and discloses a condition which calls for your
most careful attention, and for wise and prompt action
LIMITATION OF DEBT.
A conflict of construction eXJsts in the case of Section 5,
Article IX, of the Constitution, limiting the State's indebtedness
to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. While in my opinion
this was meant to refer only to unsecured indebtedness caused by
insuf£ iciency of revenue to maintain the running expenses of the
government, and was not intended to include or limit the State's
bonded indebtedness, it will be prudent to submit a Constitutional
amendment clearing this ambiguity, and I so recommend.
FUND BONDED INDEBTEDNESS.
From the report of the State Auditor I gather the information
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE. 21
that Arizona's bonded indebtedness, exclusive of the funded debt
of counties and towns, at this time amounts in round figures to one
million dollars. These bonds, owned III Eastern centers of capital,
are bearing in practically every insbnce five percent interest.. Not
only is this interest rate to my mind unnecessarily high, but Ari­zo~
a is losing a considerable sum of money, which might just as
well be kept at home. My plan is this: that you enact a law
authorizing the refunding of the State's bonded indebtedness by
means of an issue of bonds bearing four percent interest, the bonds
to be in small denominations- say of $ 500, or even less-- and to be
offered to the people of Arizona. I believe they will be readily
bought up by the general public as a highly desirable security, as
safe as bonds of the United States government, and bearing a higher
rate of interest. Certain it is that the bankers of Arizona would be
glad to subscribe for them, under a provision of law permitting
their deposit with the State Treasurer as security for a like deposit
of State funds. Thus would the bilnker reali; t; e a reasonable rate
of interest on his investment in bonds of the State, as well as the
profit which would accrue to him by means of the State funds in
his possession, and in addition the State would save, on the basis
of the present bonded indebtedness, something like ten thousand
dollars per annum, while instead of sending over fifty thousand
dollars yearly to Eastern bondholders, this money would be kept
at home. In order to include the entire bonded debt for which
Arizona's credit is ' loaned to various counties and towns, these
figures may be multiplied by three.
CHANGES REQUIRED.
As this administration is pledged, by a pledge in which you
and I have an equal share, to the policy and practice of economy, I
wish to submit a number of pertinent suggestions having for their
purpose the fulfillment of our obligations These suggestions are
based upon a more or less intimate acquaintance with the rules of
successful business practice, and their comparison with the system
now in use in the carrying on of the Stat: ' s business affairs.
BUSINESS ON BUSINESS B4 SIS.
I would recommend the abolishment of the Board of Control
centralization of the business m' 1nagement of the State insti­+",.;~._~
and departments in the Govemor Ins+ efld of the Board of
I would establish a purchasing denflrtmPlI+ directly nnder
Governor's supervision, where, through a skilled purchasing
22 tlOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
officer or agent all supplies, for whatever institution or office de­sired,
shGuld be secured The State, aggregating the needs of its
various institutions and departments, is a very large buyer, and
there is no sound reason why this fact should not be taken advant­age
of, for the benefit of the taxpayers" Supplies should be pur­chased
as cheaply as any other quantity buyer can get them, and
the buying done as skillfully, It is made manifest by the most
casual investigation that there has been neither skill nor system
nor reason to this branch of the State's business, and couple to this
the fact that the most extravagant prices have been the rule, a
, condition is disclosed which if it were in the case of any private
enterprise, would have closed its doors in sixty days. I have no
hesitancy in estimating that by the plan proposed a saving of from
$ 75,000 to $ 100,000 per year can be effected, and I should not be
surprised to see it run higher"
In addition to this great saving, expressed in dollars, an oppor­tunity
would be afforded to favor the purchase, wherever possible,
of home products, a policy to which I very strongly adhere
I look upon the State's business 2. S I would my own, and I want
to see it placed upon an economical, systematic basis, with graft
eliminated, the leaks stopped, and every man from the Governor
down, like the employees of a great department store, doing their
duty With your encouragement and assistance it will be done,
STAT, E EXAMINER. .
A uniform system of accounting laws, for the use of the State,
county, precinct, municipal and school district officials, and State
banks, institutions and corporations coming under the State's di­rect
supervision, forms onB of the great needs of the time I offer
the suggestion that it may be appropriately and effectively sup­plied
in connection with the establishment of rules and regulations
for, and the prescribing of the duties of the StatE' Examiner
MERIT SYSTEM.
In line with this suggestion, I would urge the adoption of a
merit test for State employees, under which the highest grade of
effici~ ncy may be secured It may be contended that the number
of State employees is so inconsiderable as to not warrant this plan,
but that objection may be answered by the total absence of any
good reason why the merit test should not be applied to the em­ployees
of the State as well as to the pmployees of an individual or
corporation, Furthermore, the State is growing, its needs are in-
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE 23
creasing, and as the years go by today's handful of employees will
become more and more numerous, and the establishment at this
time of a high standard of efficiency must necessarily result in
great saving,
LEGISLATIVE HELP.
In the interest of economy I recommend, and in the light of
intimate personal knowledge urge, that you make provision for the
alteration of the plan by which legislative employees are now se­lected..
I am confident that thousands of dollars may be saved
biennially, and a much higher standard of efficiency established,
if you will make it the duty of the officer who provides other sup­plies,
whether for the Legislature or for the departments and in­stitutions,
to employ, under a merit system, all legislative attaches,
while the abolishment of a spoils system which has not infrequently
disgraced our legislative bodies will redound to your everlasting
credit and stand as a monument to your courage,
BUREAU OF LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH,
I urge the establishment of a Bureau of Legislative Research
The benefits to be derived from such an institution cannot be com­puted,
The need for it will become apparent to each of you as
your legislative work progresses" You will wa:! lt data on a large
variety ofJUbjects and find yourselves without the means of secur­ing
it. You will want authentic information regarding the laws
of other States- information disclosing the operation of different
laws, their success or failure, and the amenrlments experience has
suggested, It is to supply this want that, ue Bureau of Legisla­tive
Research is proposed, by itself or in conjunction- preferably
the latter- with other statistical or nearly similar duties" Not
only will the members of succeeding legislatures find such aBu,
reau's value to far outweigh its cost; not only does the Governor's
office and every other executive office feel its need almost every
day in the year, but it will prove of inestimable value to + he publi'c
~ a ready reference on all subjects of legislation"
BUILD GOOD ROADS,
In the plan of State- wide development which should now en­gage
the patriotic thought of every Arizonan, nothing is more im­portant
than good highways.. Each dollar economically expended
the roads of the State, in whatever county, between whatever
points, will mean a dollar wisely spent, Not only do good toads
24 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
reduce the cost and increase the ease of transportation, wherever
transportation by rail or water is not available, but Arizona has
another and possibly greater incentive for the establishment and
maintenance of creditable highwilys.. Our State is a State of
scenic wonders, climatic miracles, and extraordinary geographical
advantages. It lies on the route of transcontinental travel, and
its many marvels ' will annually attract thousands of sight- seers and
pleasure- seekers, whose interest, engaged and retained, may fre­quently
convert them into investors, developers and loyal friends
Good roads are an almost certain index to a community's pros­perity,
and prosperity breeds happiness and contentment
Your plans for roadwork, if I mistake not, should be laio
along more systematic lines than the program the Territory has
heretofore followed, and I recommend, as a basis for this system,
the establishment by the State Engineer of a comprehensive plan
of public highways, with its main arteries traversing the State
from East to West, from North to South, from Northeast to South­west,
and from Northwest to Southeast, and its feeders and
branches reaching into the intermediate sections, communities and
towns. Thus planned, the work of construction should be carried
on with system, with energy and with skill, until Arizona's high­ways
become the admiration and envy of the world
PRESERVE SCENIC EFFECTS.
As I have said, Arizona's scenery is a splendid asset No
similar area on the face of the earth, I assert with perfect confi­dence,
boasts so great a variety, such compelling beauty, such im­pressive
grandeur as the varying scenes our State affords. It is
an asset which should be jealously guarded; and the thought has
been impressed upon me, during recent visits to mountainous por­tions
of the State, that an abuse is being permitted which has al­ready
become a nuisance, and will in time go far toward destroying
the scenic beauties of the beaten paths of traveL I refer to the
practice of painting advertising devices on the boulders and preci­pices
and stony points which constitute an important feature of
the/ scenic effects on our mountain roads, and I recommend that it
be prohibited..
BETTER RETURN FOR STATE FUNDS.
At the present time the State receives one percent per annum
interest for its moneys deposited in State banks. In my opinion
this rate is insufficient, and I recommend that banks carrying State
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE. 25
deposits be required to pay a rate of interest more equitably propoI­tioned
to the ruling rates paid by savings banks, and more nearly
in accord with the benefits they derive from the use of the State
moneys.
STRENGTHEN ANTI- USURY LAWS.
I recommend also, and most urgently, that the laws relating
to usury be strengthened, to the end that the rights of borrowers
may be fully protected, and the exactions of unreasonable lenders
defeated Means should be taken to prevent the making, or to
provide for the illegality of contracts entered into, generally with
so- called loan brokers, for the payment of extortionate interest,
directly or indirectly, and to stop the pernicious practice in vogue
of mortgaging or assigning unearned salaries as security for loans
out of all proportion smaller than the return required to be made,
carrying interest requirements out of all - proportion larger
than the benefits to be derived, by the borrower, from the transac­tion.
CORPORATION LAWS.
Arizona's Constitution has created a Corporation Commission
and clothed it with certain powers, the employment of which pow­ers
will undoubtedly work great benefits to the people, particu
larly in the correction of the excessive and discriminating freigh:
and express tariffs at present in vogue. To render the Commis
sion still more effective, its powers should be made self- operai ive
by statutes defining all necessary rules and regulations for it"
operation. Machinery should be provided for carrying in'o effect
the provisions of the Constitution by which it was intended to tram­fer
the issuance of corporation charters from the Auditor's office
to that of the Corporation Commission, and supervision of forei[ in
insur: all< 3e companies from the office of the Secretary of S' at e. fix­ing,
the fees to be charged, the life and extension of corpora1 ion s.
and carrying out and defining thl= other provisions of Article XIV
In addition to this the supervision of surety and fidelity companieF.
lod, ged with the Governor, ., bould be likewise transferred, de­and
regulated.
" WILD- CATTING".
I am convinced that advanced steps should be taken to stor .
and I recommend that the Corporation CommisFinn
clothed with further powers to that end. Since my incumben('\
26 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
of the office of Governor, large numbers of inquiries have come to
hand of such a nature as to indicate to my mind that great volumes
of worthless stock, issued by companies holding Arizona charters,
are being disposed of throughout the country, thus not only draw­ing
from the buyers of these worthless stocks, who are usually of
the meagre- earning class, money not infrequently needed for the
actual necessaries of life, but bringing discredit upon our State
As an effective means of checking this, I recommend that the light
of publicity be thrown by law upon every corporation holding. a
charter under the laws of the State of Arizona, or, under the
charter of another State, offering its stock for sale in Arizona.
Statutes now in force give publicity to the financial standing and
prevent fraud on the part of certain kinds of corporations, such as
banking and loan. institutions, insurance, bonding and fidelity ·
companies, but the law should go further and require that every
corporation securing a charter or attempting to sell stock within
the State, with great particularity as to mining, oil, irrigation and
other promotion companies, should file an accurate statement of
the business proposed, showing where located, assets and liabilities
and such other information, including copies of all advertising
matter used, as the Corporation Commission might require in the
determination of the legitimacy of the enterprise. A similar state
ment should be required semi- annually to the end that accurate in
formation may be had at all times, for the use of inquirers, and
for the further effect it will have of deterring purely wild- cat en­terprises
from seeking a harbor in Arizona. Every such corporation,
doing business in the State or selling its stock in the State, should
also be required to keep a full and accurate set of the company's
books, minutes and other records, showing the condition of its prop­erties,
at some designated point in the State, in the hands of an auth­orized
agent, and open at all times for the inspection of stockholders
or of the Corporation Commission. This might reduce to some ex­tent
the revenue now derived by the State from the incorporating
business, but it would dignify and benefit legitimate companies de­siring
to incorporate for legitimate purposes and on a fair and hon­est
plan, and would materially increase the standing of Arizona cor­porations
abroad.
PRISON REFORM.
If Arizona is to hew to the line of progressiveness she has marked
out for herself, and justify the position accorded her · even at this
early date, there is no way in which that progressiveness can be made
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE. 27
more practical, or productive of greater or more lasting benefits than
by mapping out and adopting a modern and advanced policy of
management of the State's penal and so- called reformatory or cor ·
rectional institutions, and of treating the unfortunate inmates there ·
of by common- sense, humane methods. I have no great criticism to
offer toward the management of our State institutions, nor towards
the institutions themselves. The one and the other will compare
favorably, I think, with the institutions and methods in vogue there­in
of all those States which have not yet escaped from the archaic
id~ a that society's ends are best served by the punishment and deg
radation of those convicted of transgressing the law of the land But
it is to those States which have adopted the idea that more good
comes of an effort to lift up, assist and truly correct the fallen than
by continued demonstrations of the policy of " kicking a man when
he's down" that I would have Arizona look for direction I think
we should take full advantage of the great strides which of recent
years have been made in the study and practical application of hu
mane theories of sociology; and, based upon the truth that men are
still human, even though convicted of crime, subject to the same
emotions, moved by the same desires, susceptible of like encourage ·
ment, as are men whose steps are free, should declare our policy to be
that of endeavoring to help the State's unfortunates along the path
of redemption and rehabilitation, rather than to plunge them into
the despair which ends in confirmed criminality or the suicide's
grave..
I believe a law should be enacted beginning with a declaration of
import as I have indicated, and containing the foundation ann
groundwork for sweeping reforms I believe the officers of the
State's penal and corrective institutions, and the boards or com­miI3Si()
lls having supervision over them. should be given wide lati
tude in the exercise of their functions, so far as is concerned the en
cOllra. gemEmt they may offer to the unfortunates in. whose hearts thE
of desire for rehabilitation still burns This layv, or plan
should seek to make better men and honest, not degraded and humi]
iated beings with sensibilities deadened, faith destroyed hope gone
self- reliance vanished, ambition killed.
EMPLOYMENT NEEDED.
The inmates of the State prison should be fitted, if possible, to
their place in the world, and to honestly and successfully cope
its problems, when their debt to society has been paid, the
they avegged, their time served. They
28 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
should be afforded an opportunity, upon their release, to start life
anew with a reasonable chance of success.. Under the present sys­tem
the odds are very great and all against the man who comes into
the world with a convict's record to combat A suit of clothes, five
dollars in money, a curbed spirit, and a ticket to where everyone
knows him, and most of them with Pharisaical horror shun him;
these constitute the capital with which almost every convict re- enters
the race of life. How vastly better would it be to furnish some use
ful employment, whereby the faculties might be kept alive and alert,
hope sustained, the spirit quickened, and a little money accumulated
against the day when self- dependence is resnmed? Arizona afford<:
ample opportunity for such employment- and the most healthful
employment~ inher plans for an elaborate road system, and I ur­gently
recommend that the law specifically authorize the employ­ment
of prisoners on the public roads of the State, and that the
State or the connties of the State in which such labor may be per­formed,
be directed to deposit to the credit of the men so employed at
least twenty- five cents per day each for their services. The cost will
be small as compared to the actual benefits to be derived from the
construction of splendid highways, while the benefits accruing to
society will, I am convinced, return the investment a thousand fold
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AMENDMENT.
I subscribe, also, to the belief held by millions, and yet increas­ing
millions, that capital punishment is a relic of barbarism; that
the legalized taking of human life is a straining of Christ's law
which has no place in modern civilization I subscribe to the belief
that the murderer may be punished through the medium of an
awakened consciousness far more effectively than by the breaking of
his neck and the hurling of his soul into eternity; that a more fear.
ful and effective example to others lies in the certainty of imprison
ment than in the. fleeting fear of death, a feai.' which temporarily has
no place in the passion- heated or drink- crazed brain I therefore
recommend the submission to the people of an amendment to the
Constitution directed to the abolishment of capital punishment
PROTECTION OF CHILDREN.
The Constitution, among its many splendid provisions, has few
better than that one which thro\ v8 a protecting arm about depend
ent, neglected, incorrigible and delinquent children, and children ac­cused
of crime, under the age of eighteen years This shield raised
between the young boys and girls whose unhappy environment.
parentage or misfortune has placed them in the classes I have enum­erated,
and the heartlessness of a system containing no element and
comprehending nothought of humanity, should be kept in place, the
~ rm which holds it ever strengthened and the resisting power of its
metal n~ ver permitted to deteriorate" It is wise and good that the
Judges of the Superior Oourts, clothed with exclusive, original juris­diction
in such cases, are compelled to hold preliminary hearings in
chambers of such children as may be brought before them, and not
only should this provision of the Oonstitution be vitalized by a com­prehensive
definition of the powers of Superior Judges to control
such children, but that definition- and this I most earnestly recom­mend-
should aim not so much to provide the machinery whereby
society might be avenged for some juvenile infraction of the law as
to arrive at a means of helping unfortunate, erring children to a
start along life's straight if narrow pathway.. I believe that few
children are n\ 1turally criminal, even though they may have com­mitted
some criminal act, but I am convinced that many are made
criminal, in legal parlance, by due process of law. If this legisla­tive
body does nothing more than to provide a humane and prac
tical system for the handling of the State's dependent, neglected,
incorrigible and delinquent children, and children accused of crime
you will not have been conyened in vain..
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE. 29
SITE FOR INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.
In this connection I recommend the authorization of a Commis­sion
to investigate sites for the State Industrial School now located
at Benson- a point which my investigation shows is unfitted for
such an institution. It does not seem possible that the Industrial
School located as it is, constructed as it is, and handicapped by its
obvious limitations, can ever be made to produce, under the best
management, such results as another environment and a more mod ·
ern system would almost certainly insure With a school built on
the cottage plan, where not only may the sexes be separated, and
housed in a manner approximating the fashions and the comforts of
a home, lbut the children of varying ages and dispositions classified
and to a proper degree kept apart, the State would, if my theory is
" VjlTt:<;~, reap a rich dividend upon its investment, in the quality of
produced from its erstwhile so- called incorrigible chil­This
school should be located away from a railroad and not
too near a center of population, and should have at its disposal an
tract of fertile land, supplied with water, where the
may be taught at once the arts of husbandry, or through
30
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
CHILD LABOR LAW.
manual training some useful trade, and habits of industry, thrift
and honesty..
Nor should the mandate for an adequate anti- child- Iabor law
be neglected.. The world has too many overworked, underfed and
scarcely educated children, and it is my prayer that Arizona may
not be guilty of adding to this stain upon civilization's record In
crystallizing into statutory law the fundamental provision contained
in Section 2, Article XVIII, of the Arizona Constitution, I recom­mend
the passage of the " Uniform Child Labor Law" advocated
by the National Child Labor Committee of New York City, so modi.
fied as to meet such unusual requirements as Arizona conditions
may suggest and justify.
OLD- AGE PENSIONS.
I would ask your consideration of a question which has engaged
my mind and claimed a share of my thought for years- the question
of establishing an old- age pension for Arizonans, both men and
women, whose years of residence and devotion to our Territory's
cause, through the period of its greatest trials, have failed to provide
them with the mea); ls of easing their declining years. I favor the
principle because its adoption would save many a deserving patriot
and pioneer the humiliation of the poorhouse without appreciably
adding, if at all, to the State's expense, and because it is a practical
testimonial to the affection we hold, a practical acknowledgment of
the love we owe to the heroic old- timers, whose better days were
spent in blazing the way and clearing the trail, that we, who have
corne after, might steer the straighter course. find an easier path for
our footsteps and greater reward for our efforts I suggest that thE
Bureau of Legislative Research, should you see fit to adopt my sug
gestions with regard thereto, be directed to secure and compile surb
data as will be useful in determining the practicability of the
establishment of the old- age pension, determine the number of
I pioneers who might come within its provisions, their ages. and the
terms of their residence in Arizona; to compile the old- age pension
laws of other States and foreign countries. and the per capita cost
of their carrying out, and to report to the Second State I.. Jegislature
DUTIES AND BONDS OF · OFFICERS.
The duties of our State officers are now but imperfectly set
forth in the law, while bonding requirements are practically non-
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE, 31
existent. In calling your attention to this, I su~ gest that ample
surety company bonds be required of all State officials, whose duties
are of a nature to call for this character of protection, and that the
State pay the premium for such bonds,
LABOR.
To render effective, by wise legislation, the Constitutional
mandates framed to protect the rights of labor, should be one of
this Legislature's most seriously approached undertakings. These
mandates, as I interpret them, were drawn in an earnest desire to
do justice, not only to those who earn their bread by daily toil, but
as well to those whose capital, energy and talents find avenues and
markets for the Nation'~ brawn and skill and inventive genius" In
this spirit they should be observed and obeyed, and a labor code
drafted having for its motto that democratic admonition, " Equal
rights for all; special privileges for none,," As labor is honest, so
should it be dignified; as it is essential to the prosperity of the
country, so should it be properly compensated, and as life, the work­man's
capital, is his only stock in trade, and once lost cannot be
regained, so should it be protected" So believing, I am heartily M: t
favor of laws which will insure these ends, I favor the eight- hour
work day, not only in employment by the State, but in all classes of
employment not requiring by their peculiar character a longer day
I favor an employer's lial1ility law which will truly make employers
liable for the safety of those working for them, and with the single
qualification that such liability maintams only while the employee
is engaged in the discharge of his duties, I see no reason for distin­guishing
between hazardous and so- called non- hazardous occupa­tions,
I believe in the Constitutional abolition of the fellow- servant
doctrine, and the resolving of the defense of contributory negligence
into a question of fact to be determined by jury. I am against the
limiting of damages for personal injuries, but favor a workable
workmen's compulsory compensation law, which at the option of
the one who has been maimed, or the heirs of the one whose life has
lost in the discharge of his duties, may serve the partial ends
jusMce without the Court's interminable delays, or the oftimes
prohibitive expense involved in a legal contest for damages" I
a law which will put out of existence the pernicious " black
" by which employers prevent men who have incurred their
dUlpleal3Ul'e from securing honest employment elsewhere, and which
provide salutary punishment for any individual, association or
guilty of this offense,
32 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
I believe that Unionism, as a means of dignifying, elevating and
improving the condition of working men, and subject to such
reasonable restrictions and regulations as will protect the rights and
freedom of all, should be encouraged in every legitimate way.. I
have no more sympathy with the sentiments of the employer who
opposes Unionism on the ground that he " does not propose to let
anyone run his business for him" than I have with the gigantic
combinations which by force of unlimited wealth and with the
heartlessness for which they are proverbial, squeeze the life out of
their weaker competitors and by criminal might run the business
of the Nation. If these combinations, reasonable or unreasonable,
are permissible, I say all strength to the honest workman who, by
a peaceful combination with his fellows, desires merely to bring
about conditions which will permit him to support his family in
comfort and rear his children in decency.
ARBITRATION.
Having faith in the American sense of fair play, and confidence
that justice, left to the determination of unprejudiced, impartial
judges, will invariably prevail, I favor the creation of an Arbitra­tion
Board, whose functions, in the abstract, shall be to hear the
evidence and determine controversies involving the respective
rights of capital and labor, but whose mission, in the final analysis,
shall be to insure peace in Arizona's industrial world, prevent the
extravagance and obviate the economic loss the State must suffer in
every struggle of class against class, and to bring the thinker and
the toiler, the director and the worker together in the bonds of
brotherly love which should characterize the relations of all
mankind.
MINE INSPECTION,
It was the sense of the Constitutional Convention that protection
of a substantial nature should be afforded for the health and safety
of the men who toil in the mines- that proper safeguards should
be thrown about their employment, sufficiently hazardous at best;
and to that end the office of State Mine Inspector was created, The
office was made elective from and after the next State election,
Pending such time, and following the adoption by the Legislature
of a law establishing rules and regulations for the guidance of the
Inspector and the direction of mining companies, an Inspector
appointed by the GOvernor shall serve. In my opinion thi'! provi'! ion
of the Constitution is defective, first, because the maximum of i ime
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE, 33
which can elapse between the date on which the proposed mining
code becomes effective and that on which an elected official would
assume office, is insufficient to permit of orgarjzation, to say nothing
of bringing results; and second, because, in my opinion, this is one
office which should not be elective, The duties of the Mine Inspector
are largely of a technical nature and few men are qualified to per­form
them, The man who does so satisfactorily must be thoroughly
equipped by education and experience, and I believe that personal
selection, following a rigid examination- examination of a charac­ter
that is out of the public's reach- is the only way to reach the
desired end.
I recommend a Constitutional amendment in accordance with
the belief I have expressed, making the Mine Inspector appointive,
and surrounding his appointment with such requirements as will
insure the end being striven for-- the health and safety of mine
employees
THE SHORT BALLOT.
As being in line with a truly progressive governmental policy,
based on sound principles of political economy, and proved effective
in many large municipalities, I recommend to your earnest consid­eration
the theory of the short ballot, This plan, which in my
opinion, will be universally adopted by the States, no less than by
municipalities, comprehen, ds the appointment of all minor officials,
makes them responsible to a definite head, and in Arizona, through
the agency of the Recall, would make the appointive power directly
responsible to the people for their conduct. It has the distinct
advantage of enabling the public to focus the light of investigation
upon a fewer, and therefore a more easily investigated, number of
candidates; definitely fixes responsibility for errors either of omis­sion
or commission on the part of any public servant, or in any
branch of the public service; and experience has proved that it
increases efficiency and promotes economy, .
MUNICIPAL HOM, E GOVERNMENT.
By the provisions of Article XIII of the Constitution, an
advanced form of municipal home government is extended to towns
having a population of 3,500 or more, There are evidences that at
an early day the Arizona towns of sufficient population to' do so
will avail themselves of the authority extended by this Article to
frame their own charters, choose commissions to conduct their
34 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
affairs in a business- like and modern mauner, and secure the
machinery with which to make their own laws, not inconsistent with
the laws of the State. In addition to the towns whose population
now brings them within the comprehension of this C" nstitutional
provision, many smaller ones feel the urge of the home government
idea. I can see no reason why it should not be gratified" In my
opinion, any Arizona town of 2,000 population is equipped for the
fullest degree of self- government, and capable, under such reason­able
restrictions as business economy may suggest, of proving the
wisdom of the modern commission form of municipal government.
I think the Constitution should be so amended as to bring. all towns
of 2,000 population within its provisions.
MUNICIPAL COMFORTS.
I am also strongly of the belief that our municipalities should
be given power, and in some directions be required, by Constitu­tional
or statutory enactment, to indulge in those" fads" which up
to this time are almost exclusively found in European countries, with
here and there exceptions in the larger cities of the Union, I may
be a drcdmer- men not unfriendly to me have told me so- but I
long to see the day when every Arizona town boasting a popula­tion
of 2.000 or over, will have not only its public parks, where
citizens and wayfarers may congregate for surcease from toil and
for recreation, but more frequent rest places, in shaded quarters:
where temporary and ready relief from fatigue will be as free as
the air" I want to see such sanitary regulations, applying to all
towns, ar> will prevent contagion and reduce sickness and disease
to a minimum. Among the institutions this dream includes may be
mentioned public baths and such other public institutions, no less
convenient than sanitary, as will obviate one of the most glaring
defects in the average American municipality.
I would go further and see a sanitary public market in every
town, where the housewife may find at least a partial solution of
the high cost of living; where the produce of the neighborhood may
be secured daily, fresh and clean and wholeflome; and where the
producei', free from the exactions of the middleman, may find sale
under municipal regulations, for the fruits of his labors"
These reforms. I am confident, can be consummated without,
great expense. and once established, they will prove to be genuine
economies" They will make a happier, more contented, more cheer­ful,
and therefore a better people, and against this gain no possible
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
of expense should weigh.
HORTICULTURAL PROTECTION.
35
Through the Horticultural Commission created by the last
Territor'Ial Legislature, a very considerable protection has been
afi'orcled to the horticultural interests of the State, The Commis­was
restricted in its operations, however, by want of funds, and
unable to extend its activities to many sections where fruit
raising promises to become an important industry, So great are the
horticultural and agricultural possibilities of Arizona that too much
attention cannot be given to the question of insurance against the
introduction and dissemination of dangerous insect pests.
LIVE STOCK SANITARY LAWS.
In a general sense Arizona's laws for the maintenance of health­fulness
among the live stock of the State is excellent, and I would
suggest no radical changes. In my opinion, however, a system
should be devised and set into motion for the inspection and testing
of dairy herds for tuberculosis..
CODE REVISION.
Eleven years have elapsed since the reVISIon of Arizona's
Statutes Four sessions of the Legislature and a Constitutioual
Convention have worked rgany changes in the law, encumbering
the statutes, creating confusion, causing uncertainties and obstruct­ing
justice. It seems to me necessary that there should be a revisioa
of the Code, and I trust the means therefor will be provid~ d, I
venture the hope, however, that an economical plan will be evolved
working plan, sans sinecures, sans unearned emoluments, com­prehending
simply fair service for fair pay.
NEW MILITARY CODE.
A modern military code, simplified, and as nearly as practicable
conforming to the regulations prescribed for the reg, ular army, is
advisable, Even this branch of the service may be made more dem­ocratic
by abolishing the staff, and providing for the designation of
an officer from the line on such occasions as the Commander- in­Chief
may desire the services of an aide.
PANAMA- PACIFIC EXPOSITION.
The Panama- Pacific Exposition, which opens in San Francisco
1915, will probably exceed in magnitude and importance any
36 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE.
similar undertaking in the history of the Union. At the St. Louis
Wodd's Fair, the Louisiana Exposition and other great interna ·
tional events of similar character, Arizona had creditable represent
ation even while a Territory.. In the flush of Statehood prominence,
it will not be wise or praiseworthy to go backward. We should
have creditable representation at San Francisco, an. 9- an early deter.
mination of the part to be taken in the Exposition •. j. s.. advisable to
the end that a suitable site may be secured for the State Building
The allotting of sites for State buildings began on the 14th of the
present month, and as it appears to be the evident intention of all
of the States to be represented, it would be well for Arizona to
make an early selection of a site ..
WISE ECONOMY THE WATCHWORD.
In concluding my recommendations of proposed legislation, I
want to impress upon you, again and again, the necessity for the
strictest economy- not niggardliness, but wise, far- sighted economy
- that economy which takes account of thorough, systematic business
methods, the providing of necessary but not superfluous equipment
the adoption of labor- saving devices, the elimination of endless and
purposeless routine, the doing away with ancient ideas of red tape
I want you to help me, and I want to help you to put Arizona's
business on a strictly business basis- the basis I run my business on
the basis you successful business men run your business on. Scru­tinize
every appropriation bill carefully before you pass it, as I
certainly shall after you pass it, and favor only those which bear
the marks of a wise financial policy, while keeping in mind that
those measures which will inure to the people's happiness, or uplift,
or the growth of their standards of intelligence, of morality and of
humanity, will in the end prove of the greatest financial profit, Be
slow to spend the people's money, but do not hesitate when you are
certain that it is for the people's good" Exercise prudence, but not
the prudence of the penny- wise,. Seek at all times, and in all things;
the advancement of the State, and you can not go far astray,
NEED FOR HARD WORK.
Give heed, I pray you, to the brevity of this session, and the
necessity for completing, while the sixty days allotted still run, thfl
prog, ram of measures to which you are specifically pledged, those
others which are essential to the carrying out of the principles
which have become, for all time, the distinctive and distinguishing
feature of Arizona's political life, and such others, in addition, as
GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE. 37
your wisdom, your experien? e and. your J? atriotism dic~ ate, ~ he
work will be hard, your restmg perIods brIef and your lIfe, durmg
the next two months, a strenuous one, but the end to be attained
is sufficient justification for the effort.. Skeptics have said, and are
now saying, that you cannot get done in sixty days, but I feel
certain that you can, if you will make your program " Work, Work,
Work."
The expense of the Legislature will reach, if not exceed $ 700
per day.. I do not believe that I need to name another argument for
the completion of your labors within the allotted time.
ELECTION IN 1912.
There has been much discussion, pro and con, concerning the
date of the next election of State and County officers. I deem it the
duty of this Legislature; I deem it the duty of the Democratic - party
represented by a large majority of the members of this Legislature,
to settle this question once for all. The terms of the Constitution
are conflicting- a conflict caused by Arizona's delayed admission
into the Union- a conflict which could only be settled judicially by
reference to the Supreme Court, thus placing that tribunal in the
position of sitting, on the adjustment of the term of its own official
life, and creating a situation at once delicate, embarrassing and of
questionable propriety. I tp. ink the Democratic party is big enough
and fair enough and brave enough to lay aside the question of
political expediency, waive the arguments favoring one view or the
other of Constitutional construction, stand firmly on the ground
Democratic willingness to submit its cause anew to the people,
and make definite and unequivocal provision for a general election of
all State and County officers in the fall of thi:; year of 1912" That was
the understanding and intent of the Constitution makers; it was the
understanding and belief of Arizona's voters; it was the under­standing
and tacit agreement of every candidate for office, either
successful or unsuccessful, whose name appeared upon the State
County ballots. To disregard it would be little short of a
of faith, which the people could not be blamed for resenting"
I
MAKE GOOD.
In this, and in all things else, I adjure you, make good, in letter
in spirit, in thought and in deed, by precept and example, by
and admonition, to yourselves, to your party, to your State, to
principle- to the Constitution you are sworn to defend.
38 GOVERNOR HUNT'S MESSAGE
I pledge you my heartiest support and best assistance; that I
will work with you and by you, hour for hour, day for day, night
for night when need be. I trust that the friendliest and most ami.
cable relations may prevail between yourselves, each and everyone
of you, and myself; that personal feelings, if any exist, may be laid
aside, selfish desires abandoned, individual ambitions forgotten, and
patriotism, erect and triumphant, may guide us all to the end, to the
glory and gain of our beloved Arizona..
Respectfully,
GEO.. W.. P HUNT,
Governor.