Condition of building and loan associations, June 30, 1902.

Hon. E. W. Wells, attorney-general of Arizona, submits the following report:

Having recently succeeded to the incumbency of the office of attorney-general, my report comprises the condition of the affairs of the office as disclosed by its records.

The business in the office of attorney-general is fairly well closed up to date, the prior year's business having been disposed of, leaving but one case, viz, Louis Wolfley v. Nathan O. Murphy, G. W. Vickers, and Charles H. Ackers, comprising the loan commission of the Territory, and John A. Black.

The case was commenced June 26, 1900, in the supreme court of the Territory, the petitioner applying for a writ of mandate on the loan commission to compel payment of an alleged balance due to the petitioner from the Territory, the case having been tried and submitted. The past history of the case has, no doubt, been fully set forth in the prior reports of this office.

On the 14th instant a suit was commenced in the district court of Gralram County, Ariz., wherein one William A. Gillespie is plaintiff and the Territory of Arizona and Graham County are defendants.

The action is brought to quiet title in plaintiff to certain real estate sold for Territorial and county taxes assessed and levied in the county of Graham in the year 1899, the said property under delinquent-tax sale having been sold to the Territory and deed passed for the same. Process has been served upon the Territory, the interest of which will be cared for.

There are no cases in this office, civil or criminal, undisposed of other than those herein above mentioned.

There are no moneys in the possession of the attorney-general belonging to the Territory or any county in the Territory.

The district attorney of the several counties in the Territory are diligent in the discharge of their official duties, and, so far as our information goes, the public business coming within their charge is efficiently taken care of.

SETTLEMENT OF LANDS.

Two land districts are comprised within the limits of the Territoryone the Gila, located at Tucson, Pima County; the other the Prescott district, located at Prescott, Yavapai County.

The Tucson land district includes the southern portion of the Territory, and embraces 45,318 square miles.

The Prescott land district is in the northern portion, and embraces 68,000 square miles.

Status of lands in the Prescott land district at the close of business June 30, 1902.

Total 5, 508, 142 19, 015, 416 24, 523, 558 15, 315, 476 3, 505, 286 43, 344, 320

Mountainous, timber,
grazing.
Arid, grazing.

Statement of lands entered at Prescott (Ariz.) land office for fiscal year ending June 30,

Status of lands in Tucson land district at the close of business on June 30, 1902.

The internal-revenue taxes collected in Arizona during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, amounted to the sum of $38,882.38.

CUSTOMS.

The collector of customs of the port of Nogales, Ariz., makes the following report of the imports and exports during the year ended June 30, 1902:

Value of goods shipped under warehouse and transportation bonds..

IRRIGATION AND AGRICULTURE.

8,807, 125.00

410, 277.00

144, 768.91

573, 494.00

In this Territory these terms should be indissolubly linked together, as all success in agriculture depends entirely upon irrigating enterprises carried to a successful conclusion.

Arizona contains within its borders 10,000,000 acres of land susceptible to irrigation, of which amount 1,000,000 acres have been utilized for farms and homes, and to the reclamation of which the available water supply, the natural flow of streams, has been applied to its fullest extent. In many instances an endeavor has been made to reclaim too much land for the natural surface flow, which, coupled with the drought of the last few years, has brought about a new condition of affairs in the agricultural interests of the Territory, giving rise to the question how to best secure an added water supply which will not only furnish the required amount to properly irrigate those lands already reclaimed, but which will, in addition, allow the reclamation of thousands of acres now lying dormant. This new condition will be met in the future by the enforcement of that law passed at the last session of the Congress and approved by the President of the United States, commonly known as the Hansbrough-Newlands Act. This law, which is given below in full, will ultimately be of the greatest bene

fit to the arid West, as by its application new homes will be established for citizens of the United States by the reclamation of the major portion of that arid domain now valueless as a source of revenue or as an abiding place for the surplus population.

THE HANSBROUGH-NEWLANDS MEASURE.

AN ACT appropriating the receipts from the sale and disposal of public lands in certain States and Territories to the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all moneys received from the sale and disposal of public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, beginning with the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and one, including the surplus of fees and commissions in excess of allowances to registers and receivers, and excepting the five per centum of the proceeds of the sales of public lands in the above States set aside by law for educational and other purposes, shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved, set aside, and appropriated as a special fund in the Treasury to be known as the "reclamation fund," to be used in the examination and survey for and the construction and maintenance of irrigation works for the storage, diversion, and development of waters for the reclamation of arid and semiarid lands in the said States and Territories, and for the payment of all other expenditures provided for in this act: Provided, That in case the receipts from the sale and disposal of public lands other than those realized from the sale and disposal of lands referred to in this section are insufficient to meet the requirements for the support of agricultural colleges in the several States and Territories, under the act of August thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled "An act to apply a portion of the proceeds of the public lands to the more complete endowment and support of the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, established under the provisions of an act of Congress approved July second, eighteen hundred and eighty-two," the deficiency, if any, in the sum necessary for the support of the said colleges shall be provided for from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to make examinations and surveys for, and to locate and construct, as herein provided, irrigation works for the storage, diversion, and development of waters, including artesian wells, and to report to Congress at the beginning of each regular session as to the results of such examinations and surveys, giving estimates of cost of all contemplated works, the quantity and location of the lands which can be irrigated therefrom, and all facts relative to the practicability of each irrigation project; also the cost of works in process of construction, as well as of those which have been completed.

SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Interior shall, before giving the public notice provided for in section four of this act, withdraw from public entry the lands required for any irrigation works contemplated under the provisions of this act, and shall restore to public entry any of the lands so withdrawn when, in his judgment, such lands are not required for the purposes of this act; and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, at or immediately prior to the time of beginning the surveys for any contemplated irrigation works, to withdraw from entry, except under the homestead laws, any public lands believed to be susceptible of irrigation from said works: Provided, That all lands entered and entries made under the homestead laws within areas so withdrawn during such withdrawal shall be subject to all the provisions, limitations, charges, terms, and conditions of this act; that said surveys shall be prosecuted diligently to completion, and upon the completion thereof, and of the necessary maps, plans, and estimates of cost, the Secretary of the Interior shall determine whether or not said project is practicable and advisable, and if determined to be impracticable or unadvisable he shall thereupon restore said lands to entry; that public lands which it is proposed to irrigate by means of any contemplated works shall be subject to entry only under the provisions of the homestead laws in tracts of not less than forty nor more than one hundred and sixty acres, and shall be subject to the limitations, charges, terms, and conditions herein provided: Provided, That the commutation provisions of the homestead laws shall not apply to entries made under this act.

SEC. 4. That upon the determination by the Secretary of the Interior that any irrigation project is practicable, he may cause to be let contracts for the construction of the same, in such portions or sections as it may be practicable to construct and

complete as parts of the whole project, providing the necessary funds for such portions or sections are available in the reclamation fund, and thereupon he shall give public notice of the lands irrigable under such project and limit of area per entry, which limit shall represent the acreage which, in the opinion of the Secretary, may be reasonably required for the support of a family upon the lands in question; also of the charges which shall be made per acre upon the said entries, and upon lands in private ownership which may be irrigated by the waters of the said irrigation project, and the number of annual installments, not exceeding ten, in which such charges shall be paid and the time when such payments shall commence. The said charges shall be determined with a view of returning to the reclamation fund the estimated cost of construction of the project, and shall be apportioned equitably: Provided, That in all construction work eight hours shall constitute a day's work, and no Mongolian labor shall be employed thereon.

SEC. 5. That the entryman upon lands to be irrigated by such works shall, in addition to compliance with the homestead laws, reclaim at least one-half of the total irrigable area of his entry for agricultural purposes, and before receiving patent for the lands covered by the entry shall pay to the Government the charges appor tioned against such tract, as provided in section four. No right to the use of water for land in private ownership shall be sold for a tract exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one landowner, and no such sale shall be made to any landowner unless he is an actual bona fide resident on such land, or occupant thereof, residing in the neighborhood of said land, and no such right shall permanently attach until all payments therefor are made. The annual installments shall be paid to the receiver of the local land office of the district in which the land is situated, and a failure to make any two payments when due shall render the entry subject to cancellation, with the forfeiture of all rights under this act, as well as of any moneys already paid thereon. All moneys received from the above sources shall be allowed the usual commissions on all moneys paid for lands entered under this act.

SEC. 6. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to use the reclamation fund for the operation and maintenance of all reservoirs and irrigation works constructed under the provisions of this act: Provided, That when the payments required by this act are made for the major portion of the lands irrigated from the waters of any of the works herein provided for, then the management and operation of such irrigation works shall pass to the owners of the lands irrigated thereby, to be maintained at their expense under such form of organization and under such rules and regulations as may be acceptable to the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That the title to and the management and operation of the reservoirs and the works necessary for their protection and operation shall remain in the Government until otherwise provided by Congress.

SEC. 7. That where in carrying out the provisions of this act it becomes necessary to acquire any rights or property, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to acquire the same for the United States by purchase or by condemnation under judicial process, and to pay from the reclamation fund the sums which may be needed for that purpose, and it shall be the duty of the Attorney-General of the United States, upon every application of the Secretary of the Interior under this act, to cause proceedings to be commenced for condemnation within thirty days from the receipt of the application at the Department of Justice.

SEC. 8. That nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting or intending to affect or to in any way interfere with the laws of any State or Territory relating to the control, appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in irrigation, or any vested right acquired thereunder, and the Secretary of the Interior, in carrying out the provisions of this act, shall proceed in conformity with such laws, and nothing herein shall in any way affect any right of any State or of the Federal Government or of any landowner, appropriator, or user of water in, to, or from any interstate stream, or the water thereof: Provided, That the right to the use of water acquired under the provisions of this act shall be appurtenant to the land irrigated, and beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right.

SEC. 9. That it is hereby declared to be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior in carrying out the provisions of this act, so far as the same may be practicable and subject to the existence of feasible irrigation projects, to expend the major portion of the funds arising from the sale of public lands within each State and Territory herein before named for the benefit of arid and semiarid lands within the limits of each State or Territory: Provided, That the Secretary may temporarily use such portion of said funds for the benefit of arid or semiarid lands in any particular State or Territory herein before named as he may deem advisable, but when so used the excess shall be restored to the fund as soon as practicable, to the end that ultimately and in any event, within each ten-year period after the passage of this act, the expenditures