1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Arizona

ARIZONA (see ). In 1920 the pop. was 334,162 as against 204,354 in 1910, an increase of 129,808, or 63.5%. This was the largest percentage of increase shown by any state. The pop. of the chief cities was as follows: Tucson, 20,292 (13,193 in 1910), Douglas, 9,916 (6,437 in 1910), Bisbee, 9,205 (9,019 in 1910). The average number of inhabitants to the square mile in 1920 was 2.9 as compared with 1.8 in 1910. The rural pop. constituted 64.8% of the whole in 1920 as against 69% in 1910.

History.—During the years 1910-20 Arizona provided two issues of national interest. The first of these was her admission to the Union. As provided by the Enabling Act signed by President Taft June 30 1910, a constitutional convention met at Phoenix from Oct. 10 to Dec. 9 1910 to frame a constitution. The constitution then adopted provided that one-fourth of the electors of a judicial district might, by petition, demand the recall of a judge. If he did not then resign a special election could be held to determine whether he should be recalled. In Aug. 1911 the National House of Representatives by a vote of 214 to 57 passed a joint resolution providing for the admission of Arizona on condition that the constitutional provision for recall be submitted to a vote of the people. President Taft had already informed Congress that he would not sign the bill, and in a message to Congress took the position that he must veto the measure or assume responsibility for the recall of judges. Later in August he approved a resolution granting statehood on condition that the voters in the general fall election strike out the provision for recall. This they did; and on Feb. 14 1912 President Taft signed the proclamation admitting Arizona. After the state was admitted the people amended the constitution, inserting the original clause providing for the recall of judges. The presidential vote in 1912 was 10,324 for Wilson, 6,949 for Roosevelt, and 3,021 for Taft; in 1916, 33,170 for Wilson and 20,524 for Hughes; in 1920, 37,016 for Harding and 29,546 for Cox. Arizona's Alien Labour law provided the other issue of national interest. The voters of the State, 1914, by a majority of 10,684, enacted a law providing that when any corporation, company, partnership, or individual employed more than 5 workers, 80% of these should be qualified electors or native born citizens. The ambassadors of Great Britain and Italy claimed that the law violated existing treaties. The U.S. District Court declared the law unconstitutional as conflicting with the Fourteenth Amendment. On appeal the U.S. Supreme Court upheld this decision, Nov. 1 1915. Justice Hughes in the final decision said that it had already been established that aliens were entitled to equal protection of our laws. The election of Nov. 1916 resulted in a gubernatorial contest that aroused high party feeling. Governor Hunt, supported by a Democratic assembly, had been elected for two terms. He ran for a third time in 1916. On the face of the returns Campbell, the Republican candidate, was elected; but both candidates came to Phoenix in Jan. to be inaugurated, and Hunt refused to leave the executive office. Later he was compelled to surrender the office to Campbell, but assumed it again in Dec. 1917 after the state Supreme Court had declared him the legally elected governor. At the next election in 1918 Campbell was chosen governor, and he was reëlected in 1920. The bitter political struggle was largely the outgrowth of an industrial situation that culminated in a number of strikes throughout the state. That at Clifton and Morenci beginning in Sept. 1915 roused the widest interest. This strike, conducted for the most part by Mexican labour, was organized and at first directed by agents of the Western Federation of Miners. The unique characteristic of the struggle was the sympathy for the strikers shown by the chief executive of the state, Governor Hunt having ordered in the early days of the strike that no strike-breaker should be admitted into the district. Another singular characteristic was the absence of the usual violence. This was attributed to the action of the sheriff who deputized strikers themselves to protect the property of the company. There was no loss of life, and although a large concentration plant at Clifton was destroyed by fire, this was not proved to be the work of strikers. After repeated attempts at conference, no settlement was reached till the Western Federation of Miners withdrew, leaving the Arizona State Federation of Labor in charge. An increase of wages was granted; but the managers asserted that this was the natural result of the increased price of copper, and that they had in no way yielded to the strikers. The industrial strife reached even a more crucial stage in the summer of 1917 when the Bisbee deportation incident occurred. The employees in several of the mines had struck for

higher wages and better working conditions, claiming that they had been the losers in the general rise in prices, and that they had not shared in the profits due to the increased value of copper. There was a general fear that violence would result from the activities of the Industrial Workers of the World. Sheriff Wheeler, supported by the conservative citizens of Bisbee, took the position that the members of the I.W.W. and their sympathizers were vagrants, traitors, and disturbers of the peace of the county. In July 1917 the sheriff and his many deputies rounded up over 1,100 of the alleged offenders and deported them to Columbus, N.M. President Wilson at once warned Governor Campbell of the danger of such a precedent; and two months later, at the solicitation of Samuel Gompers, he appointed a committee, of which Secretary Wilson of the Federal Department of Labor was chairman, to investigate and adjust the industrial disputes. This committee found that there was no machinery whereby the grievances could have been adjusted, since the managers refused to recognize certain labour organizations. The committee further recommended that Congress make future deportations a Federal offence. A number of indictments against Wheeler and his deputies were secured; and one case, the State of Arizona v. H. E. Wootton, came to trial. The defendant was freed on the plea of the &ldquo;law of necessity&rdquo;; the other cases were not pressed. The last territorial governor was Richard E. Sloan, 1909-11. State governors were George W. P. Hunt (Dem.), 1911-9; Thomas E. Campbell (Rep.), 1919-.


 * (H. A. H.)