Marcus A. Smith - Constitutional Convention

Constitutional Convention

By early 1891 there was a strong statehood movement in Arizona Territory. When the U.S. Congress declined to authorize a constitutional convention for the territory, the 16th Arizona Territorial Legislature decided correct the oversight. The hope being that if the territory had a state constitution written it would aid in the effort to win statehood for the territory. Based upon the legislature's actions, Governor John N. Irwin issued a proclamation calling for the election of 22 delegates to a constitutional convention. Smith was one of three delegates chosen to represent Cochise County, with the convention meeting from September 7 till October 3, 1891.

The convention used the committee system, with Smith serving on seven of the twelve committees. He was appointed to committees on Preamble, Bill of Rights, Ways and Means, Water, Irrigation, and Reservoirs, and Rules and Permanent Organization. He became chairman for committees on Mileage and the Legislative Department. Smith opposed disenfranchisement of the territory's Mormon population by inclusion of the "Idaho test oath" which would have required all voters to swear they did not belong to any sect or group that "taught, practiced, or encouraged polygamy or bigamy." On the issue of women's suffrage, he took no position.

The proposed constitution included support for bimetallism and advocated for irrigation of public land and construction of railroads. State legislators were required to announce any personal interests they might have in an issue before the legislature and then to not vote on the matter. Women's' suffrage was limited to school elections while the document condemned polygamy. Arizona voters approved the proposed document during a December 1891 special election.

Upon returning to Washington, Smith introduced a statehood bill based upon the new constitution on January 15, 1892. The bill quickly died in committee. In early February 1892, Smith was transferred from Committee on Land Claims to Committee on Territories. On March 14, 1892, Smith introduced another bill to grant statehood to Arizona. This bill passed House by vote of 173 to 13 but died in the Senate Committee on Territories. The Republican controlled Senate at the time not wishing to grant statehood to the predominately Democratic Arizona Territory In between his lobbying efforts in support of the statehood bill, Smith spoke out against educational aid for Indians. He felt Indians should only be trained to be farmers and reservations should be reduced in size to open additional areas for prospecting.

During the election of 1892, the Republicans selected Flagstaff attorney William G. "Mikey" Stewart to run against Smith. The campaign consisted primarily of mudslinging, with Smith's opposition claiming he drank excessively. Newspapers supporting Smith responded by focusing not upon Stewart but upon the drinking habits of Stewart's legal partner, Edward M. Doe. As Smith's drinking habits were better known than those of his opponent, he tended to catch the worst of the mudslinging. Despite this, Smith won by a larger margin of victory than his during his previous run.

In addition to the election, 1892 saw the start of dissension within the Arizona Democratic party. While L. C. Hughes had been an early supporter of Smith, Hughes desire to be appointed governor caused tensions. During the 1892 Democratic National Convention, the territorial delegation had been instructed to support David B. Hill. Hughes changed the support to Grover Cleveland. Smith responded by providing Cleveland copies of articles critical to Cleveland that Hughes had printed. Hughes was able to shift blame after a friend of his in Minneapolis, R. A. Carple, claimed to be the author of the articles. With issue apparently settled, Hughes was appointed Governor of Arizona Territory in April 1893. By October 1893, Governor Hughes had created a division in the territorial Democratic party. While Smith made no public attacks on Governor Hughes, the governor believed that Smith was working with C. Meyer Zulick to secure his removal almost as soon as his appointment was made.

Once the 53rd United States Congress convened, Smith's time was consumed by lobbying for statehood and performance of routine efforts. As the session began his committee assignments were changed to Indian Affairs, Public Lands, and Territories. Smith quickly submitted an updated statehood bill that again won House approval before becoming bogged down in the Senate. With Democrats having won control of both Congressional houses during the 1892 elections, fears of Arizona sending Democrats to the Senate no longer prevailed. Instead opposition to Arizona statehood shifted to section 16 of the 1891 constitution which mandated support of bimetallism. With Arizona calling for bimetallism and the Cleveland administration dominated by supporters of the gold standard, opposition to Arizona statehood proved too great to overcome. On January 19, 1895, Smith called for a reduction of maintenance funding to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. During final session of the 53 Congress, Smith only introduced a single bill dealing with a railroad right-of-way. Over the course of his fourth term, four of the thirty bills Smith submitted were enacted into law.