17th Arizona Territorial Legislature

The 17th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which convened in Phoenix, Arizona. The session ran from February 13 through April 13, 1893.

Expectations were that Arizona would soon achieve statehood. Following the constitutional convention authorized by the previous session, Territorial Delegate Marcus A. Smith had submitted an Arizona statehood bill that had passed the United States House of Representatives but was blocked in the Senate by Republicans who did not wish to grant the predominantly Democratic territory two new senators. The Democratic party won control of the Senate during the 1892 elections, removing the ability of Republicans to block the legislation, and Smith would submit a new statehood bill in the next Congressional session.

Oakes Murphy had been promoted from Territorial Secretary to Governor following the resignation of Governor Irwin With the inauguration of U.S. President Grover Cleveland imminent, candidates were vying to replace Murphy as the legislative session began. L. C. Hughes would be sworn in as territorial Governor on April 12, 1893.

Of concern to the citizens of Arizona Territory was the Apache Kid, who had become one of the most feared outlaws of the prior decade.

The legislature convened on February 13, 1893. During the 60-day session, 91 laws were passed.

Governor Murphy gave the address on February 14, 1893. It began by the Acting Governor expressing his desire for this session to be the last before statehood. A large portion of the speech was dedicated to territorial finances. With the rapid increases to the territory's population, governmental services needed additional revenue to support educational and law enforcement needs. Murphy criticized practices that allowed assessed property values to remain the same over multiple years despite steady gains in real values. He was further concerned that the majority of the funds for territorial schools was derived from taxes paid by the gambling industry.

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