No. 841.
Mr. Bayard to Mr. Romero.
Washington , December 7, 1887.
Sir: In connection with my note of October 26, 1887, touching the proclamation of the governor of Arizona establishing a quarantine for cattle brought into that Territory from Mexico, I now have the honor to apprise you of the receipt of a communication from the Acting Secretary of the Interior, dated the 26th ultimo, stating that the proclamation was issued in obedience to an act of the Territorial assembly, but that a doubt having arisen as to the constitutionality of the statute, the quarantine has been raised.
It appears by a report from the governor of Arizona to the Secretary of the Interior upon the subject that the fourteenth legislative assembly of that Territory enacted a law designated the “stock and sanitary law,” which was approved March 10, 1887.
By the provisions of this law there was created a sanitary commission, composed of five members, whose duties were to protect the health of the domestic animals of the Territory from all contagious or infectious diseases of a malignant character. For this purpose it was authorized and empowered to establish, maintain, and enforce such quarantine, sanitary, and other regulations as it should deem proper; and after prescribing quarantine measures and notifying the governor thereof, he [Page 1256] was required to issue his proclamation, which was accordingly done. But since its publication, the powers of the Territorial legislature in this connection have been made the subject of careful examination, with the result as previously stated.
Accept, etc.,