The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-03-29
[From London Times of March 1873.
Tho Scantrn nessinp tho West.


The vast dominions of the American Union
are divided, as all the world knows between
two classes of communities-those which are
fully organized and have taken their place az
units of Government, and those which are still
partially unorganized and have no share 10 nomi-
mating or directing the Federal authority. The
former class are the States, the latter the Ter-
ritores; bat the popularity of the American
| system is that every undeveloped portion is
| slowly ripening by steady process; and pre-
| pairing, when the proper time comes, to be
| raised to the dignity and power of constitu-
| ent member of the Federation. That time may
be delayed by political difficulties, but If Ter
ritory continues to grow it must assuredly OBJ
| tain recognition as a state. The admission or
Colorado and New Mexico into the Federal pact
has for a long time been dis tussed in America.
New Mexico was ceded TO the Union by the
Mexican government after the war of 1S4S, and
two years later was organized as territory,
U tab being at the same time admitted on the
same footing. Within the next ten years the
vast West was still further part,tioned among
| new territorial governments, and one OF these
was Colorado.
| 1t is, no doubt, to the recent changes in the
| Senate that the determination OF the Republic
| cans to admit New Mexico and Colorado as
| states without further delay is due.
| The party majority i'll the Senate has fallen
| from 26 to 8-too small number to check
| House of Representatives. But, probably, each
| of the two new states may be relied upon to
send two Republican Senators 10 Washington.
who will be hailed as welcome relnf0rcement
| by the partisans OF the administration. In the
House of Representatives the measure will
| have less significance, for neither New Mexeo
| nor Colorado has anything approaching TO the
population that would eDtitle either OF them
| 10 more than the single Representative which,
| arcofuiug 10 the tuition, every state must
return The number of members ei ING ~ lse
is determined after each decennial census, and
was fixed, upon the basis of the enumeration
| of 1870 at 283, distributed among the several
| states in proporti n to their population. This
| gives one Representative TO 1350OO citizens;
but it is provided that the Representatives OF
any new states admitted during the Geeennial
| period are to be in addition to the 2S3 members
| divided among the q states federated IN 1870.
One member from New Mexico and one from
| Colorado will raise the number, therefore, to
| 49, 1t is remarkable that this accession to
| the organized forces of the Union, occurring
| exactly a hundred years after the first as
sernbling of the Congress OF the Thirteen Col
onies" at Philadelphia, will precisely treble the
number of the Confederatcd States whose
| amalgamation was the work of that famous
| Assembly. The thirteen states for whom the
| American constitution was framed have grown
, to thirty-nine, and have extended their grasp
| from the seaboard of the Atlantic, TO which
| century ago they timidly clung, across Almighty
| Continent. Who shall forecast what teeming
populations will in another century 1nhabit tne
| vast regions west of the Mississippi? lt IS
not too much to say that Colorado alone, "hich
| has now barely the number of fourth rate
| town, will then outweigh, IN all the eleHehtS
| of political strength, the whole OF New Eng
| land. The territory of this young and vlgor-
ous. community, 'astride upon the ROCKY
| Mountains" Giving one hand to Kansas and
the other 10 Ulah, is at least of magnificent
dimensions, New Mexico, lying directly south,
and with Its nei2hbor Arizona, stretching
across half the continent from the northern
wilds of Texas to the Californian frontier, has
nerhaps, less splendid possibilities before il,
but they are such as might dazzle auy nation
1 IS accustomed to contemplate a bouudIess
Inheritance than the people of the United
States.
The organization of New Mexico and Colo
RADIO as states leaves no great proportion of the
territories unorganized. Along the northern
frontier of the Union, it is true, where it
marches with the Canadian possessions on the
Red river and Saskatchewan aud with tho
Province Of British Columbia, there are four
vast territories still unorganized, aud, indeed,
for the most part unpeoped-Dakota, Mon
tana, Idaho, and Washington; and south OF
Montana and north of Colorado Is wyoming,
which has recently adopted womans suffrage
as an eXneriment. These tve territories had
in 1870 some $4,000 inhabitants, yet they COW
cred an area much greater than that of
all the states north of the Potomac and
west of the Ohio. Beyond Idaho on the
Pacific coast, is the state Of Oregon. and south
of Oregon, California claims the whole sea-
board down 10 the Mexican frontier. East
ward from Oregon is Nevada, erected into a
state few years ago. Bnt between Ne