The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-01-29

which have made great commonwealths of
some OF the Northwestern states in very
few years. By the last census three
fourths of the adult population of New
Mexico could neither read nor write
What kind of people is that to be clothed
with the full power and panoply of state
in a Republic whose institutions rest upon
the intelligence of its citizens?
| Gen. Hazen, in his North American Re
Uie,o article, to which we have before allu-
ded, contributes some important testimony
bearing upon this point. He says:
It is possible that. at some remote
period, the good lands of the country may
be so densely populated as to cause many
to seek precarious existence by such
meager farming as is possible in this re-
| gion but, until then, the occasional great
stock grower, the scattered groups of mi
of them, in the narrow valleys, who can
control little water for irrigation, will
comprise the population. As an example
of such populations we have Nevada,
where about all its capacity in this direc-
tion is utilized. 1t has been represented
in congress, by its two senator's, for ten
years, and it has population of about
10000. or about one third as many as a
single congressional district in the popu-
ulous states. And New Mexico, which
for twenty years has been in our full occu
pation,is another example 1t costs many
million dollars for its administration yet
take away the army, its hangers-on, and
the transient miners, and the remaining
American population could sit in the
shade of good sized apple tree.
| The Tribune then comments as follows +:
The proposition is so wrongful upon its
face that there is little room for argument.
No valid reason has yet been offered why
they should be admitted On the other
| hand, there is every reason why they
| should not be. No cause can be adduced
| which can warrant the admission of state
OF 10000 or $4,000 people, and giving it
an equal number OF senators with states
having 3,000,000 or 100000 of people,
Ii Colorado and New Mexico are admitted,
there is no reason why Montana, Wyom
ing, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Dakota, and
| Washington territory should not be ad
mitted also, and given state representation
in the senate, They now have one del
egate each in the house of repre-
sentatives to look after their in
terests, and that is enough for ter
ritories which only contain the population
of single county in the populous states.
The whole population of the nine or ten
territories, and the state of Nevada added,
is not equal to that of the city of Chicago
or St Louis. The demand for state rep.
resentation by those territories, with their
handful of people, is every way unreason-
able, illogical. and absurd, besides being a
gross wrong to the populous states. There
should be universal protest against this
attempt of few politicians to place Colora-
do, with its $4,000 people, and New Mexi-
CO, with its 10000 half breeds, three
fourths of whom can neither read nor
write, into the United States senate on an
equal footing with New York OF Illinois
If they are admitted, then let all the rest
of them in. Congress has no moral right
to discriminate against one rotten Dor
ough' and in favor of another.