The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-01-27
The New West.
philadelphia Pre- ss.]


the present ratio of Congressional rep
resentation (13l ,425) two of these Ter
ritOries, Dakota and Utah, would be
eligible for admission as States. Should
the ratio be increased, as contemplated
10y the Cox bill, to I6l 1913, there is no
Territory which yet comes up to the
standard The Congressional ratio of
apportiOnmtn has not always been
the test in judging the fitness of a
petiioning Territory to assume the
dignity of Statehood, but as a general
rule the application of Territory
whose population would not entitie 1t
to one Congressman under the ratio
has not been favorably received. In
consequence each decade makes admis-
sion more difficult to the extent OF
requiring greater population thah
would formerly suffice.
Since the last census but one State,
Colorado, has, been admitted to the
Union, though nearly every other pre-
vious decade shows an addition OF
three or tour. At the present time
there are bills pending for the adniis-
sion of Dakota. Washington. Utah
and New Mexico. These Territories
are all in thriving condition and rap
idly increasing in population Ihe
present Congress will hardly consider
their applications now, and 10y the
time they are taken up 10y the next
of them at least will probably have so
far advanced as TO warrant their adj
mission. The applications of Wash
ington and Dakota are coupled with
proposed changes i'm their boundaries,
which, i'm their future bearings, are
highly important. In the case of
Washington it is proposed to increase
its area by adding to it that portion of
Idaho directly east of it. Dakota it is
proposed TO divide in half. 1t is even
urged in some quarters that it be divi-
ded into three. Such a division j., in :.
deed, necessary if the average size of
the older States is 10 regulate the pro-
portions of the States to be admitted in
the extreme West. This would be the
correct rule if the capacities and pros
poets of these proposed States are on II
par with their sisters, but not other
wise.
Between the Tooth meridian and the
Sierra Nevada Mountains is Il vast re
zion characterized 10y insufficient rain
fall. Its former appeilation of Great
American Desert" was not without a
certain degree of appropriateness. 1t
is capable of supporting a very consid-
erahle, but not dense population.
Agriculture can only thrive on the
limited area which will admit of irri-
cation. While much of the land is
invaluable for grazing purposes and
the most barren regions seem TO con.
tain an ineXhauslihle supply OF min
eral wealth, no well-advised person
anticipates that this section will ever
contain anywhere near the same aver
age population as the corresponding
States east of the Missouri. 1t Is,
therefore, reasonable precautiOn
against further gross inequalities Of
representation for Congress to insist
that the States proposed from this
section shall have considerable
greater area than the more favombly
situated States of the East.
Washington, the smallest of the or
ganiZtd Territories, has population
of 5000. The desired addition from
Idaho would increase tins little and
make its area about 80. 600 square miles
or very nearly the size OF Kansas As
the situation of the Territory is eX-
ceptionally favorable for its acquiring
ultimately dense population this is
probably sufficiently large, though il
the Rocky Mountains were made its
eastern boundary. giving portion of
Montana, as well as the northern part
of Idaho, the new state would still be
smaller than Colorado or Nevada and
little if any larger than Oregon. Da-
kota is Il vast region over three times
the area Of Pennsylvania Its fertile
wheat lands east of the Missouri in
sure that portion of the Territory
large population. A short distance
west of the river the region of scanty
rains and necessarily sparse popuIa-
tion begins. BY dividing this western
third between Montana and Wyonl-
ing there will be enough Lett to make
Il State the size of Colorado, which
will contain the bulk of the present
population Of the Territory, which is
l35, $50. To divide Dakota into three
pats is To condemn it to Territorial
condition tor many years to come and
then give us three feeble states with
six Senators instead one strong State
with a just allotment of two.
New Mexico has population of
us 43O, but this is so largely made up
of MeXIcans aud halI-breed Indians
unfit to exercise the right of suffrage
that the admission of this Territory is
not desirable until the Infusion of new
hood by Immigration shall materially
change the character of its people.
Utah has the largest population of any
of the proposed States, it being 49,
90G. The Mormon question would
stand in the way of the consideration
of its petition tor admission to the
Union even if its population were
twice as large. Congress may not SEE
its way to summarily suppress poly.
ganIy. 1t will hardly, however, be
willing to perpetuate it by throwing
around it the shield of States Rights.
The proper disposition of this Terri.
tory is to cede it to Nevada under such
conditions as will insure the anti.
Mormon elements the ascendency in
the State thus enlarged. Nevada
would then have an area somewhat
less than Texas and a population OF
20G, 900, which would make it lead
both Delaware and Colorado instead
of being, as now, ,discrcdited and
discreditahle pocket borough of 81, 600
inhabitants and with little prospect of
improving its condition.