Arizona silver belt., 1884-09-13
saturday, September I3. 1884.
roo SOON.

The statement of the Florence En- terprisc, that territory cannot be admitted as a state until it has 154,0O0 in population, Is erroneous. Congress can by special statute admit a terri tory if it does not possess one-fourth the population required, and, in fact, nearly all of the territories admitted during the past twenty.four years, did not approach anywhere near the pop ulation standard required.-Record. The Enterprise did not make a state mept of that kind. The Record has credited the error of some other scribe to us. But we are opposed to the ad- mission of Arizona as a state, at pres ent, for the reason that it would greatly increase our taxation without returning adequate compensation in the shape of benefits. s.-Enterprise.
 The statement that 154 ,000 popula- ton was requisite under the appor- ment for a territory to become state, was understandingly made by the ARIZONA SILVER BELT. We again state that there is no law extant winch will admit as state territory containing a less number of inhabitants than 154,00O. It is true, as stated by the Record, that Congress can by special statute admit territory if it does not possess one-fourth the population re- quircd." Congress can do anything not prohibited by the constitution tf the United States. The difficulty, however, in forming a state with less than the requisite population is to ob- tain the desired legislation.
 Colorado was the last territory to be admitted, and it was eleven years from tho date of the first action of Congress in the premises, until she was admitted as a state. At the time of her admission she was favored pure- ly upon political grounds. The terri tory was Republican, and the party required additional strength in the U, s. Senate and House of Representa- tives. By her admission the Republi- cans gained three additional votes two in the Senate and one in the House. An act to enable the people of Colorado to form constitution and state government was passed by Con- gress March, 1864. The constitution framed under this act was rejected by the people of the territory. Another constitution was framed and adopted in 1865, but a bill, passed by Congress for its admission, was vetoed by the President. Another attempt made in 1867 likewise failed by the Presidents s veto, and again in March, 1875, an other effort was made which resulted in Colorado becoming state. In her ! admission the lie is given to the motto which she so conspiciously fauts that "Nothing can be done without divine aid, when, in fact, the divinity had no hand whatever in her admission as state. It was the desire to increase the waning power of the Republican party in Congress that secured for her the long coveted boon of statehood.
 The admission, also without the requisite population, of Nevada ante dates the admission of Colorado by eleven years, and was also political, and engineered by James w. Nye, William M. Stewart, John P. Jones and William Sharon. It was money that did the business, which neither reflected the popular will of the terri tory nor that of the people of the United States, and although it was a political job it succeeded. It was the desire of political preferment by these men, and they were rewarded. Nye and Stewart were Nevada's first U. s. Senators and were succeeded by Jones and Sharon.
 It is the same ambitious feeling that to-day is prompting men to bur den Arizona with taxes necessary to support state, in order that they may be exalted and unworthily feed at the public expense.