The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-06-06
THE KICKING NEW mEx1cANs.

The President having appointed Hon.
George w. Julian. of Indiana, Surveyor
General of New Mexico. the Democrats
and Republicans of that Territory are
finding fault at Mr.. CIeveland's dis
regard of the platform pledge" that
"the selection of Federal officers for the
Territories should be restricted to citi-
zens previously resident therein" 1t IS
true, that Indiana is not a part of New
Mexico. and Mr.. Julian can in no sense
be called a resident of the sgreaser"
Territory, but our friends on the south
east should possess their souls in peace
long enough to look over the situation.
and ascertain if the President would not
be wise we're he to make up the
Federal force for the dependency
almost exclusively from the outside.
Of all the Territories, New Mexico has
been the most afflicted by rings" the
Federal ring being the most powerful
and corrupt. Rings controlled caucuses
and conventions, managed the Legis-
lature, carried or defeated apprepria-
tons, dictated Improvements. said how
money should be expended and by
whom; rings were supreme on the
bench and existed at the bar; there
were civil and religious rings, military
rings and social rings, the population
generally being gathered into rings and
combinations. fighting each other and
all preying more or less on the Terri
tory. The late Chief-Justice Axtell was
in ring that included in its member
ship most of the Federal
officers, the late Governor, late
Secretary and late Register of the land
Office, being the leading spirits of the
combination. Opposed to this ring was
another one made up of lawyers and
wealthy citizens, which latter ring has
succeeded in securing the removal of
the Governor. Chief Justice and Regis
ter, and having citizens of the Terri
tory, yet all well-known and pronounced
ringites. appointed to their places. The
old Federal ring has plundered and des-
poiled, and the triumph of the new
Federal ring is likely to lead it into
retaliatory spoliation. The church ring
which has hitherto stood in with the
Republicans, is showing signs of chang
ng front and going over to the Demo-
Gratis. who will now be the official and
Federal ring.
The plain truth is, corruption
permeates New Mexican affairs through
and through, and the general impress
sionin the Territory is that if anybody
is not directly or indirectly connected
with one or another of the gouging or
CARNATIONS that have been created, per-
mitted and festered by the general
government, it is because he hasn't the
intelligence, or can make more money
by holding aloof. Under the circum-
stances it would be wise for Mr.. Cleve-
land to drop New Mexico from the list
of those Territories whose Federal Off
GERS should be filled from bona Jfde resi-
dents. Men from the outside will not
be tainted with the ring when they enter
upon their duties, and perhaps they can
keep themselves free until the old order
of things has been broken up and new
and proper condition brought about.
The people of New Mexico may think
they know what is best for them, but
they don't, or at least if they do they
will not act for the best while they are
SO divided and torn as they have been
for many years.