Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-01-06
NEW STATES.

A correspondent in LaSalle county
insists that il would be imbecile for
Democrats to admit Republican South
Dakota without Democratic Utah.
The "stand off" in the admission at
the same time of Missouri aud Maine
is adduced as an example worthy of
emulation.
That the MOrmons are almost uni
formly Democrats is freely admitted.
and the party is quite welcome to all
.he good the fact may do il. 1t is also
admitted that Utah has population
suffi cient for admission as a state. 1t
has not been kept in territorial lead
ing strings on any pretext or subter-
fuge, but solely aud confessediy be-
cause polygamy exists there and is up
held by large majority Of the popu-
latiOn. The institution could be prOtec-
ted and iostsred by the state of Utah
were lifted 10 the dignity of state
hood. That is the explanation of the
refusal of congress to admit it. Aud
it is only fair to add that even the
Democrats OF congress are not in ia
vor Of admitting Utah until poly gamy
pas been crushed out. With that can
Ger eradicated the Republicans would
cheerfully join the Democrats in adj
mi' ting it. however large the Demo-
cratic majority.
Our correspondent wants to know
show many states have been admitted
into The union in the last twenty years
under the Republican rule and from
political reasons alune?" Ghe tota
| admissions of the last twenty wears
foot up just this-ColoradO, and so
far from having been admitted "for
political reasons Alone" il was ad-
united in 1876, when the house was
Democratic and the senate Republican
Either party could have prevented its
| admission. But our correspondent
probably intended by the term .last
twenty years" to Include the entire
period of Republican administration.
The admissions of that period were
Kansas in 1861, West Virginia in 1868,
Nebraska and Nevada in 1864, four in
all, Or counting Colorado. five.
The creation of the state of West
Virginia was strictly a war measure,
done 20 advance the interest of a
party. The loyal end of old Virginia
wanted recognition as an entirely new
state, and military expediency
urged compliance with the demand
AS for Kansas and Nebraska, no one
will question the justice of their adj
| mission any more than of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Illinois, or any other great
state OF the agricultural west. The
admission of Nebraska was perhaps 4
| mistake, but not made through the
promptings OF partisan moiiv"s. There
WAS no political pressure brought to
bear in the cas-. 1t was simply mis-
apr ehen>ion as to the future of that
region. In 1864 Nevada was growing
rapidly and seemed tn ii-v. before il q
great future. Ii is now haIf-deserted
mining camp. Politically, it
is neither one thing nor the
other, but a rotten borough.
So much for the states admitted by
the Republicans. The truth is that
they ought TO have admitted Dakota
into the union while they had the
chance. The congress elected in 1880
was Republican, and could have done
il. The population was ample even
then. Provision could have been made
for dividing ii into two states if the
people of north and south Da-
koia both desired it. But
that opportunity wss thrown
away. largely through the small
ue-~ of one man, Senator Eugene Hale,
of Ma;ue. But that wrong furnishes
no 'xcuse for the present attitude on
this subject of the democrats in con-
gress. No excuse can be framed TOR
the iniquiiy of denying TO hundreds
of thousands of people the privileges
of state rights simply because ma
jority of them belong TO the republl-
can party.-Inter-Ocean.