Arizona republican., 1902-11-14
AS Viewed at Washington.

correspondent of the St. Louis Globe Democrat. and his exceptional facili- ties for ascertaing the status of official opinion at the national capital, give special value to his dispatches on the statehood question. He telegraphs:
 "There is much speculation and wide difference of opinion among the officials and politicians here as to the prospects for the passage of the bill admitting Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico to statehood at the coming short session of congress.
 ''The sentiment seems to be that the bill will be passed by the senate prac- tically as it was passed by the house at the last term, although there are propositions looking to various amend ments.
 ''One of these bills is to leave New Mexico out of the bill. admitting Okla homa and Arizona. Another is, drop both New Mexico and Arizona and to admit Oklahoma.
 The president is known to favor the admission of all three of the terri tories.
 "To the argument that they may turn democratic he replies that he has no fear of his ability to carry Oklahoma and New Mexico, and is confident that Arizona will go republican in the na- tiOnal campaign.
 ''The senate committee on territories has wisely planned a trip of investiga- ton, so its report will presumably be in readiness for the senate on its open ing day, or perhaps may be made public before. The presidents message usu- ally absorbs attention on the first day, and the report of the secretary, with the book of estimates. on the second.
 Since the voting must take place on the 10th of December, unless that agree ment be vacated by unanimous con sent. it might be well for the commit tee to get its findings before the public in some form before the assemblage of congress, and so give the country chance to express itself on the question. The investigation committee consists of Senators Beveridge of Indiana, Dilling ham of Vermont, Burnham of New Hampshire, Nelson of Minnesota and Bard of California, republicans; with Bate of Tennessee and Heitfeld of Ida hO, democrats. This committee, only part of the committee on territories, professes to start out with an open mind. ready to be influenced by what it finds as to the material and moral resources of these territories, and their guaran- tees of permanence. Several arguments favor the admission of these territories. Under our system, they will have to be admitted sooner or later, and a few years, one way or the other, would make little difference in the life of a nation.
 "The first democratic administration that comes along would surely admit them, and from a republican point of view the now dominant party might just as well gain the favor in those communities by conferring upon them the great boon of statehood as to leave this advantage to its ever-resourceful opponent.
 New Mexico was practically prom ised admission to the union at the time of the Mexican cessiOn: it has more than half a century urged its claims upon congress. Oklahoma is abundant ly large for state, and no one objects to it's admission, especially if the h. dian territory complication could be ad- justed. Arizona must come in, if at all, to make a clean job of it.
 Without doubt. any community prospers more under statehood than
 
 tiOn. Securities and investments would be strengthened by the change.
 ''The objection to the admission of three or four new states in the south west relate chiefly to the balance of national power between the small states and the large ones.
 If our small states were scattered through the union, just as Rhode Isl and, Delaware and Florida are in the east. no harm would be done by the ad- mission of three more.
 But when a dozen or more states which will always be small are grouped it gives to the interests which they have in common a very disproportionate strength in the senate and that body today controls very largely the govern ment of the United States, having en- croached somewhat on the powers of the executive and subordinated the house of representatives
 Tt is easy to compute that with these four territories admitted to the union very small fraction of the country's population, wealth and business power might constitute a senate majority
 ''The combination of the south and Rocky mountain west. made by Mr Bryan's first canvass and likely to be ''p'0'Su IT Oiii Oliile IO lillle III our nlS- tory, so the statehood opponents ap- pear to fear, is dangerous to the sub stantial interest of the great block of states from Bangor to Des Moines."
 In regard to the partisan phase of the question, the correspondent touches upon one important point-the certain ty that MT. Roosevelt would carry all three of the new states should the om- nibus bill pass. So far as it is possi- ble to see into the future, it appears that nothing but the death or perma- nent disability of Theodore Roosevelt