Arizona republican., 1903-01-17
THE ENEMIES
 OF THE WEST
Arraignment of the Senators Who Oppose State
 Hood
Ex-Governor Murphy Says That Sel- fish Jealousy Is the Real Cause of Opposition.

The following article on the state hood question from the pen of ex-Gov- ernor Murphy appeared on the first page of the Washington Post of last Sunday:
 Tt is not my purpose to make any argument in support of the fitness of Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma for self government, either as to pop ulation, civilization. education or financial strength; irrefutable evil dence in most convincing abundance has been presented in proof of the abil- ity and worthiness of the territories to govern themselves within the limits of the rights and privileges vouchsafed by the constitution. Many careful and ab- sOlutely truthful reports have been written by well qualified and thorough ly honest compilers who have had years of experience and acquaintance with every detail of the commercial. social and educational development of the territories now demanding their just rights-not begging favors-of con
 gress. Committees of both houses of congress have for years given the sub
 ject thoughtful and exhaustive con sideration, and have submitted to them volumes of indisputable testimony es- tablishing beyond the possibility of sue cessful contradiction the qualification of these territories for admission into the union, and their right to govern themselves as sovereign states. And reports to that effect have been made to congress seven times by very ably constituted committees of both houses. Three times have bills passed the house of representatives for the admission of Arizona cs a state, and twice have bills for the admission of this territory been reported favorably in the senate, and, as is well known, for ten years the ua- tiOnal conventions of the great political parties of the country have declared in ! their platforms for admission.
 And now comes the junior sena tor from Indiana with two associates from New England, who made hurried rush through the territories few weeks ago ! in a Pullman car hunting for adverse | testimony and predetermined to re- port against the passage of the omni- | bus bill, in the supremacy of their ig- nOrance and cOnceit assaulting in a most vicious and untruthful manner the people and resources of two very | prosperous and progressive territories. | It seems in their anxiety to defeat the | pending measure they find it necessary | to proclaim injurious islanders against | the good name and credit of the com munities they so hurriedly visited and | insulted by their absurd assumption of superior knowledge. The manner of conducting the so-called investigation | has been, and will be, thoroughly ven | tilated in detail, and I will not, there | fore, devote space to that feature of l the anti-statehood conspiracy.
 ABLE MEN ON COMMITTEES.
 When admission bills have been re-
 ported favorably in the past ten years the committee memberships of both houses of congress have been held by
 senators and congressman of conspic-
 uous ability. It will be sufficient in this l article to mention the senate committee
 on territories during the Fifty-fourtf congress. The chairman of the com mittee was a man of brilliant attain
 ments and had an international reputa- tion as a statesman-the lamenteC Senator Cushman K. Davis, of Minne. | sota, with whom to compare the pres.
 ent chairman would insult the intelli.
 gence of the American people, and |
 would be exceedingly unkind to tn, ! memory of the illustrious dead to men.
 ton in this connection the present for eign-born member of the committe.
 from Minnesota, who presumes to ali,
 his ignorance in a speech against tn,