Arizona republican., 1905-09-04

geological survey, ana rom state ments made by railroad surveying country seeking in vain for railroad routes. It takes thirty-six hours by railroad to get from Phoenix, which is in the center of Arizona, to the city of Santa Fe the capital of the proposed new state,s where the busi- ness of the state would be carried on, and the expense is greater than going from Chicago to New York.
 For the past ten years there has been a Mexican majority in the New Mexico legislature. Their laws are merely based on the civil law. The laws of Arizona are founded on the common law of the English speaking people. There are many other differ ences which make a union of the two territories unfair to both.
 "'The people of Arizona realize that separate statehood is impossible for many years, but, rather than be forced into this union. we prefer to remain territory indefinitely, and, although we shall never relinquish the hope of eventually becoming a state, we are willing to wait until congress believes our population is large enough and our resources sufficiently developed to de- serve it. In the meantime we want to govern OuISelNeSs ueNtlODlnS our re- | sources under our own system of laws. A party of senators and represen- tatives. members of the irrigation
 committees. came to Phoenix last spring to inspect the Tonto reservoir, which will irrigate 100000 acres of land around Phoenix. Many of them had voted in favor of joint statehood | in the 5Sth congress, but before leaV | ing Phoenix they all expressed them | selves in public speeches as opposed to l the measure, because they had been | convinced that the people of Arizona i should not be handicapped in grasping and overcoming the problems of de- | velopment by being tied to New Mex icO.
 We are confident that there is the same sense of fair play in New Eng | land. and that her senators and rep
 resentatives will vote for the mainte-
 nance of our right to self govern ment'"
 Then follows the editorial of the Republican,
 "The southwestern statehood ques- tion is sure to come up in the next | congress with the prospect that the | whole matter will have to be threshed
 over again. The inhabitants of Indian 1 Territory are not in the least content ] NllI AIlt iltOlbAStu liltI ger bl Alat-iI ND-
 main with Oklahoma. and this is no l less true of the people of Arizona with reference to the merger with New | Mexico.
 "The desire of Indian Territory fo.- | separate statehood was shown em- ! phatically in Mondays convention at 1 Muskogee, when an apparently unan ! imous determination to press the ter i ritorys individual claims for auton- | omy was disclosed. A special commit i tee was appointed with instructions to [ draft a state constitution to be sub ! mitted to congress for it's approval. ! A notable feature of the convention was the participation of delegates from the five civilized tribes of h. 1 dians Hitherto they had refused to ] join a separate statehood movement but. with their old system of tribal ! government to expire next March. the
 Indian citizens of the territory have ! decided that their interests would be | best protected by continued separation | from Oklahoma There are about 50 | 900 members of the five tribes. while 1 the total population of the territory is l almost 00.00O. It will be seen that | the white men would still be in a ! large majority if Indian Territory be- ] came a separate state. but the Indian
 citizens would be in a much smaller minority if the merger should take place.
 ".The people of Arizona are so hos tile to a merger with New Mexico,
 it seems. that they are now content to remain a territory for an indefinite period in the hope of attaining ulti- mately population and wealth enough | to satisfy congress that their claims to | separate statehood are sound. An in terview with the city attorney of Phoenix. Ariz. printed elsewhere, re- | veals a state of public opinion in that | territory which must be respected. It ] would be a highly objectionable pro l ceeding to force Arizona into joint statehood with New Mexico. so long | as it's inhabitants are satisfied to re-
 main under a territorial form of gov
 ernment. The Republican very early l suggested the creation of one state out of Arizona and New Mexico, but the idea was based upon the assumption
 that the people would accept such a
 solution rather than remain for q
 longer period outside the union.
 "The con gressmen and senators
 from the east are likely to take the | view that cOercing a territory to be-
 come a state, under whatever condi-
 tions. is poor business. The Bever-
 idge joint statehood bill, it is needless
 to say now merits a radical overhaul
 ing. in so far at least as it concerns
 the two great territories on the Meh-
 can border"
 AUGUST WEATHER