Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-08-22
CORRESPONDENT CURTIS

ucal uluIC uulu III WHd MI. hblNg bub MI NulliS man
in what some other New MeNicans told him.-Las Vegas
Optic.
The Citizen does not believe that any New Mexican
told this man Curtis, the mean, false and contemplate
things which he said of New Mexico in his letter purport-
ing to be written from Albuquerque on August 4 and APP
pearing in the Chicago Re%cord-Herald of August 3.
This paper thinks Curtiss ISLANDERS of this territory
originated with himself, and were for the carrying out
of the purpose which brought him here, which seems to
have been to prevent statehood altogether, by involving
New Mexico and Arizona in a feeling of enmity, and by
tanning that enmity to an irTeducible intensity.
Let us look at a few of his utterances, and see if the
theory is not sustained. Out of his own mouth shall he
be condemned.
When Nh. Rodey laid before him the political status
of the question, what the party leaders at Washington
had determined upon, the absolute sine quo non without
which there can be no statehood for either New Mexico
or Arizona, this man Curtis says there is not a word Of
truth in the statement, assuming that he knew more
about the question than would a man who was a mem
Der of congress at the time the policy was adopted and
who had full access behind the scenes. But let that 20.
Curtis, in his letter Of August 4, says: Il have not
been able to find anyone down here who is in favor OF
joint statehood with Arizona, except Mr.. Rodey" Not
been able to find" plainly asserts that he had tried to find
and failed. This is a falsehood on the face of it. Either
the president or the secretary or any member Of the
Joint Statehood League" organized in this city, could
have given him the names of, and introduced him to, a
score of the leading men Of Albuquerque. who are in
favor of Joint statehood" The fact is that he did not
try to find friends of jointure. and when he asserts that
he had done so, he asserted what he knew to be untrue.
But again. Curtis says that Mr.. Rodey was.the only
supporter of iofnture he had been able to find down here.
The New Mexican recently said: Mr.. curtis and party
reached this city Friday afternoon, remained Saturday
and Sunday, leaving Sunday night for the south. The
principal portion of this time was spent by them as
guests of Hon. L. b. Prince, who is not a territorial Off
cal and who is a strong advocate of joint statehood, if
single statehood cannot be obtained, and indeed, who, so
the New Mexican understands, fayors joint more than he
does single statehood"
There is but one conclusion: Curtis is a prevaricator
of great cheerfulness. But again. The New Mexican
says: He called at the Bureau of immigration. where
he was furnished data upon the material progress and
conditions of the territory" Did he publish that data?
Here is what he published:
at is a question whether the territory is going back.
ward or forward. If it does progress in a material sense,
the movement is so slow that it is difficult to detect.
There can be no considerable increase in population until
the great irrigation projects of the general government
are carried out, when large areas of land will be made
susceptible to agriculture. That, however, is positively
determined, and after seven or eight years there should
be considerable immigration.
"The number of cattle and sheep upon the ranges
cannot be increased very much, because the water
courses are all taken up, and that means the control of
the adjoining ranges. There has been a falling off in the
number of live stock and in the wool product during the
past few years.
Several of the cities which | have mentioned in pre-
vious letters-Trnidad, Las Vegas, Ration, Albuquerque
and others-are growing rapidly, which is due to the in
crease of mining and manufacturing and to the extension
of transportation facilities. But the majority of the
towns are stagnant and have made no gain in population
in recent years. These are the conditions which prevail
throughout the territory. There are ten reasons why
New Mexico should not be admitted as a state to every
one on the other side"
Can any one who knows the noble, intelligent, force
full fight the Bureau of immigration has been making for
years for the upbuilding of New Mexico. and the wealth
of information it has accumulated during those years
can such an one believe for a moment that the foregoing
ISLANDERS were based upon data upon the material prog
ress and condition of the territory furnished him by the
Bureau of immigration? There is no shadow of doubt
that his utterances were deliberately and of fell purpose
contrary to the data he received.
But again. The New Mexican says: "Mr. Curtis
called officially on Governor Otero and the interview
lasted probably an hour" What Governor Otero said,
Curtis himself gave in a published interview, dated at
Santa Fe, July 29, or six daye before the date of the OBJ
jectionable Albuquerque letter, dated August A. And
here this writer pauses to say that he has resided in
New Mexico seventeen years, with four additional years
spent in FL Paso. During that time he has come into
close contact with the native people of this section finan-
cally, socially and politically; and he is prepared to say
that to his mind Governor Oteros delineation of the Mex
lean character is the best and truest he has seen in all
the ~twenty-one years. Here are some extracts from what
the governor said:
81 am happy to say that great progress has been
made by the Spanish and American citizens within the
last fifteen years" . The people generally have
great respect for law" " = = "The native citizen of
Mexican or Spanish descent is very jealous and proud of
his right TO vote, and will resist strenuously any attempt
to deprive him of it," " . . There is a notable ad-
vance in everything which goes to make men good citi-
zens." : " . The Mexican, as you call him, is "a first
rate citizen today and is quite well posted on public af
fairs concerning the territory . The average
Mexican is a man of simple habits, dignifed but courte-
Gus, h~ospitable to the extreme and very anxious to
learn"
So said the governor. What said Curtis? The pout-
ical condition of the people, however, is not encouraging.
A great majority Of the voters can neither read nor
write, and they are absolutely controlled by a few poiitl
cal leaders and by the priests. In each county a boss
controls the poems, as the laboring element is called, who
always vote exactly as he tells them. He receives his In
structions or Inducements from interested persons in Al
buqurque or Santa Fe. He can throw the Mexican voters
as a mass for the republican ticket or for the democratic
ticket as he pleases, or for any particular candidate. No
where in the United States or in the world at large is
universal suffrage such a farce as in New Mexico; and
everybody will admit that that is not a favorable condi
ton for statehood"
This tissue Of absolute uutruth is as Numerically op-
posed TO what the governor said TO him and TO what are
the facts in the case, as night is to day.
But the governor also said 10 this Curtis. according