Arizona republican., 1906-10-07
JoINTURE NOT A PARTY ISSUE. 1

JOINTURE NOT A PARTY ISSUE
 The Republican took the ground be-
 fore the beginning of the present terri
 torial and county campaign. that joint
 statehood was not a political issue. It
 cannot be made one and we regret that
 our democratic friends are trying to
 make one of it. If they could succeed
 in making jointure appear to be a local
 issue it might strengthen them among
 the minimizing but there are always
 minimizing people in both parties. So
 while the democratic cause might be strengthened it's strengthening might
 be accomplished at the expense Of the anti-joint statehood cause.
 Delegate Smith in his address at
 Mesa on Friday night, we are in-
 formed. put the matter before his hearers in a manner which we believe misrepresented the situation. It was 10 be inferred from his remarks that the election of a republican delegate would be regarded by the democratic senators as a slap at the national democratic party and that those sena- tors would resent it by withdrawing their antagonism to the joint statehood proposition in the event of it's revival. Having played upon the loyalty of Senator Foraker to Arizona. MT. Smiti. inquired if the Arizonians would be- less loyal to themselves. The question was irrelevant if not meaningless.
 We would not detract from whatever splendid service MT. Smith has per- formed in behalf of anti-jointure. but we cannot think that democratic sen atorial opposition to jointure would be in the least abated by his defeat nor would it be intensified by his re- election. We do not think that either the republican or the democratic sen ators are deeply interested in the re- suit of the election of a delegate to congress. Nor do we believe that if joint statehood should be overwhelm- ! ingly defeated in Arizona there would ever be a revival of the infamous project. We are inclined to the opin- ion that the -Americanism of it has J already shamed it's part:sans.
 But assuming, as MT. Smith would i evidently have us believe, that it is a l party issue and that the two great parties are feverishly awaiting the election of a delegate in Arizona. we might argue with a greater appearance of reason that the election of a re- publican delegate would strengthen the democratic opposition to jointure and would lessen the zeal of those re- publicans who hitherto favored it.
 We will suppose for the sake of argument that Mir. Cooper were de- feated. The jointists could then go before the republicans in congress and say: we show you so many votes for jointure. They are republican votes. They represent a considerable | part of the republican sentiment of theI territory The rest of it represented in the vote for Cooper is apathetic as to statehood, and includes hundreds of | who really favor jointure. [ There is really only democratic oppo- sition in Arizona to joint statehood"
 This line of reasoning. which is much stronger than that of MT. Smith, | leads to the conclusion that every vote ! cast for Cooper furnishes additional proof that the republican party in Ari- zona is against jointure.
 But as we have consistently stated. we do not believe and We do not think MT Smith believes that the joint state hood question is in any way involved in the election of delegate. The candi- records. The voters have only to de- eide which one possesses those char acteristics and abilities to best serve them in congress-to serve Arizona as a territory.