Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-02-02
Breaking Faith With Arizona.


Testimony is at hand to prove that the
administration, in It's insistcnt efforts to
drag Arizona into the union through an
obnoxious joint Statehood with New
Mexico, is endeavoring TO make this gov
ernment break faith with the former
Territory.
In the law Of Congress, passed in 1868,
separating Arizona from New Mexico and
creating it into an independent Territory,
il is provided: "1hat nothing contained
in the provisions of this act shall be con-
strued to prohibit the Congress of the
United States from dividing said Terri
tory or changing is boundaries in such
manner OF at such time at it may deem
proper; provided, further, that said gov
emment shall be maintained and con-
tinued until such time as the people of
said Territory SHALL with the consent Of
the Congress, form State government,
republican in form, as prescribed by the
Constitution Of the United States, and
apply for and obtain admission into the
union as a State, on an equal footing with
the original States"
Win it be can equal footing with the
original States TO marry Arizona against
her solid protests, 10 New Mexico, and
admit the huge and unweldy mass Of land
area thus aggregated as a single State
The matter Of too extensive area was
duly considered at the time Of the sepa-
ration OF Arizona from New Mexico New
Mexico as then physically constituted was
held TO be too large for one Territory, and
so was divided. Now il Is proposed to
unite New Mexico and Arizona again and
bring them into the Union as one tre-
mendous State. Is not the objection to
size more pertinent now than It was then
On this point, Senator Ben Wade Of Ohio,
in the course Of a debate in the sente on
February 2Oth, 1868, when the bill for the
erection Of Arizona into an independent
Territory was under consideration, said:
"Ihe Territory Of New Mexico, including
Arizona, is an exceedingly large one, alto
gether too extensive for any municipal
business 10 be transacted in its extreme
portions. After the Territory of Arizona
was acquired il was for some time attached
10 New Mexico for civil purposes, and is
now a part and parcel of that Territory.
The principal point Of population in Ari-
zona is some seven hundred miles from the
seat Of justice in New Mexico.
The number Of square miles embraced in
this Territory Of Arizona is l20,9l2, about
five or six times as large as the State of
Ohio, and the portion of New Mexico from
which it is divided is almost as large, for
the boundary line divides the whole Ter
ritory nearly in the middle,
believe the organization Of this Territory
viii lead immensely 70 the increase Of its
population and TO the development Of its
vast riches that arc latent and undevel-
oped. have no doubt there is as much
necessity for the organization Of this Ter
ritory as any one we have ever organ
ized. Now Mexico and Arizona
constitute a country larger than half Of
Europe,
These Territorities arc too large for one
State This objection alone should be
sufficient, but in addition we have the
strenuous opposition Of Arizona TO being
forced into joint Statehood with New
Mexico. and the solemn pledge of the
nation that Arizona should have separate
Statehood when the time came for her
admission into the family Of States.
Why should the administration insist
upon violating this plighted faith and
forcing this outrage upon the people of
Arizona