The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-03-22
RESULTS BEYOND
ALL EXPECTATIONS.

nG00GlS 5EN0FN1
ALL EXPECTATIONS.
Behold, how great a matter a lit
tie fire kindleth."
The legislature of New Mexico mas
passed, and the Governor has signed,
a law to prohibit gambling in this
Territory. A resistless public sentl-
meat demanded the passage of this
measure, and the legislature acted in
defense of it's own good name rather
than from disinterested patriotism
The majority of members of the as
sembly were personally and 1nd1vld-
uaIly opposed to such legislation, but
as representatives of h people they
realized that they must carry out the
wishes of their constituents in this
matter or be condemned by an over
whelming public sentiment. the
awakening of the people had acn
a stage where it became good poll
tics" to do the right thing-and II
was done. 1t would have been just
as good politics to have passed some
other measures demanded by the
people-but for the present we are
discussing the gambling question Ma
nv members of the council, with Mr..
Spiess in the lead, and a few MEM
beers of the lower house. were patriot
ically and morally in favor OF pro-
hibiting gambling, and deserve credit
for their honest, aggressive eforts,
even as others should not be denied
commeadatioa for the most reluctant
obedience to n demands of the peo-
pie.
The Record observes that the AS
sociated Press correspondent at San
ia Fe yesterday gave Governor Hag-
erman credit for the complete result.
While we shall not disparage the
achievements of the Governor, it is
well for us to ref1ect once in awhile
on such texts as the one quoted at
the beginning of this article.
No one man can claim the victory
in this se-n even the one who
started the re-for after all it was
the great confiagration of public SEN
time1t that finally triumphed. Howev-
er. the first continuous and success
full campaign against licensed gam
bling in his Territory began in the
Pecos Valley (where Governor Hag-
erman happens to reside) several
months before Mr.. Hagerma1 was
ever publicly mentioned as a possible
candidate for Governor of New Next
co-and Mr.. Hagerman in his first
public speech after the announcement
of his appointment congratulated the
city of Roswell on the fact that May
or j. F. Hinkle and the city council
had abolished licensed gambling in
Roswell. Governor Hagerman was eth
er in Arizona or at Washington wnen
the campaign against gambling was
at its height ere and when action
was taken by the Democratic city ad-
ministration to abolish the evil. We
are going to give the Governor credit
for more than any one other person
for the grand contamination. He fol
lowed a broad trail, however, at the
finish, while those who scared up he
first rabbit could hardly force a way
through the underbrush.
Spasmodically, and sometimes we
fear in a spirit of blackmail, various
papers had for years protested feebly
or ~threateningly against licensing
crime i'm New Mexico. But either the
time was not ripe, the effort i1sin-
cere, or the advocates of decency not
persistent enough to accomplish any
thing.
The move against gambling was
growing gradually in Western states,
and of course ecnoes of things hap
pe7ing near US were heard occasional
ly without creating any perceptible
impression. The city of Ell Paso, Tex,
abolished gambling, and as a kind of
'.feeler" the Roswell Daily Record re-
published several editorial comments
from Ell Paso papers, and added re-
AAAGA ~ - 0W-E 1S[A~
ticles were re-published by other New
Mexico papers about the same time,
but there was no general move to
start a campaign against gambling.
The articles IN the Record, however,
started Mayor ]. F.. Hinkle of Ros-
well to thinking, n he suggested to
the editor of the Record that the agi-
tation be continued a little while to
ascertain 'Show the people would
take it" The city council, with George
L. WHY'S as one of the leading
champions, had been discussing high
license as a NEAR of reducing the
number of saloons in Roswell. To
abolish gambling fitted into this plan
perfectly, and Mayor Hinkle saw the
point at once. The Record really con-
sidered the proposition almost hope
less at the time; but encouraged by
the fact that the majority of the
council members were in favor of the
measure, willingly undertook to
arouse public sentiment to support
the city administration in adopting
a high license and anti-gambling ord
nance. 1t is perhaps unnecessary to
mention here all the men who finally
voted for 4 ordinance, for everybody
knows who they were 4 will hold
their names in grateful memory for
years to come as the men whose OFF,
cial action constituted one of the first