Arizona republican., 1908-02-15
PHOENIX AR1z. FEBRUARY IS, 1908
THE REPUBLICAN AND THE
 PRESIDENT.

l.
 The cuckoo administration press finds in The Republicans opposition to the scheme for an instructed dele gation. only a manifestation of its opposition to the policies of President Roosevelt IL sees in the course of The Republican in the matter of the delegation only another pretext for de- nying the infallibility of the occupant of the White House.
 The readers of The Republican. and they embrace nineteen twntieths of the residents Of this valley-know better than that. They know that The Re publican has no ulterior motive in It's opposition to the presidents schemes and they know to a day when The Republican ceased to regard MT. Roosevelt as the sincere friend of Ari- zona That was the day of the publi- cation of his message to the Fifty ninth congress urging, or rather order ing congress to join New Mexico and Arizona together. offering no other argument than the statement that the good of the territories was not to be considered by the congress in a matter affecting the nation.
 Previous to the transmission of that message The Republican was an ar dent supporter of the president, and believed in his honesty and his ire quently protested friendliness to the west in general and in particular to Arizona His attitude in that message at once marked him as our most pow erful enemy. far more powerful than his chief lieutenant, Senator Beyer. idge in the project to wipe this terri. tory off the map.
 The subsequent course of the pres ident during and after the long state hood fight, did not lessen our estimate of him as the arch enemy of Arizona. There was the badgering from the White House of members of congress, who were disposed to fairness and op- posed to the outrage contemplated by
  over of many of those members by promise of appointments and by the threats of withholding appointments. by a president, who. within the last week has had occasion to deny that he has ever made use of federal patronage for unworthy purposes.
 There was also the maligning by the president of representatives from Ari- zona who were in Washington to as- sist in preventing the outrage. The committee sent from Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott and other Arizona towns was designated by President Roosevelt as a corporation lobby"
 All of the foregoing is a matter of record known of all men at that time, followed the story of the statehood i fight.
 We all remember the bitterness of l the president in defeat and his finger 1 ing, prepOsterous hope that the voters l of Arizona would do at last what Sen ator Foraker and our other friends in | the senate had prevented him from do- | ing. We remember his letters to resi- dents of the territory implOring sup 1 port of jointure, and failing such sup f port. threatening the territory with Il territorial vassalage at least during his incumbency. We remember also his declaration that in the unexpected Il event that a single statehood bill II should pass congress he would veto it. Il All this is why The Republican op- poses the present administration scheme for an instructed delegation. The handspring of the movement is the wish of President Roosevelt. The record of the last two years furnishes us with abundant reason to believe that any plans of the president re- specting Arizona should be frustrated Il by Arizonians.
 This plan if carried out, would leave us exposed again to the danger of joint statehood deprived of protection against it We do not believe that there is a thinking man in Arizona who be- lieves that the position of the president on that subject has honestly under gone a change; who does not believe that he would urge jointure again if Il the opportunity should offer, after the national convention, with as much and virulence as he did two years ago. III