Arizona republican., 1908-01-27
PHOENIX. ARIZ.. JANUARY 2, 1907
NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA.

A Washington dispatch yesterday morning stated that assurances had been given representatives of New Mexico. that at the short session of the present congress, that territory would be admitted to statehood in consider ation of a cessation of present activity in that direction by the people of New Mexico.
 The dispatch does not state by whom this assurance was given, but as there is only one person in Washington who presumes to promise legislation or threatens to withhold it, We assume that the president has been in confer ence again with the New Mexican rep resentatives.
 We hope that the promise will be carried out, for as we have often said there are more reasons than one why We should like to See New Mexico ad- mitted whether Arizona is or not.
 But if this promise to New Mexico is worth any more than many others that , have been made to its people in the same relation, there Is in it an in stance of great injustice 10 Arizona. In point of wealth. in the matter of taxation. in the need of people to de- velop Its far superior resources, this territory has stronger claims to ad- mission than New Mexico has. Any distinction that may be made between the territories as aspirants for state hood arises from the cheapest kind of politics and the pettiest sort of per sonal revenge.
 The thing especially desired by those who are juggling in Washington with the statehood question is the control of the delegations from the territory. 10 the national republican convention That has been a burning question dor the last two years and every move with reference to the territories has been made with that end in view. Two , pointed to bring particularly strong New Mexican political ring into sub jection. The worst offense of the ring was not its corruptness but it's antag- onism to the administration. Hager- man succeeded to large extent in cleaning the Augean stables but in do- ing so it was developed that the op- position was in control of the repubn- can political machinery of the terri tory. The president was given his choice, either to continue uphoIding the hands of Hagerman and lose control of the territory. or to abandon Hager- man to his enemies. He promptly did the latter in a characteristically brutal manner
 Still, the control of New Mexico was not assured; there was the strong statehood sentiment to be appeased. Last fall, the president sent for Gov ernOr Curry and it was immediately thereafter announced by the Associated Press that ,he president would en- deavor to put statehood bill through the first session of congress. This was afterward modified by the state ment that the president would do his best. but that he had little hope of accomplishing statehood before the short session. The dispatch of yester- day morning is of she same tenor: the izfa nf hn ft,lf is carried beyond the time for choosing delegates.
 How has Arizona been dealt with? Arizona forcefully rejected the presi- dential will in the matter of joint statehood and so incurred the presi- dential displeasure. Yet Arizona will have delegates in the national conven- tion and Arizona remembers the bitter fight it had with MT. Roosevelt, the stubbornest of all its enemies.
 Soon after the president sent for Governor Curry he sent for Governor Kibbey.s The result of that conference was not hcralded by telegraph; there was no promise of statehood. After the return of Governor Kibbey he gave out an interview in which it was sub stantially stated that the president had been so kind as to modify his dis pleasure Toward the wayward Ari- zonians, to the extent that he would not insist further on joint statehood but in the dim future, not in the pres ent congress, he would do what he could for statehood.
 On this slender and conditional promise the Governor was sent back and was expected to construct before the Arizonians a lovely image of pres idential benevolence before which they should cast their votes for delegates to the national convention.