Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1909-03-08

WASHINGTON, d. c., Mar. 2.-The
taint of Quayism has fallen as blight
upon the Territory of New Mexico,
and for that very reason and no other
the New Mexico and Arizona State
hood bill was strangled by disgusted
senate committee last Saturday. The
result is not only that "Bull" Andrews,
the old Quay lieutenant who organized
the gang" in New Mexico after the
Pennsylvania plan, and who intended
to be senator from that state, has re-
ceived the worst rebuff of his life, but
he is also facing the prospect that a
senate committee may investigate the
connection Of u number of his friends
with the failure of the Enterprise Ma
tional Bank, of Allegheny, Pa.
When the senate committee on ter
ritories met Saturday to consider the
statehood bill that had unanimously
passed the house, evidence so COM
plete and startling was presented of
the corruption that has been spread
through New Mexico by the gang of
which "Bull" Andrews is leader that
not voice was raised in favor of
further effort to deal with the state
hood question for an indefinite period,
- - + B-'-or''nr, chairman of
the committee, was authorized to
present to the senate resolution call
ing for searching investigation into
the charges of wholesale and wide
spread corruption in the Territory.
The charges affected the territorial
government, the legislature, the
courts, the jury system, the land Of
iices and agents, aud, in fact, every
phase of life in New Mexico. Appar-
emily nothing had escaped the infect
ton, according to the mass of affi-
davits before the committee, and
when the session was over the sem
ators fled out of the committee room
without suggestion coming from any
quarter that the statehood bill be re-
ported to the senate before March 4.
The case against the ''gang" that
rules the Territory seemed so COM
plete and convincing that every SEN
ator felt that decency required that
the movement for statehood be indef-
initelv held up, even if President
Roosevelt was committed to it, until
the affairs of the Territory and the
gang that rules it could be thoroughly
dissected. Before the session broke
up Senator Nelson, of Minnesota, one
of the outspOken enemies of the house
statehood bill, informed his colleagues
that, bad as the evidence before them
was, he was prepared to furnish more
evidence and worse if any senator
was not convinced of the necessity of
delay for the purpose of an investiga-
ton by the senate territories COM
mittee.
One of the matters Senator Bever-
idge means to go Into when the inves-
tigation is undertaken is the connec-
ton of the failure of the Enterprise
National Bank, of Allegheny, Pa,
with the financial operations of Bull"
Andrews and the New Mexico gang.
Senator Beveridge, in common with
many other people, believes the real
insides of the connection of the En-
terprise National with the shady en-
terprises of the gang have never been
gone into with determination to get
at the truth by a competent tribunal
or body, and he hopes with tine power
given him under the senate resolution
to bring to light all the details of the
scandal.
Among the securities on which the
Enterprise National Bank made loans
were many of those New Mexican en-
terprises, with which the gang was
and is identified. These securities
would long ago have become of some
substantial value if statehood had
been granted the Territory. But sOlong
as the territorial fo.'m of government
is retained they are practically worth
less.
This is believed to be one of the
main reasons for the desperate lobby
ing for the statehood bill that Bull"
Andrews, Governor Curry and others
have been doing in the last two weeks.
Another is "Bull' Andrews naturally
strong desire to get the seat in the
United States senate which would be
his were statehood allowed in the
present condition of things in the
Territory.
But Saturdays developments make
it certain that there will be another
long wait before statehood is granted,
and in the meanwhile facts may be
developed by the Beveridge investi-
CATION which will eliminate "Bull'
Andrews and the rest of the New
Mexican gang, and, perhaps, land
some of them behind the bars.