Bisbee daily review., 1909-10-15
FULL TEXT OF
TAFT'S SPEECH
ON STATEHOOD

The full text OF the speech mace py
President Taft at Phoenix. as sent
10 the associated press, follows:
ct is a new sensation for me to
talk to the people of a territory and
may say thus far 1t is very pleas
ant sensation. / want to congratu-
late You on having such territory.
such energy and such enterprise. AS
called from the Republican party a
pledge that you shall have statehood.
and in order to establish my relation
with you early, l want to say that
so far as / am concerned, am going
to help carry out that promise as
far as / can. Sometimes it is better
to postpone the marriage and every
thing else in a novel to the end, but
always have a habit !. of looking
through TO see whether it ends all
right before begin, and am in
clined to think the ladies before me
generally follow that course.
Now gentlemen and ladies'. for l
don't know whether you are going to
let the ladies vote or not, and 1
speak therefore with due considera-
ton, you are anticipating the pleas
'ure of that independence without
fully understanding. or at least real
izing, the new responsibilities of it
and therefore, if after having made
this announcement, l point out some
difficulties that you are going to have.
you viii excuse me. You have got
TO formulate a constitution after con-
gress says you shall come in and
want to say a word about that con-
stitution. In saying so / give you
an earnest knowledge of the serious
ness with which say that / believe
you will be made a state.
"a constitution is for the purpose
of laying down fundamental limita
lions upon your legislature and your
executive. Now. if you think that
constitutional convention ought tC
lay down all limitations that are or
dinarily included in a statute you are
gong TO make a great mistake. The
greatest constitution ever made is
the constitution of the United States
and you can go through that in yerl
short time.
You take the last constitution thai
was made. 1t is the constitution o
Oklahoma and it is a geological gar
den of cranks. / don't mean to sa,
that it has no good ideas in it. 1t has
The idea of tying down Legislature
| which is an experiment, SO to speak
with laws that are TO be adapted to ;
new territory with a long discourse
imposing all sorts of limitations is /;
mistake which you ought to profit by
Your assumption of statehoO,
throws upon you responsibilities tina
will not enable you thereafter I
| charge il all to the federal govern
ment. When you get into difficultie
out here and have bad officials or you
! legislature gets you. into it, in cour
" or city, you cannot say the faul
is all at Washington, because Wash
ington does not understand it, The
the fault will be on your own head
Il have no doubt other people an
other states have stumbled and ia
len, but you are Americans, you ar
of a race used to self government
used to taking hard knocks in tn
scrool of experience and profiting .
them and if by caution | can restrai
the desire of those most progressive
if / may use the expression. or mos
full of the idea of having limitation
on governpent. can restrain thel
from making a constitution othe
than fundamental law with simpl
rules of limitations, if / can ha
and induce the people of this state
take time to deliberate of that Il
strument, that is to follow them S
long in the history of their state an
its growth and development sha
not have let this morning go withor
its profit
81 thank you for the cordially I
your reception. ] like to look int
your eyes and see. spirit of ente
prise. a spirit of welcome to the ma
: who for the time being represent
the government of the United State
of which you are SO proud and as
recognition by you of the sovereign
of your country and desire by you
/, par respect to him, who for the tin
being represents the dignity of law