Arizona republican., 1909-11-22
PHOENIX. ARIZONA. NOV. 22. 1909
A Chinese Wall Knocked Down

A Chinese Wall Knocked Down
 Believing ourselves to be on the eve of statehood, We have for some weeks been discussing in a general way the subject of constitution In the course of the discussion the name of the state of Oklahoma has been ire quently mentioned. and favorably by those who suppose that because it is the latest state all human wisdom gain ed by the experience of ages has been embodied in it's governmental scheme The proponents of the oklahoma sys- lem have been mainly attracted by the fantastic features of its constitu- lion and its subsequent legislation. which would doubtless have been in corporated in the constitution if it had then occurred To its founders.
 It is brought to light by a recent federal court decision that there is a law in that state. passed to meet an emergency not foreseen by the constitution makers. prohibiting the transportation of oil or natural gas by means Of pipelines beyond the boundaries of the state.
 Various persons and companies at great cxpense had secdred wells ith- .n the state from private individuals and from Indian agents, and had con- strucetcd lines to the border. At that point they were met by the hastily constructed law and at the line of crossing their pipes were torn up.
 Suits were brought against Governor Haskell and other state officers to enjoin them from an unconstitutional in reference with the rights of property It was shown among other things that there was a large area of natural gas in the state; that the wells already in operation were capable of producing a billion cubic feet a day; that this was much in excess of the demand of the people of the state and that the excess was needed by the people of Kansas.
 The defendants demurred to the complaint, and on that the case came mp. The opinion of the court in which the demurrer was overruled covers thirty pages 4 synopsis of it would not be enlightening. but the concluding words in rebuke of the narrowness of Oklahoma are not with out interest to Arizonians at this juncture:
 And We may be permitted to fur ther remark: Would it not be most singular indeed to record in our na- tional history and transmit to genera tiOns Of readers yet unborn. the fact that Oklahoma, rich. not alone in material wealth and natural resources. but in her splendid citizenship, in the very year in which she was admitted into this union on terms of perfect equality and unity, there to rest for ever in peace and safety, free from internal strife and external violence. permitted to participate in the coun- scls of this great nation and to par take of its benefactiOns permitted to share on equal terms with her sister states in that pride of memory of the noble souls that redeemed this land from the wilderness and kept 1t free from the hand Of the oppreSsor. Of those matchless intellects who conceiv- 1 ed and fashioned our form of gov i ernment and guided it safely through i | he establishment of the first enduring l representative republic the world has ! ever known, Of those heroic spirits | who died that this nation might live. | one and inseparable. and that the 1 principles of free government might { not perish from the earth permitted, l on her own invitation, to share in | the grandeur of its national accom- | plishments and the magnificence of its 1 international pOwer-that this great | state would, even if she could. not out ! of her poverty or necessity, but out ! of the abundance Of her mineral | wealth, lock herself up as within q | self imposed Chinese wall, and thus refuse to share in her plenty and ex- change natures benefactions with her I sister states, in return for the many faVors conferred upon here by this | nation? May it not be justly and timely inquired: What has become of | our vaunted western hospitality and 1 our boasted southern chivalry2 For. in Oklahoma, more than in any other state of this union. west and south Il unite. We conceive the fulfillmont of II he design here attempted to be neither within the limits of possibility of ac- cOmplishment under the constitution and laws of our common country nor Il the end sought. desirable tD the state, even if accomplished