Las Vegas optic. (East Las Vegas, N.M.) 1908-1921, 1909-10-16

New Mexico. You have here, in a
| sense, the Oldest community in the
UNITED States; you have been strug-
Cling since the fifteenth or sixteenth
century for statehood, but you we're
promised statehood, if recollect it,
in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo;
at least there was provision there
looking to taking in this country and
making it part of the United States,
as a state. You have population
large enough, but, my friends, when
you think of statehood it is like the
aspiration of a boy to become a man,
and to become the head of a family,
and all the independence that that
| gives; but it also entails some bur-
dens; when you become man you
have got to support yourself, you
have got to support your wife, your
children, If you are lucky enough to
! have them; so it Is as to statehood;
you have got to select your own Off
cials. You think that is easy, and
and you do not like to have them Sc
lected by somebody else, but perhaps
the time will come when you will get
some officials in, selected by some
body that differs with you. The ma
jority might be such that you won't
| like the majority; that sometimes
happens. Then you will have to
stand it. You cannot then put it on
to Washington. You cannot say if
they only understood what the needs
of New Mexico were then we would
have good officials all the time; you
7 n ern+ 10 IA k1a
/ You have got to do something else
lyou have to pass a constitution that
shall serve as a fundamental law, for
a hundred years, it may be, because
constitutions are not easily amended
And you are going to have introduced
into that convention a great many
gentlemen who have patent nostrums
that are going to make people good
and just by statute; that are going to
accomplish everything by law and
who intend to put so many limitations
on your legislature that it cannot
move at all, and now you have got to
meet that issue, and If you want to
get in with a constitution that bucks
and gags you, and ties you in every
way, that is the kind of responsibility
you have got to assume. but / hope
you won't. | hope you won't because
| mean to become as responsible as
! can for your admission into the|
United States, and I want you to
come in and stand up like other states
without the burden Of constitution
that is mere statutory provision
for details, but with a fundamental
law that shall be like the constitution
Iof the United States, simple, compre-
hensive, with proper limitations as
to vested rights, and personal .liber-
ty, but not going into all the details
that a present condition presents that
may cease to be of the slightest i'm
pOrtance except as burdensome re-
striction in the next ten years. In
other words, make yourselves states
men and send statesmen TO your con
vention when you draft constitution.
The trouble is when you are making
constitution you will take any old
thing if you can get statehood. |
know that. Well, there ought to be
a provision by which you should first
vote on your constitution, and then
vote on your officers, and 1 hope you
have strength of character enough to
vote down poor constitution and
wait until you can get good one by
a new convention. If you could get
one, why then come in with it, but
lif you do not, then have courage
enough to vote it down. don't know
whether you will have or not. You
have that yet to prove. like to look
into your faces and see that you are
Americans, and you are just as cons
cious that you are going to be the
most perfect state in the Union as
possible. You do not assume that
these burdens with respect to state
hood amount to anything give
us statehood and everything else is
heaven beyond. Well, you will find
that little different when you get
into it, but it is no reason why your
desire for independence or statehood,
for larger measure of self govern
ment should be denied to you, but I
ask you, in your own interest, not as
a partisan, not representing any par
ticular party, but anxious that every
state that comes into the Union
should add to the force, the intellig-
ence and loyalty of that Union. Anx-
ious for that, ask you to be most
careful when you make up your con-
stitution and when you select your
first state officers. Now, my friends,
you have got great state here.
would not guess it passing through
it as | have today-it looks to be
very much like desert with very
few scrubby growths on it. But /
have not met New Mexican, have
not met man from Arizona, have
not met man from Colorado, have
not met man from Montana, have
not met a man from Idaho, have not
met a man from Washington or
Southern California that he does not
have in his pocket a paper contain
ing the statistics showing how many
hundreds of thousands or millions Of
acres of land can be made to blossom
as rose and produce the best fruit,
the best alfalfa, and the best cereals
in the world If only you can get
water on it and If only the govern
ment will help you to do 1t. Well,
that is the kind of spirit that does
things and / like to see It. and I do
not care If the man from Idaho, from
Colorado or New Mexico and Arizona
Continued on PAGE 81