The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-05-15

to the TAFT letter to AIdrIch IN which
Mr.. TAFT said he did not understand
that the Republican plattogm of 1908
p1edged Statehood to the two Terri
tories before the regular session of the
next Congress. Digest that statement
and then read the Statehood plank of
the Chicago platform. 1t says:
I'VE favor the immediate admission
Of the Territories Of Arizona and New
Mexico as separate States OF the In
DON" Not a word about waiting till
the session OF the next congress. Not
a syllable or hint of delay. 1t put the
party squarely on record for imme-
date Statehood. Remember that, and
draw your own parallel between that
unqualified declaration and the shifty
dodge OF Mn. Tafts letter, and then
put the two side Thy side with that ex-
journment OF the last Congress when
Beveridge returned ITO the familiar job
OF pulling the Aldrich chestnuts out
about the Statehood drama of Arizona
and New Mexico that scene furnished
the ~burlesque.
tut oSVSTIuE0 V6lI "ulItOuL d pre-
text, void OF " a patch OF bog to
stand on, lax to all back on the POSI-
tion that there we're bad people in
New Mexico, that there were frauds in
New Mexico, Gas ID there weren't
frauds and bad citizens in every State
and Territory OF the Union.) And the
climax Of the ridiculous was reached
when Beveridge was made to act the
part OF the political clown for the sake
of Afdrich. A ~stenographer, Miss Law
Ter, was summoned, and the little girl
testified that ito her own Knowledge
there were some pretty d~isreputable
citizens in New Mexico. And on evil
dence OF no more significance THAN
that, Afdrdch, ~Beveridge, and Mr.. Taft
had found what in their eyes must
serve them as an excuse for fiat re
of the pledge staring them
In the faces from the page of their
own party platform. 1t went down
with the. Republican .Congess-any-
thing would do. for debay-and Con-
gress adjourned with Aruzona and New
Mexico exactly in the situation that
they were before. No Statehood tor
that session.
1AAu VI IoI OHOI f"lOh IoSC tbC
two Territories any guaranty for
future? We will answer that question
by another. What ground has any
body to believe that a party which de-
lfberately overrides its own pledge,
will not continue to %repudiate it? False
in one thing, false in ALL" is a maxim
which applies to a political policy just
as aptly as It does ITO h testimony
of a witness on the sand.
The Republican promise OF im1ne-
diate Statehood for Arizona and New
Mexico had fulfilled it's object-of
catching votes. The fish were in the
| net, and what more did the Aldriches
and the B~everidges want? The Demo
| cratic platform said: Admit Arizona
| and New Mexico at once, and it meant
it. The Republican platform raid the
| same thing, and it did not mean it.
! And it is fraud that cannot be cured.
| No matter what any Republican Con
| gress shall do in this business it can
not get around the fact HI the last
| Republican Congress deliberately
| went back on the plighted word OF its
party-its solemn troth to the Ameri-
| can people. Immediate action was
promised, there was ample opportuni-
ty for it, the Statehood question did
not even call for debate, it had bee
exhaustively canvassed, not only ev-
cry Senator and Representative but
every Intelligent voter in the country
knew the merits of it, 1t had beef
thrashed out by the discussions OF 20
years. In their platforms, the two
great parties we're at one on it. The
voters who respectively stood by those
| platforms, 1t follows as a matter of
necessity were united on 1t. The con
| clusfon is inexorable. The Aldrich-
Bevertde Statehood hold4lp at the last
| session of Congress was not only a di-
rect reputation OF their party's pledge
| but was an o~ut-and-out insult and de-
| fiance of solid national opinion.
Neither is there any possible avoid
ance of the fact that MI. Taft's letter
to Aldrich puts him in the light of n
| who c-ountenances the Aldrich meth
| DDS and makes him a participant In
that colossal wrong of twenty years
| duration-uhe denial of Statehood to
| New Mexico and Arizona.-Loats B.