The Estancia news. [volume] (Estancia, Torrance County, N.M.) 1904-1912, 1910-02-25
'STHT6H0OD WITH 4 STRING
POOR CONSOLATION
Senate Bill according to Las Vegss Daily, Grants Statehood
Terms which Cannot and 81 ould mot be Accepted by
Citizens of the Territories
NEW STHTE MUST shy PLEhSE ALWRyS
Unless Amended the Bill Would Work Hardships on People fo
All Time to Come by Admitting Territories on
Unequal Footing with Older States

/ the seat Of government. But
that is not the worst. On page
six there is a paragraph of mean
Jingless jargon about the reclama-
tion act, and on page seven there
is a provision that the state con-
stitution shall never be amended
as to this jargon without the con-
sent of congress. 1t means that
the sovereign state of New Mex
leo will be absolutely precluded
and prohibited from amending
it's own constitution without first
saying please to congress. That
is certainly statehood with a rope
tied to it. But the worst is not
yet.
A paragraph relating to lands
THAT are granted to the state
reads as follows: Said lands shall
not be sold or leased, in whole or
in part, except to the highest and
best bidder at public auction
to be held at the county seat of a
county wherein the lands to be
affected, or the major portion
thereof, shall lie, notice of which
public auction shall first have
been duly given by advertisement
which shall set forth the nature,
time and place of the transaction
to be had, with a full description
of the lands to be offered, and be
published once each week for not |
.!9a.. han ten consecutive weeks
in newspaper of general circu-
lation published regularly at the
state capital, and that newspaper
Of like circulation which shall
then be regularly p1blishednear-
est the location Of such lands so
offered Now just study that a
and think about t e
things that follow. Under an
other provision not more than
$40 acres can be leased in any one
tract. At the present time the
lands in this territory lease for 5
cents per acre per year on an
average. That is, every GAO acre
tract brings a gross rental of $32.
Now the bright business man who
framed the above clause in the
act has provided means
to safeguard the leasing of our
state lands that will cost almost
f not all they are worth to the
state, in gross income. Verify,
the people of New Mexico are so
Dad, so little to be trusted that
he leasing Of lands must be so
,afeguarded that all the revenue
will be eaten up in the expense
If administration. The excess is S
% go to the school fund, so the ]
lct says, but we are afraid that
after a year or two of experience
lnder such an act the school fund
will owe money to the public land i
,und. Il
And there is still another wise i
On page seventeen of S
his bill it is provided that no '
ands which are now or may |
hereafter become valuable for the /
development of water power and
which have heretofore be en- /
granted to the territory or are by {
his bill granted to the state,
shall be subject to disposition by
.he state, and any conveyance or
of such lands by said
state or any officer thereof shall
be absolutely null and void. If +;
this is to be interpreted correctly
it means that if fifty years from
now piece of land in San Mi
guel county shall be found to
have become valuable for the de-
velopment of water power it [
would have to be given up, and
every transfer through which it