Weekly journal-miner., 1911-01-18
DEMOCRATIC LEADER |S
 AGAINST CONSTITUTION

At any rate, Mark Smith and his fellow Democrats oppose MT. Hunt on this point, it is declared, and be- lieve that the delegates are in honor bound, if returned to the convention, to pay some attention to the wishes of the people as recorded at the polls.
 May Take the Stump.
 A movement is on foot in the Gila valley and elsewhere in the Terri tory to invite Mark Smith to make series of public addresses at an early date, provided he receives an expression from the President con- firming the very general report that MT. Taft has declared with great emphasis that he will not approve the Constitution in it's present form.
 For Statehood First.
 Sentiment throughout the Terri tory, as it has been sounded by Mark Smith and other Democrats, who de- clare that they are for Statehood first" even if it is necessary to mod fly the Constitution until such time as Arizona can get into the Union, is overwhelmingly in favor of State hood.
 Campaign of Mirepresentations.
 Evidence has been unearthed to show that a deliberate campaign of misrepresentation has been under taken with respect to the Enabling Act and at least one of the large corporations of the Territory, which has always opposed Statehood, is said to be party to this plot. The people have been informed, by word of mouth, in some counties, and in others by communications bearing the names of prominent Democrats, not a thousand miles from Globe, that if the people vote down this Constitution, the act will kill State hood.
 The Opposite Is True.
 Of course, the opposite is true, and the Democrats who are for State hood first are endeavoring to cor rect this impression by quoting the Enabling Act, which provides that in the event that the people shall vote down the Constitution when it is sub mitted on February 9th, the conven- tion shall reconvene and draft an- other which shall then be submitted. If that is approved by the people it then goes to Washington to be passed upon by the President and Congress.
 Taft Not Ambiguous.
 President Taft has not been am biguous in his remarks about the present Constitution. He told Gov ernor Sloan, with characteristic em- phasis, that he would disapprove it promptly if it came to him in' its present form. He followed this up by denouncing the recall feature and the attack upon the courts as vic ious, and a step toward anarchy. He not once, but on two or three oecas- ions. He repeated his remarks and added a few more to the same eff feet. to other residents of the Terri tory who have recently visited the White House, and expressed to them his disappointment that Arizonans should thus fritter away the only opportunity they have ever had to- get Statehood.
 Has Always Been Clear.
 The President has declared over and over again that the only hope Arizona has of Statehood is for the people to vote down the present Con stitution and send the same delegates back with instructions to frame a law that will be accepted at Wash ington. Leading Democratic Sena- tors from the South are urging their Arizona friends to the same effect.
 Colonel Roosevelt has confessed his disappointment and opposition to the insidious attack upon the courts and other undesirable features of the Con- stitution. Judson Harmon of Ohio and Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, the two leading Democratic candi- dates for the Presidency in 1912, are quoted as being thoroughly disgusted with the attack upon the judiciary contained in the Constitution, and with the wholesale denuneiation to which the judges, not only of Ari- zona, but of the entire country, have been subjected by certain prominent members of the convention. Sena- +or GmoOt of TItah is OutSDOken in