Arizona republican., 1915-09-16
Where the People
 May Have Hearing
THE FLORENCE STORY
Phoenix, Sept. 15, 1915. he Editor of The Republican.


 To the Editor of The Republican,
 Sir: Any sane person who read roday's Republican must have had a hearty laugh at your expense. I have reference to the lurid story Prison Break
 Do you seriously believe, MT. Ed itor that the readers of The Repub- lican are so easily deceived as to believe all that tommyrot? If they are I sincerely pity them.
 I firmly believe that the story in question was written in its major part at The Republican office. The prejudice and ill-wilI that animates the members of The Republicans ed itorial staff against the Spanish Americans and anything that has a Spanish or Mexican name is fact well known to the Spanish American residents of this community.
 To quote your story:
 In spite of rumors of trouble the town (Florence) is quiet No crowos are observed upon the street corners. and the usual haunts of Mexican labopers are empty. This is taken to be an ominous sign"
 Well, what do you think of that! There are no crowds on the streets and the haunts of Mexicans are cmptyl And did Sheriff Hall look for the Mexicans at their abodes? Did Sheriff Hall know, or did you know, or did anyone else know, that the MeXicans were not at their homes asleep? Nevertheless the sign is om- inous-yes, very.
 The writer has been a resident of Arizona for the past thirty five years, has always been in direct con- tact with the Mexican population, but ne has yet to find a single Amer ican citizen of Spanish or Mexican extraction who may be in any way whatever disloyal to the govern ment he promised to uphold and to the constitution he swore to support when he became a citizen of the United States.
 There have been so many stories published by the newspapers of Ari zona that tend to create strife and race hatred between the so-called Mexicans and other nationalities that the following editorial in the Tucson Citizen of August 16, 1915, will not come amiss:
 "No Danger in Arizona
 Great harm may result in Ari- zona from the wild stories circu- lated throughout the east of an al legged plot to murder all the Anglo Americans in Southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and part of Califor- mia and return the territory to the flag of Mexico.
 "A particularly wild story was sent out from Pueblo, Colo, in which it was alleged that an agent of the Plan of San Diego was in that city recruiting Nexicans for the purpose of carrying out the bloody scheme.
 People in the east will not take the story seriously, insofar as it re- lates to Texas and California, but they will believe dreadful things of the situation in Arizona.
 '"The Spanish American element in Arizona is so loyal to the govern ment of the United States that even the suggestion of such revolt is an insult The people of Arizona had no use for the Mexican government before the Mexican war, and this whole region was annexed to the United States without the loss of a single life.
 Excellent service was rendered by Spanish Americans of Arizona dur ing our war with Spain, they com posing a valuable part of Roose- velt's rough rider regiment.
 Unless it be some deluded MeXi- cans who have come across the bor der and found work in Arizona, there is not a person in all of this state not quite as devoted to the government of the United States as