The Cordova daily times., 1921-04-21

AGITATION TO CREATE STATE
 NOT NEN IDEA

SPOKANE, April 21 (by Associated l Press) ).-Agitation for formation of a
 new state from counties of northern
 Idaho and eastern Washington, to be
 carried on for the next two years in
 the territory affected by a commits
 sion of Idaho citizens under au-
 thority of the last Idaho legislature | has existed in one form or another
 for more than half century.
 As early as January, 1861, me-
 morial to congress, asking for the
 creation of the territory of Walla
 Walla" from parts of the territory
 east of the Cascade mountains, was
 brought up in the Washington terri
 torial legislature, but lost. Two years later the legislature, in compliance
 with petitions signed by the people
 cinsidered a bill to submit to the voters a constitution for the pro-
 posed new state of Idaho. After
 having inserted Washington" for ! AAoIio HI ltlC DliIJ iOWSNGI, IuG IGS-
 islature killed the measure.
 l This was followed by the creation
 by congress of Idaho territory, giving l Washington territory the present eastern boundary of the state. Agi-
 tation for separation of the rorthern
 counties of Idaho from the rest of the state was soon precipitated within
 the new territory, however, when the territorial legislature, in 1864, per manently located the capital, which
 had been at Lewiston, in the north ern part, at Boise, in the southern
 section, and this has. been continued 1 intermittently to the present time
 Meanwhile, in the Washington ter ritorial legislature, the agitation flared up on occasions. In 1868, the
 legislature adopted a memorial to congress which asked that the pan handle" of Idaho. created by the for nation of the territory of Montana, 1 be returned to Washington. This me- morial recited the geographical bar riers between the northern part of Idaho and the capital, and declared ! that "the commercial, social and po- litical interests of the people of said
 northern portion of Idaho are identi- cal with those of the people of Wash | ington territory" This argument is, in the main, the same as that advanced at the present time by advocates of the formation of new state. Similar memorials were adopted byl the Washington legislature in suc- | ceeding years, and in 1875 it sub mitted to the people a proposal for statehood. This was approved, and in the constitutional convention which met three years later were two rep resentatiyes of northern Idaho. Al though the constitution was adopted by the people at the next election, congress refused to create the new state.
 The nearest that advocates of "se- cession" of northern Idaho ever came to realizing their hopes was in 1886, when only the lack of presi- dential approval prevented 1t. The Idaho territorial legislature, in 1884, had memorialized congess for an- nexation of the northern counties to | Washington, and in the following election both political parties in both Washington and Idaho declared for such annexation. A bill providing for the separation passed both houses of the Forty-ninth congress, but failed to receive the approval of President Cleveland.
 Other bills introduced in the same session of congress, but which failed | of passage, provided for division of the Idaho panhandle" between Washington and Montana, by annex ing that part of it north of the filth parallel of latitude, included in, the five present northernmost counties of the state, to the latter territory.
 The present agitation provides for separation of the ten northern coun- ties of Idaho and part of eastern Washington and their admission to the union as the state of Lincoln. A memorial to this effect was intro- duced in the last session of the Wachin pt0u Iepja1 q t,1ra hut foilad Of