USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
160
HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
Mexico. The magnificent efforts of Mr. Rodey were continued in the Fifty-ninth Congress, still under his leadership, though the Territory was represented in that session by William H. Andrews. The latter, how- ever, deferred to his predecessor in the conduct of the fight, so far as the representation of New Mexico was concerned, on account of Mr. Rodey's greater familiarity with the question and his years of devotion thereto. In all the history of this movement, covering a period of over half a century, during which over fifty different measures toward this end were introduced in Congress, Mr. Rodey undoubtedly made the most valiant, determined and convincing series of arguments in behalf of the demand of the people of New Mexico that the country had ever wit- nessed. The Fifty-ninth Congress, at the behest of President Roosevelt and in response to the recommendations made in his annual message to that body, after an investigation into the political and social conditions in New Mexico and Arizona made by a Congressional committee, of which . United States Senator Beveridge was chairman and chief inquisitor, de- termined upon joint statehood for the two territories, under the name of Arizona, if state rights were to be conferred at all upon either or both territories. The paragraph in the President's message recommending this measure read as follows :
"I recommend that Indian Territory and Oklahoma be admitted as one state, and that New Mexico and Arizona be admitted as one state. There is no obligation upon us to treat territorial subdivisions, which are matters of convention only, as binding us in the question of admission to statehood. Nothing has taken up more time in the congress during the past few years than the question as to the statehood to be granted to the four territories above mentioned, and, after careful considera- tion of all that has been developed in the discussion of the question, I recommend that they be immediately admitted as two states. There is no justification for fur- ther delay, and the advisability of making four territories into two states has been clearly established."
This proposition aroused the bitterest feelings on the part of special interests in Arizona-especially on the part of great mining corporations, lumbering interests and others which, under a territorial form of govern- ment, irresponsible to the mass of people, had been enabled to carry on their business without paying a just proportion of the taxes-although a large proportion, probably the majority, of the voters and property-holders of that Territory favored statehood at any price and in any form.
The opposition of these special interests, while directed ostensibly against joint statehood, was generally understood to be against statehood in any form. The question of "Mexican domination" in politics was raised at the beginning. The vastness of the extent of the combined territories was injected into the argument. The actual reasons prompting the oppo- nents of jointure were most carefully kept from view by the representa- tives of Arizona, though repeatedly exposed by the advocates of jointure. The opposition of the great railroad interests, chiefly the Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, while not exhibited openly, was nevertheless so apparent that every momber of Congress understood that feature of the question.
Every possible effort to defeat the measure was made in the Senate by Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio, who adopted tactics to accomplish his de- sign that were dramatic in the extreme. At the various hearings that were
161
THE STATEHOOD MOVEMENT
held before the committee on territories, Mr. Rodey presented the claims of New Mexico in a manner that won many friends for the measure in Congress.
The bill considered by the Fifty-ninth Congress, originating in the House, provided for the admission of Oklahoma and Indian Territory as one state under the name of Oklahoma, and of New Mexico and Arizona as one state under the name of Arizona. Some of the principal features of that portion of the bill relating to New Mexico and Arizona were as follows :
The constitution "shall be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not taxed." They are not citizens, and the new state should not be re- quired to treat them as such until they shall emerge from a condition of wardship and become full-fledged citizens.
"The capital of the state shall temporarily be at the city of Santa Fé, and shall not be changed therefrom before 1915, but that the permanent location of said capital may after such year be fixed by the electors of said state."
The section which exempted all mineral lands from grants made by this act and providing for the selection by the state of an equal quantity of other unappropriated lands of the state in lien thereof, provided that such selection should be made by a commission, under the direction of the secre- tary of the interior.
An amendment incorporated by the House committee increased the appropriation for the constitutional convention of the proposed state from $150,000 to $175,000, with further provision that any expense incurred in excess of said sum of $175,000, instead of $150,000, as is provided in the House bill, shall be paid by said state.
In reporting the House bill to the Senate, Charles Dick, senator from Ohio, chairman of the Senate committee on territorier, said: "The House of Representatives acted favorably upon that recommendation and has passed a bill in accordance therewith. Your committe on territories makes the same recommendation. It has been the well-understood policy of this government since the formation of the Union to treat the territorial condi- tion as temporary only, a sort of preparation for admission into the full bond of union and the responsibilities of statehood as soon as the time has been reached when the applicant can take its pince in the family with sufficient area and population, and possessing not only the possibility, but the probability, of being a worthy member of the Union. As the time comes when a boy should be thrown on his own resources to develop his capabilities and to show the material that is in h'm in order that he may attain the full stature of self-reliant independence, so the time comes when a Territory within the Union should be granted statehood in order that it may assume the responsibility of self-government."
New Mexico had been asking for admission to the Union for half a century. Over fifty bills had been introduced in the two houses looking to that end, and seventeen of these bills had passed one body seventeen times and both bodies three times. In the Forty-third Congress, in 1874, a bill for the admission of New Mexico passed both Houses by more than three- fourths majority, but was lost in conference.
According to the Senate committee report, "some of the bitterest op- Vol. I. 11
162
HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
position on the part of Arizona to joint statehood with New Mexico is the alleged fear of being Mexicanized, as they call it, by the more numerous population of the latter Territory. What they complain of especially is the presence on juries of Mexicans who cannot speak English and require an interpreter. One witness even goes further and fears that the popula- tion of New Mexico, being controlling, might make the Spanish language the court language of the whole of the new state. Such an extreme view, of course, is absolutely ridiculous, for these same witnesses holding these extreme views cannot explain why if the foreign element predominates in New Mexico they speak the English tongue and compel English to be taught in their schools. Another witness says that they desire in Arizona to carry on their procedure in their courts in the English language, and do not wish to be compelled to have upon their juries people who do not speak or understand English. He says, 'We derive our procedure from the common law, while New Mexico conducts her legal affairs under the civil law, which is in existence there today.' This sounds like an echo of the objection raised thirty years ago, that Colorado would be a Mexican state, while, as a matter of fact, there is not a state in the Union today which is more truly American in all the elements which go to make up a great commonwealth than is Colorado. The fear of Mexican domination is an utterly groundless one."
"If there are any interests in Arizona and New Mexico which are enjoying special privilege by reason of their low taxation, it is natural to look for these inter- ests in the ranks of those who oppose a statehood bill. One of the transcontinental lines extending across the state a distance of nearly 400 miles pays to the territory $175 per mile in lieu of all other taxes. This annual payment per mile represents a two per cent tax rate upon a valuation of $5,833-33 per mile. This same railroad, when it crosses the boundary line into California, is taxed at the rate of $14,000 per mile, and another railroad, which is assessed for taxation in New Mexico at about $7,000 per mile, when it crosses the line from New Mexico into Texas, is taxed by that state at $17,000 per mile. More than that, a census bulletin says that these railroads have a commercial value of $39,000 per mile.
"A similar undervaluation exists in the case of mining properties. The governor of Arizona, in his annual report, says it is conceded by estimates made by the most conservative experts that the mines of that territory have not been assessed in the aggregate at five per cent of their value. The actual value of the railroads in Arizona, as going concerns, is estimated to be about $68,000,000. They are assessed for taxation at about six millions, or about nine per cent. In the territory of New Mexico the figures are eighty-six millions and eight millions, showing the value for taxation is, in both territories, about nine per cent of the actual value. This pro- portion between the actual value and the tax value in the case of Arizona mining properties is even more disproportionate. One mine whose annual output is said to be $3,000,000 is assessed for taxation at less than $1,000,000. The great lumber interests in these territories are opposed to joint statehood, and it is charged that their properties are grossly undervalued for purposes of taxation. The stock raisers, whose cattle graze unchecked over the wide public domain of these two territories, are naturally opposed to the bill, because it would put a stop to their free use of the public domain."
The recommendation of the committee was summarized as follows:
"We believe that the promise of statehood made to the people of these two territories nearly sixty years ago should now be kept. The territorial condition is temporary and should be terminated at the earliest practicable moment. We believe that every acre of this broad country, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and extending from Mexico to Canada, should be on an equal footing and enjoy equal opportunities under the law. We believe no discrimination should be made
163
THE STATEHOOD MOVEMENT
against the citizens of any section or corner of this broad area. We believe the time has come when every square mile of this territory should enjoy the privileges of statehood and be represented in this body. The time has come to settle, and to set- tle forever, the status of these territories and of their inhabitants. Arizona has not qualified itself for statehood, and the only alternative is to join it to New Mexico. Arizona has not now the population which entitles it to admission, and it is doubt- ful if it ever will. It would be at least unfair, if not injurious, to the interests of the Union and to the interests of the people of these United States to admit the present territory of Arizona on an equal footing with the other states."
Social, political and industrial conditions in New Mexico during the agitation of the statehood question in the Fifty-ninth Congress were more fully set forth, by a great variety of witnesses than at any previous time during the history of the Territory. It was shown that dissatisfaction with the federal census returns was a very common complaint. Prosperous, thriving cities and communities are rarely satisfied with the official figures of population. By the census of 1900 Arizona was given 122,212 people and New Mexico 193,777. Arizona now claims 175,000 and New Mexico 350,000. Both claims are probably exaggerated. The director of the census estimates that on July 1, 1905, Arizona had 140,000 people, and 225,000 was probably about the number of people living in New Mexico at that time. By the last census Arizona had 26,480 Indians, 1,419 Chinese, and 24,233 foreign born-over 40 per cent of the total population. New Mexico had 13,144 Indians, 341 Chinese, and only 13,567 foreign born- less than 15 per cent of the population.
The annual reports of the agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs show an Indian population in 1904 of 38,567 in Arizona and 17,064 in New Mexico, indicating a much more rapid increase in the Indian population in Arizona than in New Mexico. Arizona, by the last census, contained 14,172 people born in Mexico, while New Mexico had only 6,649, or less than one-half as many. If the census estimate of 140,000 people living in Arizona in 1905 is correct, and we deduct therefrom the Indians reported there in 1904 and the Chinese living there, barely 100,000 people are left who were or could be full-fledged American citizens, and this number is only about one-half the congressional ratio. Arizona, by the last census, had I.I person to the squar mile, New Mexico 1.6 persons.
At the last federal census New Mexico had approximately the con- gressional ratio, and Arizona had about half the number, excluding In- dians not taxed. Arizona, however, had increased in the decade about twice as much, proportionately, as New Mexico, having a growth of 39.3 per cent to 21.9 per cent in New Mexico. In both territories, however, the density of population was only little over one person to the square mile. New Mexico had 166,946 native white born inhabitants and 13,625 foreign born, to 70,508 native white born in Arizona and 24,233 foreign born. In other words, New Mexico had 93 per cent native born and 7 per cent foreign born to 80.3 per cent native born in Arizona and 19.7 per cent foreign born. The foreign born white population in New Mexico was 6.8 per cent, where the figure had stood for a decade, to 18.2 per cent foreign white population in Arizona. The native whites born and living in New Mexico constitute 78 per cent of the population, while those in Arizona were only 38.1 per cent of that population. The foreign-born constitute 7
164
HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
per cent of the population of New Mexico and 19.7 per cent of the population of Arizona. Those born of foreign parentage con- stitute 16.2 per cent of the population of New Mexico and 40.9 per cent of the population of Arizona. The foreign-born males over 21 who could not speak English were 2,833 in New Mexico to 4,911 in Arizona. The native whites born and living in the Territory constitute 78 per cent of the population of New Mexico and 38.1 per cent of the population of Arizona.
The official figures issued by the United States Bureau of Statistics for 1903 show the following :
Wheat production : Arizona, 483,964 bushels, worth $450,087; New Mexico, 822,701 bushels, worth $617,026. Corn production: Arizona, 194,925 bushels, worth $175,432: New Mexico, 956,688 bushels, worth $717,516. Oat production : Arizona, 64,468 bushels, worth $39,325; New Mexico, 345,147 bushels, worth $213,991. Barley crop: Arizona, 555,107 bushels, worth $399,677; New Mexico, 20,282 bushels, worth $12,980. Hay crop: Arizona, $2,855,132; New Mexico, $1,796,948. Irish potatoes : Arizona, none; New Mexico, $94.785. Wool production: Arizona, 4,387,- 500 pounds ; New Mexico, 16,250,000 pounds. Total value of production of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, hay and potatoes: Arizona, $3,919,653; New Mexico, $3,453,246. Value of horses and mules on farms: Arizona, $3,095,484; New Mexico, $2,207.322. Arizona had 10,000,000 cattle in 1903, New Mexico 14,000,000. Arizona had over a million sheep, New Mexico nearly four million. The total value of animals in Arizona was $16,000,000, New Mexico nearly twenty-four millions.
In 1902 Arizona produced $4,000,000 worth of gold; New Mexico only half a million.
Arizona also produced nearly $4,000,000 worth of silver, and New Mexico half a million. On the other hand, New Mexico mined nearly a million tons of coal in 1902, while none is credited to Arizona. The total product of the mines of Arizona the past fiscal year is put at $30,000,000- over half the entire wealth produced. In New Mexico mining ranks third in importance of her interests.
In 1903 Arizona had eleven national banks and New Mexico nineteen ; the capital stock, $605,000 to $1,162,000; individual deposits, $3,355,000 to $5,562,000. Total resources of all banks, $11,000,000 to $10,600,000.
On June 30, 1903, Arizona had a railroad mileage of 1,6801/2 miles. The last annual report of the Interstate Commerce Commission placed the figure, on June 30, 1904, at 1,751.35 miles. The estimate of the governor of the Territory, in his last annual report, is 1,836.94 miles. The railroad mileage of New Mexico in 1903 was 2,399.26 miles ; in 1904, 2,404.66; in 1905, 2,556.44. The combined mileage in these two Territories is about equal to the mileage in the two Territories which it is proposed to admit as the state of Oklahoma. The commercial valuation of the railroad prop- erty in the two Territories is given by the Interstate Commerce Commission for the year 1904 as follows: Arizona, $68,356,000; New Mexico, $86,- 400,000, or an average value per mile in Arizona of $39,000; in New Mexico, $34,500.
The production of gold and silver in New Mexico by calendar years
165
THE STATEHOOD MOVEMENT
from 1880 to 1904, from data supplied by the director of the mint (the figures for silver being the commercial value, which is about half the coining value), has been as follows :
Gold.
Silver.
1880
$
130,000
$ 425,000
1881
185,000
275,000
1882
150,000
1,800,000
1883
280,000
2,845,000
1884
300,000
3,000,000
1885
800,000
3,000,000
1886
400,000
2,300,000
1887
500,000
2,300,000
1888
602,000
I,200,000
188g
1,000,000
1,461,000
1890
850,000
1,680,808
1891
905,000
1,713,13I
1892
950,000
1,521,390
1893
913,100
592,679
189
567,751
817,368
1895
492,200
898,320
1896
475,800
889,277
1897
356,500
697,535
1898
539,000
549,883
1899
584,100
650,73I
1900
832,900
561,519
19OI
688,400
728,436
1902
531,100
591,127
1903
244,600
233,632
1904
381,900
277,500
The Territory, for purposes of taxation, does not return its property at more than one-fifth of its real value. The amount returned for pur- poses of assessment at the present time is $43,000,000, but the reasonable assessed valuation of the Territory might be stated as follows :
7,000,000 acres of railroad land, with its coal, iron and timber, at $5. .$35,000,000
7,000,000 acres of private patented land grants, with its timber and, in some
instances, its minerals, at $5.
35,000,000
2,000,000 acres agricultural land, at $10. 20,000,000
3,000 miles of railroad and telegraph line, with its franchises, equipment, machinery, shops, etc., at $30,000.
90,000,000
Patented mines and plants
25,000,000
25,000,000 pounds of wool, at 8 cents
2,000,000
100,000 head of horses, at $10.
1,000,000
1,000,000 Angora goats, at $3.
3,000,000
City lots and buildings.
25,000,000
Stocks of goods ..
15,000,000
Household furniture of all kinds.
5,000,000
Jewelry
2,000,000
Cash, bonds, stocks, mortgages, etc.
10,000,000
Product of mines-coal, iron, gold, silver, copper, lead, etc.
7,000,000
Product of farms-alfalfa, wheat and other crops.
5,000,000
All other kinds of property
5,000,000
Total
$329,000,000
As it will be seen, this tabulation gives the Territory property of the value of $329,000,000 to be taxed after it becomes a state.
7,000,000 sheep and goats, at $2.
14,000,000
1,500,000 head of cattle, at $20.
30,000,000
166
HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO
The number of persons contributed to Arizona and New Mexico by different states is shown by the following table (census of 1900) :
New
State
Arizona.
Mexico.
Alabama
408
395
Arkansas
770
745
California
3,065
369
Colorado
507
2,131
.
Connecticut
104
76
Delaware
19
16
District of Columbia
40
27.
Florida
47
32
Georgia
352
29I
Idaho
14I
31
Illinois
1,973
1,747
Indiana
1,078
912
Indian Territory
I13
266
Iowa
I,III
981
Kansas
1,166
1,559
Kentucky
927
754
Louisiana
192
216
Maine
406
156
Maryland
156
III
Massachusetts
311
225
Michigan
5.58
303
Minnesota
237
123
Mississippi
420
371
Missouri
2,636
2,870
Montana
: 57
20
Nebraska
237
236
New Jersey
176
93
New York
1,352
998
North Carolina
186
172
North Dakota
13
9
Ohio
1,567
1,319
Oklahoma
46
120
Oregon
315
71
Pennsylvania
1,081
1,070
Rhode Island
32
32
South Carolina
74
96
South Dakota
41
33
Tennessee
661
763
Texas
3,743
7,479
Utah
1,910
339
Vermont
152
117
Virginia
439
377
Washington
103
39
West Virginia
136
I44
Wisconsin
417
299
Wyoming
36
27
Scattering
320
335
Americans born abroad
177
139
Nevada
197
19
New Hampshire
87
74
1 +
The same is true as to foreign countries. The number of English- Canadians in Arizona in 1900 was 1,116; in New Mexico, 680. English born in Arizona, 1,561: New Mexico, 968. French born: Arizona, 253; New Mexico, 298. German born: Arizona, 1,245; New Mexico, 1,360. Irish born: Arizona, 1,159; New Mexico, 693. Italian born: Arizona, 699; New Mexico, 661. Mexican born: Arizona, 14,172; New Mexico,
167
THE STATEHOOD MOVEMENT
6,649. Scotch born: Arizona, 399; New Mexico, 427. Swedes: Arizona, 342; New Mexico, 244. Total foreign born: Arizona, 21,233; New Mexico, 13,625. Total illiterates: Arizona, 27,307; New Mexico, 46,971. The strongest plea in behalf of the application of New Mexico for admission was made by Bernard S. Rodey, ex-delegate to Congress, during the hearings before the two committees of the Fifty-ninth Congress. The iniquities to which the people were subjected under a territorial form of government were clearly elucidated by Mr. Rodey. He made the astonish- ing statement that Arizona had at least $400,000,000, and perhaps $600,- 000,000 worth of property subject to taxation, and yet in 1905 but $42,- 000,000 was returned to the assessors. In New Mexico he placed the figures at $350,000,000 and $40,000,000, respectively. He showed the con- sequences to be that in both territories, because of these returns, the rates of taxation run from three to as high as seven per cent. Twenty years ago the returns for taxation in New Mexico were $45,000,000.
"After we added $100,000,000 worth of property through railroad building, mines. plants, lumber and the building of cities and towns and through breeding thousands of cattle and sheep," said Mr. Rodey, "it happens that in the good year 1905 it was only forty millions. I will point to some conditions in Arizona: Forty-two million dollars' worth of prop- erty has been returned out of $400,000,000 worth in Arizona, and for years and years $40,000,000 has been returned in New Mexico out of $350,- 000,000 worth; and the secretary of the interior in his last report places the value of railroads in New Mexico at $90,000,000 and the value on the assessment rolls at $9,000,000. It is about equal to that in Arizona."
He also showed that there were hundreds of miles of railroad in New Mexico which paid no taxes at all. Referring to the Santa Fé railroad, he continued :
"It owns a land grant that reaches twenty miles on each side of its track along this 500 miles of road I have been mentioning in the two terri- tories-that is, it owns checkerboard or alternate sections of the land, save where it has sold quantities of the same. In some instances it owns land as much as forty miles away from its track, which it received as an in- demnity for land lost to it within the twenty-mile strip by prior appropria- tion or otherwise. It has turned out that checkerboard semi-arid sections of land are not very valuable for general purposes ; so the railroad has for years, for itself and those it has sold the land to, been making strenuous efforts to induce Congress to permit it to bunch its land into large, com- pact bodies, so that it might sell it in large tracts to lumbermen, stockmen or others who might want it. It does not require much of an imagination to make a guess that it would like to have all this done and completed before the new state of Arizona proposed by this bill shall have had any opportunity to select its twenty odd millions of acres of school lands out of the remaining public domain. It stole a march on the Territory of New Mexico in the last three years on this subject, and in some manner secured the creation of what is known as the San Francisco Mountain Forest Re- serve in Arizona, which included, as it is said, about a million and a half acres of its checkerboard land. It immediately got scrip issued to it for this land, and sold it to expectant and waiting purchasers over in eastern New Mexico, who at once gobbled up a principality of New Mexico's best remaining land along the Texas line on our east. The land it gave up had,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.