USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 42
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The decent, honest element has become apathetic after years of dis- mal failure in its effort to bring about reform in the administration of public affairs. That the moral sense of a great proportion of the people has become blunted, even deadened, is shown by the fact that not only are the corrupt officials who have been removed by Governor Hagerman lauded as heroes and martyrs and in some cases returned to posts of honor in their home communities, but that they are frequently retained on the pedestal in social affairs as well. The younger generation, as a whole, graduates from the political school lately at the forefront, is little, if any, better than the generation which soon must retire. The only present hope of the people who are supporting the government lies in the young man who became governor at the beginning of the year 1906. One of the prin- cipal questions of those not in the confidence of the deposed political ring is: "Will the ring, as a last resort, endeavor to unseat enough legally elected representatives in the legislature, if necessary, to enable them to nullify the veto power of the governor?"
The history of politics in New Mexico since the establishment of civil government, in 1851, is not an unbroken record of integrity and devoted public spirit. Twice only since the foundation of the Republican party- during the administrations of President Cleveland-have Democratic ex- ecutives been installed in power; and throughout one of these administra- tions, that of Governor Edmund G. Ross, the most important acts of the executive were easily nullified by a pliable and utterly corrupt legislature created by the unseating of a sufficient number of men of doubtful sub- serviency to render the herding of the entire body easy and certain. Now, with an untried young man in the executive office, the old tactics employed for the defeat of Governor Ross apparently are about to be revived. But as the intentions of Governor Hagerman become more apparent, new friends are arising in various portions of the Territory, determined to join hands with him in his fight against corruption, and assist him in his efforts to right the wrongs, which for so long a period, the public has suffered.
For the first time in the history of the nation, the President, in May, 1906, elected a citizen of a territory of the United States for the Federal bench, when President Roosevelt sent to the senate the nomination of Bernard S. Rodey, of Albuquerque, to be judge of the district court of Porto Rico. A noteworthy fact in connection with this appointment was that not only was the appointee a native of a foreign country, but during all the years of his American citizenship his residence in a territory has prevented him from exercising the privilege of voting for any candidate
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for the presidency. In this respect his status is undoubtedly anomalous among occupants of the Federal or quasi-Federal bench.
For many years Judge Rodey has been one of the most conspicuous figures in political life in New Mexico. He was born in county Mayo, Ireland, in 1856. In 1862 he was brought to Canada by his parents, and subsequently resided with them in Vermont, where he was reared to a farming life. He began his independent career as a stenographer and clerk in a railroad office in Boston, Massachusetts, where he also began reading law. In the spring of 1881 he came to Albuquerque as private secretary to and stenographer for the general manager of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, and a year later was appointed official stenographer for the second judicial district of New Mexico. Other lawyers say that he was one of the most expert stenographers in the country. In the mean- time he continued his self-education in the law, was admitted to the bar in 1883, and has since practiced continuously in Albuquerque, with the exception of the time devoted to his official duties as delegate in Congress. Many of his professional contemporaries, and many more laymen, have paid him the compliment of characterizing him as an absolutely honest law- yer-a compliment that is best appreciated by those only who have a clear conception of the nature of the environments of men in public life in New Mexico. While a member of the territorial council he introduced and secured the passage of a large number of laws that were of the highest importance to the legal profession, and several laws for the general ad- vancement of the public interests, notably that establishing the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He also framed the New Mexico con- stitution of 1889, which formed the groundwork of the proposed state con- stitution of 1906.
Mr. Rodey served as delegate in the fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth Congresses, to which he was elected as the nominee of the Republican party. The greatest effort of his life, an incident most noteworthy in the annals of the southwest, was the historic fight made by him in behalf of the application of New Mexico for statehood. No other man in either of the territories of New Mexico and Arizona has made so exhaustive a study of political and economic conditions in the southwest, and his knowl- edge of the needs of his own territory is most comprehensive and absolute. He was a candidate for a third term as delegate, in response to what ap- peared to be an overwhelming sentiment in the ranks of his party. This campaign included a dramatic incident which is probably without parallel in the annals of American politics.
During his two terms in Congress at the almost complete sacrifice of his small, though independent fortune, accumulated during a legal practice of nearly a quarter of a century, he waged the most aggressive fight for statehood for New Mexico that has ever been known to follow the application of any territory for commonwealth rights. There appeared to be no opposition whatever to his renomination and re-election in event that he might bring the historic contest to a happy conclusion. On the Saturday preceding the Republican Congressional convention of Monday, September 12, 1904, every newspaper in the Territory announced that his nomination was a foregone conclusion. No such thing as a contest was anticipated, outside of the ring of territorial officials responsible for his downfall. But an ambitious political rival had been at work insidiously ;
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and while ostensibly assisting in the work of conducting the preliminary campaign in behalf of Judge Rodey, and himself an instructed delegate on his own motion, he had been planning a coup for the defeat of the candi- date of the people. Two or three days prior to the convention a prominent Federal official asked Judge Rodey if he would allow the caller the honor of presenting his name to the convention. When the convention was called to order the friends of Judge Rodey believed that all that would be nec- essary for his nomination was roll call. But unknown to them the oppo- sition-made up almost entirely of members of the office-holding com- bination, who theretofore had fought against statehood because of the fact that a successful issue would deprive them of their offices, held under ap- pointment-had obtained proxies of a majority of the delegates on the promise that they would be voted for Judge Rodey; and when the hour for the selection of the candidate came the name of W. H. Andrews, of Pennsylvania, was placed before the convention by the Federal official, who, a few days before, had asked Judge Rodey to be allowed the honor of naming the latter. The proxies were voted for Andrews, who received the nomination. So suddenly and so silently was the thing done that the whole territory was amazed, fairly stunned. The bitterness engendered by this unlooked for incident brought fortli charges of treachery during the campaign that followed which well-nigh resulted in the disruption of the Republican party in New Mexico. Judge Rodey became an independ- ent candidate ; but the majority of the malcontents were whipped or cajoled into line and Andrews was elected. But Judge Rodey, faithful to the cause so near to his heart and for which he had sacrificed practically all his per- sonal interests, went to Washington as the advocate of statehood and watched every maneuver in the historic contest of 1905-6, working day and night for the success of a measure which would relieve New Mexico of the tremendous burden thrust upon it and maintained by the special interests and the legislative majority which it is believed they have con- trolled for many years.
Hon. William H. Andrews, of Albuquerque, elected territorial dele- gate to Congress in 1904 and 1906, was born in Youngsville, Pennsylvania, January 14, 1842, and acquired a public school education. He has figured prominently in the history of material development and political progress in New Mexico and is president of the Santa Fe Central Railway Company, which three years ago built a New Mexico line from Santa Fe to Torrance. He is also identified with a number of other important interests in New Mexico bearing upon its improvement and its activity.
During the years of his residence in Pennsylvania, Mr. Andrews was an influential factor in the politics of that state and served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican state central committee in 1889 and 1890. He represented his district in the state house of representatives in the same years, was elected to the state senate, where he served from 1895 until 1898, and was again chosen representative for the years 1901-2. Coming to New Mexico, he was elected and served as a member of the New Mex- ico council in 1903-4, and in the latter year was elected delegate to Con- gress. He is widely known in political circles throughout the country and his opinions have frequently been a decisive factor in momentous political questions, both in his native state and in the Territory.
Morgan O. Llewellyn, of Santa Fé, has filled the office of surveyor
Horaynolds
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general of New Mexico since January 29, 1902. He is a son of Major W. H. H. Llewellyn, of Las Cruces, United States attorney for New Mexico, and was born at Omaha, Nebraska, in 1879. Since 1881 he has been a resident of the Territory. He was educated in the public schools of Las Cruces and the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, where he received two years' instruction in assaying and chemistry. For a brief period he acted as deputy collector of United States customs, at Columbus, New Mexico, and also devoted some time to mining in the San Andreas mountains. He was made a Mason in Montezuma lodge at Santa Fé in 1903. His political support is given to the Republican party and he is now serving his second term as surveyor general under re- appointment of date January 29, 1906. Mr. Llewellyn is one of the best type of representative men of the younger generation in New Mexico.
Captain William C. Reid, attorney general of New Mexico, was born in Indiana. December 16, 1868. He read law and in 1894 was admitted to the Ohio bar .. Believing that the southwest offered a good field for professional labor he came to New Mexico in March, 1895, settling in Las Vegas. For one year thereafter he was business manager for the Optic, published in that city, at the end of which time he entered upon the active practice of law in Las Vegas. In 1896-7 he served as chief clerk in the house of representatives in the territorial legislature, and in 1901 he was appointed assistant United States attorney, which position he resigned in September, 1904, in order to give undivided attention to the private practice of law. On the Ist of January, 1903, he located in Roswell and on the Ist of April of the same year became a partner in the law firm of Richardson, Reid & Hervey. He has since been attorney for the Pecos Valley and Northeastern Railroad Company.
In politics Captain Reid is a Republican. His military title was conferred upon him in 1898, being commissioned captain by Governor Otero upon the organization of Company F of the First Territorial In- fantry, June 28, 1898. The regiment was mustered in for service in the Spanish-American war and went as far as Georgia, where it was stationed until the close of hostilities. Captain Reid became attorney general upon the request of Governor Hagerman in June, 1906.
Among the younger generation of men who have occupied distinctive positions in New Mexico during later years is James Wallace Raynolds, secretary of the Territory. He was born in Pueblo, Colorado, in 1873. a son of Jefferson Raynolds, president of the First National Bank, of Las Vegas. In 1891 he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- nology, being graduated in the mining engineering course in 1896. In 1897 he became assistant secretary of the Territory under George H. Wallace and one year later he entered his father's bank. Upon the death of Secretary Wallace, in 1901, President Mckinley appointed him to fill out the unexpired term, and in December of the same year President Roosevelt appointed him to the office for the full term of four years, re- appointing him to a second term in December, 1905. The biennial re- port and legislative manual of 1905 prepared by Secretary Raynolds, is in many ways the most comprehensive official publication issued in New Mexico, containing, as it does, the results of the labors of the former secretary, William G. Ritch, brought down to the date of publication.
Theodore B. Mills, deceased, was for many years one of the strong
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and striking characters in public life in New Mexico, coming to the Ter- ritory in 1878 and purchasing the hot springs near Las Vegas. A year later he sold this property to the Santa Fé Railroad Company and after- ward engaged in the purchase and sale of mining lands and other real estate. For years he was recognized as one of the leaders of the Populist party in the Territory. Mr. Mills was one of the most prominent Masons in New Mexico, having taken all the degrees of the York Rite. He was made a Knight Templar in 1862. Mr. Mills was a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio, and finished his education at Oberlin College. In 1857 he engaged in contracting and building in Kansas, and entered the Kansas Volunteers for service in 1861. He assisted in recruiting several Kansas regiments and finished his service in the Fourth Indiana Infantry. After the war he was in business for several years in Topeka, and served in the Kansas legislature. From 1871 to 1878 he was engaged in the real estate business in Little Rock, Ark. He had a fine private library and was a man of cultured tastes.
Colonel J. F. Bennett, deceased, who in 1897 was appointed vice- consul-general to Mexico by President Mckinley, was for many years one of the most conspicuous citizens of New Mexico. He was descended from Revolutionary stock. With four of his brothers he fought on the side of the Union in the Civil war, after which in 1866, he located at Las Cruces, where he engaged in merchandising and mining. President Grant appointed him consul at Chihuahua, and in New Mexico he served as probate clerk and probate judge of Doña Ana county, clerk of the United States district court, commissioner of the court of claims, United States commissioner and agent for the Mescalero Apaches. While a member of territorial council in 1871-2 he introduced in that body the historic school law passed at that session. In politics he was a strong Republican. He was one of the founders of Silver City, the discoverer and original locator of the famous Bennett mine in the Organ mountains, one of the owners of the Longfellow group of copper mines at Clifton, Ariz., and the organizer and first president of the El Paso Transfer Company at El Paso, Texas.
Silas Alexander, who was territorial secretary of New Mexico under President Harrison, was born and educated in the state of Pennsylvania, was admitted to the bar there in 1876, and after practicing five years in Colorado came to Kingston, N. M., in 1882. He was engaged in practice there and at Hillsboro until 1892, when he received the appointment as secretary of the Territory. He was located at Socorro for ten years, and since 1903 has been in Hillsboro. He served as deputy county clerk of Sierra county for eight years, 1885-92, and was territorial district attor- ney for the counties of Socorro and Lincoln three years.
Among those who were killed by the Indians during the troublous times of the eighteenth century was Don Litis Maria Cabeza de Vaca, who came from Spain with his wife, and settled at Peña Blanca. He held a commission as a captain-general in the Spanish army and was a man of great intelligence in his day. His descendants were numerous and many of them became prominent in public life in the territory. Among the third generation of his progeny was Isabel Cabeza de Vaca, who became the wife of Jose D. Sena, one of the best known men in public affairs dur- ing the latter half of the nineteenth century.
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Captain Nicolas Ortiz, who was a captain and lieutenant-general in the Spanish army for several years with headquarters at Santa Fé, came from Spain about the same period. He is said to have received from the Spanish government the Caja del Rio grant, which afterward became the subject of prolonged and futile litigation. Four hundred and sixty-five heirs have laid claim to titles in this grant by right of inheritance.
Major Jose D. Sena, deceased, was for many years one of the most widely known and highly esteemed native residents of New Mexico. He was. a lineal descendant of the historic families of Sena, Allarid and Ortiz. Bernardino de Sena, the founder of the Sena family in New Mexico, came from Spain in 1654 and settled in Santa Fé. Juan Batiste Allarid, the founder of the family of that name, also came from Spain at an early day and located in Santa Fé.
Major Sena was born in Santa Fé in 1836, and was favored with a fine education in both Spanish and English. During the Civil war he en- listed in defense of the Union and joined the regiment organized by the famous scout, Kit Carson, in which he was made major. He served in the engagements in which that regiment participated, and after the close of the war was placed in charge of the work of re-building Fort Marcy, at Santa Fé, which had been destroyed by the Confederates during the ex- pedition to the northern part of the Territory.
He served as register of the United States land office at Santa Fé from 1874 to 1878; was clerk of the territorial council in the twenty- second and twenty-seventh legislative assemblies and of the house during the twenty-eighth session; was sheriff and collector of Santa Fé county for twelve years; for twenty years served as court interpreter; and at one time was the Republican nominee for delegate to Congress from New Mexico. He qualified for the practice of law and practically his entire life was devoted to practice and to public office. He became one of the most widely known men in New Mexico. His death occurred in 1892.
One of his sons, Mariano F. Sena, was born in Santa Fé in 1861, was educated in Jesuit College, at Las Vegas, and for three years was deputy in the probate clerk's office in Valencia county. He is now engaged in the real estate and stock commission business in Santa Fé as the partner of Charles F. Abreu.
The younger son, Jose D. Sena, who has been clerk of the supreme court of New Mexico since Tune, 1898, was born in Santa Fé in 1867, and was educated in St. Michael's College, at Santa Fé, at the Las Vegas Col- lege, and the St. Louis University, being graduated from the last named in 1885. After teaching in St. Catherine's Indian School in Santa Fé for two years he acted as interpreter for the United States Indian agency at Santa Fé for a year and a half and then became private secretary to Gov- ernor Prince, filling that position for about three years. The year follow- ing he was engaged in business in San Miguel county, after which he be- came chief clerk in the auditor's office from April, 1892, until 1896, being the first to fill that position. He was elected to the house in the thirty- second legislative assembly (1897), serving one term, and was made sec- retary of the commission, appointed in that year to compile the laws of New Mexico. In June, 1898, he received the appointment of his present important position. Mr. Sena has also acted as interpreter for the first district court. In local public affairs he has exhibited a keen interest.
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He was a member of the first school board of the city of Santa Fé and is now a member of that body. He also filled one term as alderman of his native city. A stanch Republican and a master both of the English and Spanish tongues, he interpreted one hundred and ninety-eight speeches in one month during the exciting congressional campaign of 1904, excelling the highest record in this work up to that time. Mr. Sena is personally known to all the attorneys of New Mexico who practiced before the su- preme court and has won their regard and good will by his courtesies to them. He is a representative of the best type of the active generation of native-born citizens.
By legislative enactment in 1905 the association known as the New Mexico Mounted Police, popularly called the New Mexico "rangers," came into effect. The law provided that the organization should consist of a captain, a lieutenant, a sergeant and eight privates to be armed with breech-loading rifles and six shooters, and mounted, while authority was conferred upon them to arrest criminals in all parts of the Territory. John J. Fullerton, the first captain, resigned his post in the spring of 1906, and Frederick Fornoff was appointed to his place, taking possession of the office April 1, 1906.
Captain Fornoff has been a resident of New Mexico since the spring of 1880, and by reason of his experience was found to be finely qualified for the office. For a few years he had been engaged in mining and log- ging in the northern part of the Territory. In 1888 he became a member of the Albuquerque police force, and from 1891 until 1898 served as city marshal. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he enlisted with Troop H, of the Rough Riders, serving throughout the campaign in Cuba. Upon his return he received a commission as deputy United States mar- shal, which office he filled until his appointment to the captaincy of the mounted police. Captain Fornoff bears the reputation of being one of the most fearless officials connected with the various policing departments in the territory.
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BENCH AND BAR
The Mexican federal constitution of 1824 introduced two general orders of tribunals-those of a federal or national character, and those of the states. The power of these judiciaries reposed in a supreme court and in circuit and district courts. Causes were carried from one to the other according to the nature of the transactions involved. But the juris- diction of these courts was not paramount, inasmuch as large numbers of the inhabitants were exempted by fueros, or special privileged jurisdic- tions, from the control of the constitutional courts. There was a common military fuero in civil and criminal matters, which permitted the parties to have their causes tried before the commanding generals, with appeals to the supreme tribunal of war and marine. There was another right of trial, or jurisdiction for military misdemeanors, before the Council of War of general officers. Besides these, there were three special fueros of war- artilley, engineers and active militia.
The ecclesiastical fuero provided for an appeal from the bishop to the metropolitan, or from the archbishop to the nearest prelate.
Notwithstanding the fact that these two fundamental fueros were permitted to exist by special favoritism after the formation of the repub- lic, after 1824 the mercantile and mining tribunals, whose foundations had been laid on the best principles of jurisprudence, were suppressed. To compensate for the destruction of such useful tribunals, it was determined that in the federal districts and the territories suits arising from mercan- tile transactions should go before the alcaldes, with whom were associated two colleagues proposed by the parties to the action, and from whom an appeal to the supreme court might be taken. A primary tribunal for the trial of criminals consisted of an alcalde and two regidores. Appeals from this court lay to another court similarly constituted. This police court, which was afterward somewhat modified, summarily disposed of the majority of malefactors.
By the central constitution of 1836 this judicial system was modified by the establishment of judges de partido and a supreme court. The Fed- eral jurisdiction was confined to admiralty cases, fiscal transactions and causes affecting public functionaries, while the military and ecclesiastical tribunals remained as they were. During his last administration Santa Ana suppressed the district and circuit courts, and extended the jurisdic- tion of the common tribunals. In response to a loud popular demand, he finally consented to restore the mercantile and mining fueros. Through- out all the changes in the forms of the courts one useful provision was preserved. This was the "judgment of conciliation," by which litigants were prohibited from originating an action until they had procured a cer- tificate from an alcalde to the effect that a judgment by arbitration or con- ciliation had failed in the trial before him.
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