| Show Let Them Be liqunl New Mexico has one advantage over all the other territories which are seeking for statehood The bill for her admission into the Union is ahead of others having passed the House and being advanced in the Senate There is one obstacle in the way though in addition to that of tho general opposition of the Republicans to the admission of any of the torritorie3 during the present session It is the provisions pro-visions introduced Republican efforts in relation to the public schools and the public lands Both Democrats and Republicans in New Mexico have worked energetically to effect her political emancipation and a joint committee of the two parties was sent to Washington to forward the cause It is charged that the Republican wing of the committee obtained the insertion on the enabling act of a provision requiring English only to be taught in the public schools and one cutting down the area of public lands for school purposes What the object was it is difficult to see unless it was to block the way to statehood The large majority of the people of New Mexico speak the Spanish language It may be proper that the public pub-lic school lessons shall all be in English Certainly the acquisition and general use of that language should be encouraged But it is a serious question whether that ought to be enforced as a constitutional provision and whether it ought to be injected in-jected into an enabling act Arguments arc offered on this subject pro and con by the newspapers Those in favor of the language provision say in substance If the inhabitants of New Mexico are to become Americans in spirit as well as in name they should be taught the English language Therefore the public schools should be conducted in 1 1 z L L JougUJu un1i L1U uujeusiuu lU tee teaching of Spanish as an accomplishment accomplish-ment but the public schools must not be I made the medium of perpetuating foreign i for-eign ideas traditions and language and the institutions of a former civilization The territorial papers say that three fourths of the population speak no other language than Spanish and it would be a great injustice to drive their mother tongue from the public schools If this yere done the teachers would be in many districts the only Englishspeaking per sons in school and indeed in the community commu-nity Further a constitution containing such a provision would be rejected by the masses of the voters so tho passage of the enabling act would be in vain It appears to THE HERALD that while < j the spsaking of English should bs promoted pro-moted in New Mexico and thatit should in reasonable time be made the prevailing language there it is scarcely right to intrude in-trude the question into an enabling act It is a matter that belongs to the state rather than to the nation If the territory terri-tory has the ordinary qualifications for admission into the Union it should come in on an equal footing with the existing states to all intents and purposes The very requirement that some special thing shall be done is an intimation that the state which is to do it is not on an equal footing If New Mexico in number intelligence resources re-sources developments and American spirit is ready for statehood such minor matters as language and other local differences dif-ferences should be left to local influences and measurestb settle Let the territories recognized as ready for tho duties responsibilities and privileges privi-leges of statehood bo admitted without any invidious distinctions or provisions and without any reference to their party proclivities Let the nation regulate their admission on equal and national principles and let each new state bo sovereign in its sphere and manage its internal affairs according to the wishes of its people subject of course to the constitution con-stitution of the United States |
