The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1866-05-26
The Idaho "World.0

The Idaho "WOrl6" comes out in denuncatiol
of the Vigilance COMMITTEES, now happily inaugu
s. rated there. and as quasi champion o. tn
';r0ughs.n This is the inevitable tendency of it
logic; for all the bosh about trial by jury, civi
courts, constitutional law, etc., when it is all
lnotoriously inefficient mockery, is too himsy tt
tstop the vision OF the most purbind old lady WHIT
ever calculated: 'What, hang man on tree
How dreadful! In my time they used to hang
them on the gallows." Now we take it that tht
question of whether murderer is hanged by the
Sheriff or by the Sherjfs master-the power that
made him Sheriff-is of little consequence in an
exigency like that which now exists in Idaho
The Portneuf Canon massacre, and the slaughter
OF lO2 innocent human beings, for money, is what
the want of Vigilance Committee in Idaho (from
whence all oar Road Agents Gomez cost US of Mon.
lana, and we no more regard the shameless advo-
| cacy of practical immunity to wrong doing, in
the World" than we do the curses of despera>
do on his way to the gallows. Over sixty victims
lie buried in one county of that i'll starred Terrific.
~, and 10 conviction of murder has been had
Over 500 individuals have persisted in Idaho, and
the hanglngs bow many are Lheyg Let the
"World" count. Turn we to Montana. The man
who says-otherwise than, as mere hearsay-that
an innocent man or good citizen has died by the
hands or at the instance of the committee, states
an unqualified falsehood, and all men know it
who live here. There is no jury as immovably
fair, impartial and unassaiIable as the cold stern
lynx.eyed, iron-willed and even-handed Executive
UOlO COulu uOb Duy d COuVlcLlOQ, not
the treasures of earth reprieve. Men know it !;
the good rejoice, and the bad tremble. When
Idaho shall be able to boast of its thousands of
good men, banded, armed and disciplined, to main
tam law and order, to support and assist her now
derided judges, and to enforce the DEGREES of her
powerless courts. then will the "gem of the noun
tains" blaze forth in true radence and the writer
OF the article in the World" shall call on the
rocks to hide him, and seek to conceal his shame
in the Lethe of peoples contempt. Let him
look at the two Territories. In Montana there is
peace, order and security. In Idaho, there is in
security, bloodshed and rampant lawlessness We
have made our ehOiCe,C( Montana Post.
We give the Post the benefit of its entire
defense, as we recognize it as chief among
the Vigilante organs. The slur against Ida
no implied in the assertion that all of Mon
fana's road agents are derived from this Ter.
ritory, has as little foundation in fact as sew.
eral other assertions repeated in the article.
We know that "tenderfeet' prejudice against
1.-THE other sideFs" has lead to much indul-
gence in invective against the people from
the western side of the Rocky Mountains, but
We scarcely looked for such an exhibition in
the columns of the Post. 1t is very easy to
denounce the population of Idaho as a band
ofFoad agents and swiudlers, but if the edi-
tor of the Post will cGtivate little acquain-
tanee with that portion of Montana's popula-
ton who hail from this Territory, he may be
to find them inferior in every man
ly and moral quality to none in that Territory;
and if he will continue his researches he will
discover that Montana is indebted to some
other countries than Idaho for the criminals
who have played their profession within the
boundaries of Montana.
The Post has right to eulogise the Vigi-
lantes of Montana, if it chooses. 1t is pos
sible that they are the immaculate beings
which that journal has painted them. 1t may
De true that ssgold could not buy a convic-
ton, nor the treasures of earth a reprieve."
It is possible that human nature has scared
above its surroundings, and assembled into
higher circle of humanity than it has been
the privilege of the rest of frail mortality to
know but in our experience we have known
many such panegyrics passed upon similar
bodies, whose subsequent careers showed too
many cloven feet to justify the conclusion.
1t is possible that the Post is mistaken. Men
who regard "trial by jury, civil courts, con-
Iaw. etc. as mere 'bosb, when
they happen to stand IN the way of the graf
i6cation of their passions, interests, and re-
venges,s are not often the angelic creatures
which the Imagination of the Post has pie
tured them. It makes no difference whether
an accused sis hanged by Sheriff, or the
Sheriff's master" in the estimation of the
Post-but it may make some difference to an
innocent individual. 1t demands something
Of. q difference, too, in the character OF the
nangman. There are but few men possessing
such stainless traits as are attributed to the
members Of the Vigilance Committee of Mou-
lana, whose angelic natures are so mysteri-
ously blended with the brutal, blood sucking
of the vampire, as to strangle a
man on their own responsibility. If courts,
iuries, and constitutional laws are "bosh" in
Montana, they are 'bosh'' everywhere; and
we see out little importance in Legislative
enactmenta against crime or criminals in the
United States. The Post knows that these
hangings are in fact murders,
aud those who participate in them are moth