Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1871-04-15
Tho Public Enemy.

W mecilu. o. citizens Of tie town. On
Tue, iay evening last, we were astoni,hsi
10 bear Gen Miller, Gen. Mckinney. and
Nj sam. Coulter, three Of the mos, wealthy
and Influential citizens of this town. pub.
lic'y avow their hostility to a measure IN
yolvins the future prosperity of the town.
solely upon the ground that they were pc
cuniarily interested in building up a rival
town whore not labitation now exists.
upon wild lands procured by them from
the Government for that purpose. We
would be rccreant to our convictions of
public duty to allow any personal consider
alton for these men or their social position
to restrain us. from publicly protesting
against sentiments the moral of which
would justify private robbery by gambling
devices, or public plumber through the
laches Of the law; sentiments which set
at nought all moral restraint and social
obligations which are the basis of patriot
ism and all public virtue; aud proclaim
sclf-intercst as the sole motive of human
cndeavor. How can men avowing such
sentiments condemn Judas for embracing
the only opportunity offered to make some
money out Of the position he occupied? He
had the law on his side, and nigh. have
argued, as many protested ministers of the
present day do, his loyalty to the Govern
mcnt as his motive for betraying his God,
and the money consideration as only the
legitimate reward of his patriotism. How
can they heap ignominy upon the memory
Of Benedict Arnold for an act by which
he only sought to benefit himself at the
expense of his associates, by returning to
allegiance which he had forfeited by rebel
ion? These Olympia gentleman have a
legal right to do what they will with their
own within the bounds Of the law, as had
also the historical characters above named !;
but when they compass their own selfish
purposes by acts which impoverish others
and seriously injure every member of the
community Of which they are members,
they become amenab!c to the moral law
which condemns them as social traitors and
public enemy, justly entitled to the exc
Grafton of all honorable men.
That we may not be accused of present
ing this case in stronger terms than the
circumstances will justify, we will state the
facts which nobody will deny: About two
years ago, when some excitement was caus-
ed here by the change of the route of the
Northern Pacific Railroad to the valley of
the Columbia River, from which it could
only reach Puget Sound at or near Olym-
pia, few greedy spectators conceived
the project of securing point near here
where they could monopolize to themselves
all the benefits of the railroad terminus by
the ruin of Olympia. The place selected
was on Nisqually Bay, about ten miles
northeast of this place, and included an
Indian reservation. The combination i'm
mediately entered all the contiguous Gov
eminent land and sent persons upon the
reservation to claim the same under the
homestead law; these persons had the title
confirmed to them by taking the usual oath
of residence upon the land and design to
occupy the same, though no residence was
established and not a habitation exists upon
the lands to this day. So palpable the
fraud practiced upon the Government, and
so manifest the unprincipled greed of the
land-sharks composing this combination,
that the paper town which represents the
land thus acquired is known to the public
only by the characteristic name of " Hog
en- and its proprietors as " Hogemites."
This is in brief the history of the attempt
of combination Of citizens of Olympia
secretly organized to promote their own
selfish interests by the destruction of the
town OF their own residence and the ruin
of their neighbors. In view Of these facts
in what other light can these men be re-.
garded than as the public enemy?
CONGRESSIONAL APPOINTMENT.-The
following are the provisions of the bill now
pending in Congress for the apportionmcnt
Of members of the House of Representa-
tives under the new census: