Helena weekly herald., 1877-05-10
CUSTER COUNTY.


clusion has been reached in regard to the
powers of organizing new counties, and that
commissioners have been appointed who will
complete the organization of the new county
of Custer, formerly called Big Horn. 1t is of
great importance that civil law should enter
simultaneously with settlement, and that men
should become accustomed to uphold and
obey law from the first organization OF a new
society. Some kind of government is needed
and will exist, if not according to law then
in defiance thereof, appealing to principle
that lies at the foundation of civil law itself
self protection. In the earliest stages of So
ciety in new Territories, civil law is not only
slow in making its entry, but as often at first
falls into weak hands who neglect or abuse
it. We esteem it an advantage that officers
should at first be appointed rather than elec-
ted. 1t will oftener result in the selection of
good men. Until men have acquired some
permanent interest or residence in locality
and become acquainted with the character of
men about them, they have no interest in
elections and will either not attend the polls
or throw their vote for the first man who asks
it. Those who seek for an office on their first
entrance to country, are rarely fit for the
positions they seek. They are et-baggers
in the worst sense of the term, soldiers of
fortune, seeking places to make money, and
not very careful how it is done. At the first
organization of new county it needs more
than ever men of prudence, thoroughly iden-
titled with the more permanent interests of
the country. If its officials are only inter-
ested in stirring up strife and making busi-
ness for the sake of drawing fees, county
cen soon be overwhelmed and crippled by q
debt and honest men become Disguised by the
sight of legalized robbery carried on in the
sacred name of l0w.
We are glad to know that Custer county
starts out early with civil government admin
istered by those who seem to have been wisely
chosen. 1t can hardly be otherwise than
that the permanent establishment of military
posts of such magnitude and the presence of
1900 soldiers could fail to attract large set
tlement of those engaged in various capaci-
ties of supplying the wants Of such large
body of men. Fort Ellis has in a large de-
gree supported Bozeman and Gallatin county,
but there will be at least four times as many
soldiers in Custer county this season as ever
were in Gallatin. Some will think it unwise
to organize county for people whose stay
is so precarious. If the posts should be re-
moved soon, the population dependent thereon
would soon follow. While this is mostly
true, yet we think there is very little chance
of the posts being removed for many years.
We know of no place in the country where
they can possibly be needed so much as there.
We do not know the sincerity of the present
pacific movements of the Indians We do
know that the Sioux are the strongest, bravest
and most dangerous of all the Indian tribes,
very unlikely to remain quiet long at any
time, and easily recalled to the war-path by
the prospect of a good chance.
Some think there is prospect of war with
Mexico. 1t is undoubtedly the wish of many
who have not lost their relish for military
life and have never found good positions in
civil life, but our President and his Cabinet,
it must be remembered, no longer represent
the military feeling or interests of the nation.
If very anxious for war we might find cause,
but it can as easily and more justly as well as
profitably be avoided.
Everything indicates long reign of peace
and the troops are very likely to remain in
the valley of the Yellowstone for many years.
We rejoice at it, for it will lead to the i'm
provement of our rivers, the permanent Set
tlement of our waste country, the interposi-
ton of an effectual barrier between our pres
ent settlements and danger from Indians, and
still further it will help to hasten the uay
when the North Pacific IN some hands and
by some agency shall be pushed westward
from its present terminus. 1t is not impro-
bable that before the present season is over,
we may be getting our Eastern mails by way
of the Yellowstone
--
GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND is mad, and
says: 1.-THE representative dead-beat is the
American humorist. 1t is he who is engaged
in the painful and laborious task Of degrad-