The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-11-10
A BRILLIANT e

" "a o3O40oA0 N &AG1o
When news is scarce the Press A.
ISOLATION agents In the east general.
~ "fll up" with newspaper com.
ments on the situation In Corea, or
on the status Of the American hog In
Germany, or long winded disserta.
tons on like startling subjects. This
Is very commendable upon the part
of our news purveyors, and when the
columns of Western journals are not
overcrowded with other matter these
comments arepermitted to escape the
waste basket and to find q place
among the kilograms. Quite recent.
ly, however, the luminous mind Of
the Eastern editor has been focused
upon the mormon problem" As a
rule his articles upon this question
throw about as mnch light upon it as
he can throw upon the workings OF
; society in the New Jerusalem, and
the Western telegraph editHr general
~ pitch them among the other rub
bish which accumulates around him.
But occasionally an article comes
over the wires which, for originality
in dealing with a question or for its
superlative nonsense attracts the at
| ton of the manipulation of dispatches
and he gives it to the readers Of his
journal for their serious considera-
ton or for their amusement. It was
for both these purposes that the com.
mcnts of the New York Times upon
the Mormon question found a place
among the MINERS dispatches of
yesterday morning.
The Times starts out IN its article
by stating that Congressman Spring
er will favor the proposition Of the
Utah Commission to repeal the Or
ganic Act Of Utah and substitute for
it q government similar to that en-
forced in the District of Columbia.
The machinery Of the government of
the District is placed in the hands of
three commissioners who are ap-
pointed by the. President and
confirmed by the Senate.
This board appoints subor-
dinate officers who are directly re-
sponsihle to it. By the adoption Of
this plan Of government over Utah
all political power will be taken
from the Mormons and placed in the
hands of Gentiles. This is the object
aimed at by the Commissioners. The
people of Montana can have no OBJ
lection to the plan if its application
be confined to Utah. The Mormons
and Gentiles of that Territory are the
one more directly interested in its
workings, and to them may be left
the discussion Of its feasibility ard
justice.
But when the Times proposes to
extend the same plan Of government
Montana it displays an ignorance
of the wants, the aspirations and the
temper of the people here, which
would be amusing were it not &C out
rageOusly impairment. Here ia what
it says: "There is reason to believe
that the administrative plan of the
Capital of the District could he adj
vantageously extenaed, not merely
to Utah, but to Nevada, Arizona,
New Mexico, Idaho, Montana
and other districts having small
populations" The italics are
ours, but the superlative nonsense
contained in the paragraph is the
sole and unclaimed property of the
Times. If a Western journal had
suggested the idea it would be boot
ed at by every resident OF the Pacific
slope, but coming as it does from a
leading Republican Journal Of New
York city, it !s considered Of sufi-
cient importance to wire across the
continent. Montana is preparing to
enter the sisterhood Of States, but
the luminous Times would even de-
prive a State tNevada) of its sover-
eighty, rob its citizens Of the right
of franchise and reduce them to a |
political condition as inconsistent
with the American idea OF civil lib |
erty as is Russian servitude. Mon
tana confesses her obligations to the !
Times for its very liberal suggestions
In her behalf. out, with due defer
ence to the superior wisdom Of that
sheet, she must be permitted to pro-
test against the application of the
Utah plan Of government to her own
case.