The Dickinson press., 1883-04-28

Iinelv. Inc Territory s on the eve of Stat,-
hood, and tho boundaries of the fu,ura SAFE
arc uncertain. Then, again, they claim that
the commission bill is an uncon ,titutiona meas
ure-that while the governor and the lcgisla-
ture themselves had the power to remove the
CAPITA, they had not the authority to delegate
this power to a commission.
On the other hand, the friends of removal as
sert that the measure is constitutional. That
removal, even at this time, was a public
necessity-that the rapidly iucrtaslnyp opula-
ton demands that the capital SHOULD be at a
point where 1t can be easily reached, since the
difficulty of getting in Or out Of Yankton has
become proverbial. They claim that now that
the whole Territory is booming that different
places would be willing to paw the Territory for
the honor and financial benefit derived from:
suraace that this will be the case two Years
from now. That the capital will, in all prob
ability, be centrally located for South Dakota,
or at any rate at a point where the four great
railway companies can ca lily reach. They be-
lieve, also, that the legislature, for some
reason the pertinency of which may not fully
appear, had made up its mind to vote the
capital away from Yankton, and that the COM
mission plan was the only one that positively
guaranteed the Territory an. return.
Instead of carefully considering these points,
there has been published an enormou amount
OF the most bare-faced aud
| NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
Take for example the cry Of t'big steal"
NSOlCo VI papers uaVe reiterated tile Story
started in q lank' on raper, that the commission
could rob the rconie by charging So per diem
for every day until tho next legiell:ure should
convene. But the bull distinctly dec arcs that
the total amount paid the members OF the COM
MISSION for service shouldnot exceed $40, 1000.
Nevertheless. the cry still goes on %tlatt!ie com
mission will rob the tax-payins fa,m-r all to
pieces. This SHOWS either that the editors
have not carefully read the Till or that they
are grossly unfair. The fact is, as the bill very
1Clc, y1- oto.a, %tot 31., W., ,... ~
draw a cent until q capital fund has been
created from the donation of the town selected
as the capital. This will appear from the fol-
lowing closing extract from Sec. 8:
And the commissioners shall be paid for their
| services the sun OF six dollars (S6) each, for each
and every day actually employed, by the warrant OF
the auditor of the Territory upon the territorial
building fund; provided that in the aggregate they
600.
More than this, not one cent of money can
be paid for any purpose whatever out of the
general fund. In other words, under the terms
of the bill, the commissioners are to locate tho
capital, and erect o 500. 600 capitol building,
which. with the l6O acres of land, that ought
to yield from 100000 to 5000, OOU in cash,
is to become the property of the Territory with
out costing the people a cent. If this is a big
steal-the mole numerous the big steals the
better for the public.
But the public object 10 the method in which
the bill was 1,assed, and the bribery
connected Herewith. On these points the
writer hereof las bns little TO say. He lsiew-s-
good deal about the w%orkings of the la legis-
lature, but he saw nothing 10 MAKE him believe
that any members were bou lit or otherwise
whipped into support Of tho bill. VAGUE
charges to the contrary have been made; but
in a published paper Gov. Ordway has made
the following
POSITIVE DENIAL:
For myself, as the executive of the Territory, l
take this occasion to brand as false aud UNANIMOUSLY
malicious ach and every accusation put forth bv q
venal press that there has been any bargain, ar
rangelnent or improper understanding between
the executive ana any member of the legislative as
sembly, in any way connected with the passage of
the bill for the removal of the seat of government,
or of any other bill, or for the confirmation Of any
nomination., during the late session, or any other
session, of the legislative assembly since I assumed
office.
Until somebody is able to produce conclusive
evidence to the contrary. tair-mlnd d people
will accept the governors statement as truth,
The charges Of ''syn,licatr,' ''stock c%ertif-
c%ates,"' etc., like the o'her chargcs, are
too indefinite. If any person las
dec ,sivo information that IL syndicate
was here buying up votes, he onght to give
the public the benefit of his Information. If
halt the charges made against Gov. Ordwav in
this connection are truc, undoubtedly they can
be so proven. If then thu people demand his
assert, let the evidence be prepared and let it
be sent To Washington, and the preside t Will
assuredly give Dakota a new governor. Unless
this can be done 1T must appear to disinterest-
ed people that the charges lack foundation.
Another objection urged against the bill is
that II is wrong. or at least uulignltiei, t5r a
great Terrlt ,iv to lend its name 10 a real es-
tate speculation, out of which somebody
will make money. There are Aun!reds
Of good people in Yankton; but if one-tanti1
that has been said against the town be true,
The moral objection thus set up seems ludi-
crously homogeneous as coming from va ktuu.
But in regard to The fact that the capital town
Will be doomed and money made by some one.
t may be said that the Same thing would have
proven true to an extent had the capital been
located OF some town by direct vote Of the leg
stature. The Possession of the capital would
b. a big adyerl isement, ianl would assume al
most a fictitious value, somebody would mako
money, and the Territory would have given its
name 10 a real estate speculation in one case as
well as in the other.