The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-04-28

either ignoranty or d shonesty This can bs
seen from the fact that Instead OF taking up tho
provisions Of the bill aud discn sing them upon
H. cir mrr,ts, the criticism generally taxes the
form Of abuse aud viihctto or the governor
aud legislature. Charges of jobbery, bribery
and corruption could not be more freely nor
more perslsteutly m de il the pubic had me
most positive and conclusive evidence. Inc
assertion Of "big steal is repeatedly maue,
AMI people in aud outside OF the Territory
might readily be led to believe that the meas
ure OF wickcdnesS is full TO overtowing.
FORTUNATELY FOR PUBLIC MORALS,
and the good name OF ''powers that be" III Da-
kota. ihese charges are all vsgue, generai anu
pare to point ont any particular corrupt nr
dishonest act, or to droduce evidence to sup.
port it, aud there is where the weakness of
the hue and cry against fraud comes IN Inc
trouble. for the most part, has been .hat 'he
first Information sent out from iankfon,
through it's papers. for the pres dispatches,
was either untruthful, distorted, or, at the
least, misleading The public were given 70
understand that the capital removai Dill was
the most corrupt measure ever enacted; and
that we're friendly TO Pettigrew, and
therefore hottie to Gov; Ordway,
naturally enough condemned the measure,
though the editors were not always sure they
understood just exactly what they were con-
demning.
For Instance, the opposers OF the capital re-
movsl clam that removal at this period is un-
timely. The Territory is on the eve OF state
hood, and the boundaries OF the future state
are uncertain. Then, again, they claim that
the commission bill 10 au uuncousttutional meas
ure-that while the governor aud the legsia-
ture themselves had the power TO remove tho
capita, they had not the authority to deiegate
this power TO . commission.
On tile other hand, the friends OF removal as
sert that the measure Is constitutional That
al 81 m
necess ty--that the ra! idly increasing popula-
ton demands that the capital should be at
point where II can be easily reached, since the
difficulty Of getiir & in or out cf Iankton mss
become .proverbal They claim that now Inst
the whole Territory is booming that dinerent
places would be willing to paw the Territory for
1he honor and financial benefit derived FROM
the location Of the capital, and there IL no as
sura eco that this will bo the case TWO years
from now That the capital will, in all prob
abil,y. be centrally located for South Dakota,
or at any rate at u poiut where the four great
railway companies can ea-iiv reach They oe-
lieve, also, thht the legislature. for some
reason the perinency OF which may not fuiiy
appear, had made up Its nina 70 vo'e ,ne
capital away from Yaukion, aud that the com
mission plan was the only one that positively
qua anteed the Territory any return.
Instead OF carefully considering these points,
there has been published an enorn,ous amount
Of the mot bare faced and
Take for example the cry OF big steal
Scores OF papers have reiterated the story
started in Yank on nper, tina, the cnmmiss,op
could rob the people by charging S6 per diem
for every day until the next Legislature should
convene But the bill distinctly dec ares that
the total amount paid the members or the COM
mission for servics should not exceed xlO,OOO.
Nevertheless, the cry still goes ON that the COM
mission will rob the tax-payinS farmer All to-
pieces This shows either that the editors
fpll road hill fflat tlev
are grossly unfair The fact Is, as the bill very
clearly sta'e that the commissioners cannot
draw cent until capital fund has been
crea ed from the Jnaton Of the town selected
as the capital This will appear from the fol-
lowing closing extract from Sec. ":
And the commissioners shall be paid for their
services the sum OF six dollars $50 each, for each
and every day actually employed, by the warrant oe
the auditor OF the Territory upon % .ne .er,n1s ,hn
shall not receive as compensation more than SlOs-
900.
More than this. not one cont Of money can
be paid for any purpose whatever OUT OF me
general fund. In otuer words. under the terms
OF the bill, the comm missioners are to locate the
capital, and ere ct y l00. 600 capitol building,
which with the 100 acres Of land, that ouahs
to Y cid from 100000 to $2OO, OOO in cash,
is to become the property OF the TERRITORY WIN
ont costing tle people cent II this s big
steal-rhe mofe numerous the big stsals the
better for the public
But the public object 10 the method In which
the bill was raised, aud the bribery
connected Herewith. On these points the
writer heraof has but little TO say. He knew
good deal about the workings Of the ia.tlegis-
isture, but he saw nothing 10 make him believe
that any members were bou ut or oiherwIse
whipped into support OF the b'll Faguc
charges to the contrary have been made; out
In Published paper Gov Ordway has made
POSITIVE DENIAL:
For myself, As the executive ~ the Territory, !
take this occasion to brand false and UNANIMOUSLY
malicious ach aud every accusation put forth by
vena press that there has been any bargain, ar
rangement or improper understanding between
the executive ana member OF the legisiaive 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, for the confirmation OF any
nomination, during the late session, or any other
session, Of the legislative assembly since assumed
Office.
Until somebody Is able to produce conclusive
evidence to the contrary. fair-mindsd people
will accept the governors statement as truth.
The charges G .o na sssrses s'r'r .re
decisive dec information that q syndicate
WAS here buying up votes, he ought TO give
the public the benefit Of his information IL
half the charges made against Gov. Ordway In
this connection are true, undoubtedly they can
be 80 proven. II then ths people demand his
removal, as come papers go persisten'iy
assert, let the evidence be prepared and let IL
be sent to Washington, and the president Will
assuredly give Dakota new governor. Unless
thi, can be done 1t must appear TO disinterest-
ed people that the charges lack foundation.
Another objection urged against the bill il
that il is wrong, or at least undigni6ed, for .
great Territory to lend its name 10 real es-
tate speculation, out OF which somebody
Of good people in Yankton; but il one-tenth
ti.at has been said against the town be true,
tho moral objection thus set up seems ludi-
crous1y incOngruous as coming from farkton.
But in regard to the fact that the capital town
It may be said that the same thing would have
proven true to an extent had the capital beer
located at some town by direct vote Of the leg.
i-lature. The possession Of the capital would
b, big sdver isement, land would assume al
most . fictitious value, somebody would make
money, and the Territory would have given its
naure TO o real estate speculation In one case 90
we'll - 10 the other.
Mistakes in Newspapers.
The Poughkeepsie Eagle in an article
on ''IIow Mistakes Happen in Newspa-
pcrs," figures the number of type used
in newspaper the size Of the Eagle at
, Cox, 900; that is the actual number of
| bits Of metal arranged for each newspa-
per in preparing u newspaper of that
size for the press. We suppose few peo.
pie think of the printing trade as one Of
the most exact and particular handicrafts;
but it is. In making type, variations
that might be allowed in the finest ma
chinery would render type useless. It
is very rarely that type furnished bv two
separate found lries can be used tOgeth-
er without great deal Of trouble. even