Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-09
OrdWaY Again.

believe, Chat he left the territory of
which he is chief executive. -0rdinari-
ly the absence, Of a territorial officer SO
long from his posi- of duty would create
remark but the people of DaAota seem
to hageibeer2 3perfaetly with
the governors absence. It has been
even intimated that he could MOI please
them better than by remaining away
forever. + is insisted that there:is an
odcrabout his official garments that is
exceedingly offensive to the intelligent
and respectable people Of the most
promising territory il the union.
Whatever his previous record, when
the governor first went among these
people he was vel" received. They
welcomed him from New Hampshire's
hills and rocks, where 1t is reported in
legend they sharpen the noses of the
sheep, to their bread and fertile plains,
where the ground need be but "tickled
with the hoe to laugh with a golden
harvest" They wantedhim to identify
himself with them and Sheirs, and aid.
in laying the foundations of a great flu
ture state, and if he had been honest.
and true there was no ambition he,
might have entertained that would not.
have found a warm response in their
hearts. .@is - 9
For a time all went we'll, but the ca
pabilitiss of the place for se,f'aggtand-
izement grew as the inhabitants multi
piled, and the greed for gain overbal-.
anced the governors honest ambition
to decorate the senate chamber or adorn
the hall of the national house. Coun-
ties were TO be organized, county seats
established, two or three hundred Off
cials to be appointed, q new capital for
the embryo state was to be established.
The people We're eager and earnest.
Time was money. They were laying
the foundations Of fortunes. They
wanted to realize on houses and lots
and lands, and the man who cduld hast
en- or retard the time in which they
could do that had it in his power to
make money, and no one seems to have
realized that so soon as the man who
occupied the executive chair. 4
The people were at first loath to be-
lieve evil of him-the most plausible of
men-but the various movements under
cover required too many go-betweens,
and as county seat after another
was established, more and more men
learned howitw vas accomplished. Some
failed and squealed. Then began the
talk. A growing suspicion had existed
before, and as the returns came in
month after month from the various
counties organized and desiring to or
ganize. it seemed almost certain that
Dakota's governor was a corrupt, bad
man. The talk WAS loud and general,
and it was allin vain that the Ordway's,
father and son, said that the outcry was
the work Of the Sioux Falls and Yank-
ton rings. The people away up in cen
trail and western Dakota, Whohad never
! seen inside of n Of those rings, were
as loud in their denunciation as those
of the southwest. The feeling against
the governor grew stronger as time adj
| vanced, until it seemed that among
ninety per cent, of the population he
had not only no friends but no one to
respect him.
The Inter-Ocean is continuously well
Informed Of matters and things in Da-
kota, and heard these mutterings in.
their beginning, but it turned a deaf;
ear and hoped they would prove. like
idle and foolish stories, without proper
foundation. We well understood how
easy it was to do injustice to a public
official, to iniure an honest man on
false charges, and that is not the Inter-.
Ocean way Of doing things. "Re sure.
you are right, then go ahead,@ is a sen.
timent especially appropriate in the:
treatment Of public men. The testimo-
ny against Ordway sent to this Office
grew stronger and stronger as the
months a on. We became convinced,
thoroughly convinced, Of his total UNI
fitness to fill the place he occupied, or
any other place Of public trust and hon
or. 1t was then that we spoke out. The
language was plain, and neither the
governor mol his friends could misun-
derstand our meaning. If we were
wrong they We're invited to explain
where and how. After a long wait the
governor replied, and we published
what he said in full. And what was
his reply to the accusations Of a whole
territory full of people? 1t may be sum-:
med up in a few words: "Dakota is full.
of bad men. | resisted their efforts to
get rich by illegitimate means. l per-
severed in that re%sistancein an endeav-
or to serve the public, and because of
that resistance they are making effort
to ruin me-" The argument made in