The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1885-02-18
A WORD From JUSTICE"
In which he Expresses Sympathy for
The Miner,
And pays his Respects to Divers and
Sundry Parties.
BUTTE. Feb. l6, 1885.

BUTTE, Feb. l6, 1885.
EDITOR OF THE MINER when
wrote the article which you so kind
published In your Sunday mornin
MINER I had not the remotest idea
would arouse the indignation and ir
Of the respected pastor of the Episcc
pal church of this city. Not havinI
the honor of being q commuaicant a
Brother B'ackiston's sacramento
table-being q member Of 1.-THE littl,
church around the corner ~ ha,
not the pleasure of listening to tn
comments of the gifted pastor upo1
my article. But I understand h.
"went for'' the MINER with char
a~cteristic vixor; tore your subsorlp
ton books into shreds, and played
havoc with your advertising patron
age. For bringing these dire calam'
tiles upon you. Mr.. Editor. I am in
deed sorry, and tender to you MOI
only my apologies, but my heartfelt
sympathy in your distress. mot re
quired, MI. Justice. -ED.]
But seriously, MI: Editor, what
was there in my article to which Mr..
Rlackiston Al take exception? Il
was couched In temperate language
made no unbecoming personal refer.
ence to any one; presented facts
without a display of egotism; ap.
pealed to the reason of men-not to
their passions or prejudices; admitted
that gambling is q vice. and con-
tended that Mi. Forbis' bill would
not accomplish the object for which
1t was framed. Could offense be rea-
sonably taken at this ? I oIine not.
II I had referred to the supporters OF
MI. Forbis' bill as a set of ignora-
muses. or impracticable men wanting
in judgment, or unable to compre
bend the groundwork upon which
society is built, or had I impugned
their motives or mlsrepresented their
actions in advocating the measure,
or had I taken the ground that gam.
bling is right and sanctioned by
moral law 1 would have been open
to adverse criti cism and your journal
may prot erly have come in for a
share. But nothing of the kind was
written and l confess I am at q loss
to understand the dssnsus Of the Rev.
Blackiston's diatribe on the day
noted.
The gentleman himself has some
occasion to be thankful to the gam
bling fraternity. One Of the "pro-
fessionals," We r creditably in
formed: has been and is still q regular
contributor to the Reverend gentle
mans annual salary. As he Is too
charitable to permit his left hand to
know what his right hand doeth in
the matter of contributions to a good
cause, I withhold his name for the
present.
Since writing the above my atten-
ton has been called to an editorial
which appears In last evenings Inter
Mountain, in which the writer at
a reply to my article in the
MINER. As he makes no point wor-
thy Of consideration, I shall not take
up your space in noticing it. But as
citizen of Butte las one who has a
deep and abiding interest in the wei.
fare of this community, I must enter
my protest against the attempt on
the part of the Inter Mountain to
bulidoze our Councilman, the Hon.
Stephen DeWolfe, into the support
Of MI. Forbls' bill. NJ. DeWolfe ia
= gentleman of hign legal attain
ments, of sound judgment and ripe
experience as a legislator, and if he
oppose the bill his opposition will
rest upon unassailable grounds. If
be favor 1t his reasons for such action
will commend themselves to cur peo-
pie. He is not a gentleman who can
be forced into the support of
any measure by the clamor of a fos-
sheet. MI. Forbis' bill was
not an issue before the people which
him and the threats CT the
Inter Mountain should he fail to sur-
port it, will cut no figure in the de-
termination of his vote upon the
measure. I for one, place implicit
in the Judgment of Mr..
DeWolfe and look upon the attempt
o bulldoze him as an insult to his
Intelligence and to the people who
him.