Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1887-1890, 1888-01-18
FALLS B
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY IS, 1883.
Semi Weekly
CARPETB4GGERS

lHe udt tuab 1Oltdud Sudll NC
admitted as a state the carpetbaggers will
return to their southern homes" We
hope not. The state of Montana will be
large enough for every able-bodied, in
dustrious man who desires to stay here,
Notwithstanding the above prediction
from the Butte Inter Mountain. Gar
petbagger'' is an edious word, and has
gone out Of use in the south, where there
was some warrant for its use when
adventures went down there solely to
plumber the people. In Montana every
industrious man should be welcome,
whether he comes with a Saratoga trunk
Oh carpetbag, or without either. AS
regards officials, it is the method and not
the individual which should be assailed.
Men like governor Leslie and chief jus
tice Mcconnell have acted rightly in
accepting the positions rendered them.
We hope they will remain here when
Montana becomes a state, as other hon
ored government officials in times past
have remained and helped to advance
the greatness of this commonwealth.
We are as proud of Montana as anyone,
and as jealous of her rights, but in the
new era of statehood which is dawning,
we hope to see her latchstring out for
people of the south as well as the north
for the immigrants of today as well as for
the descendants Of the immigrants who
landed at Plymouth Rock, and laid the
foundation of great commonwealth.
The spirit of exclusiveness which has
nearly ruined Benton and retarded the
growth of Helena, will, we are confident,
give way to broad, hearty encouragement.
In trade or in politics, in manufactures
or in farming, the newcomer must be
made feel at home. Such is the spirit
which pervades Great Falls, and so may
it be to the end
The Philadelphia Press says: "Con-
gresham Springer is probably right in
saying that there is no time enough to
admit Dakota until after the next ma
tional election. 1t is absurd, however.
for him to place the great uninhabited
Montana On a par with Dakota. Mon
tana's only claim for admission consists
in the fact that her few thousand settlers |
incline to democracy" 1t is sad to find
the Press so greatly astray. There is
ample time to admit both north and
south Dakota if congress were so dis
posed. The 'great .uninhabited Montana"
has four times the population of Illinois
when she was admitted as a state. She
produces gold and silver, copper and lead
to the amount of $4,000, 900 annually.
She has such populous cities as Butte,
Helena and Great Falls. Her total assess
II ent amounts to 6 100000. Her extent
145,576 square miles, is such that she
could find space for all New England,
New York, New Jersey and Delaware,
and still have room for part of Pennsyl-
vania. Montana has the greatest water
power, the mightiest river, and the mob
lest mountains in the union. Her coal
fields exceed in extent those of the Key
stone state. Her ome are handsome
and bright: her men stalwart and brave.
Her cattle, horses and sheep are equal to
any in the union, and her fields produce
such as would astonish the farmers
of the Keystone state. We contend that
all this entities Montana to statehood
regardless of the politics of her people.