St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-23
MONTANA's DISGRACE.

"Thou shalt not steal" Such was
one of the mandates given by COD TO
mankind amid the thunders of Mount
Sinai. This divine law has been en-
bodied in every civil code of which
history gives any account. The taking
by ore man of goods which belong to
another is an offense. not only against
the man from whom the goods are
stolen. but against the laws of man and
of God. a theft by a corporation is
none the less theft. A theft from
people is none the less theft. A theft
of large thing is a greater wrong than
of a small one. Montana to-day pre-
SCENTS a spectacle that should arouse the
Indignation of every honest man, be he
Republican or Democrat. The dis
patches from this new state show
state of affairs that makes thought
ful man wonder if constitutional gov
ernment is not failure after all. The
spectacle of a great and professedly
moral party trying to defeat the will of
the people, its rival leaders united only
In the effort to perpetrate bare-faced
robbery, to cast the ballot box in the
dust; to say. in short, to the people OF
that great commonwealth: "YOu have
declared by your votes that certain men
shall make your laws, but we will not
have it so; we rule this state. we will
say who shall represent you and make
laws;for your government'-this spec
tacle is unprecedented it is disgrace to
Montana; it is not only this, but it is a
spectacle that is big with pOrtentOus
import, fOreboding the downfall of con-
stitutiOnal government. Even the men
who are trying to steal Montana
have never yet denied that the
people by their votes elected legisla-
ture the majority of the members of
which are Democrats in their political
opinions. But they barefacedly place
themselves in antagonism to the will
of the people; they declare that might
Is right, and because they think they
have the power to steal, that therefore
they will steal.
The people of Montana, however, will
never consent to such an outrage. They
will never stand by quietly and witness
the admission of the state signaliZed by
the greatest piece of political skull
duggery and immortality that was ever
attempted. That the Republican leaders
are not Endorsed by the rank and
file of the party is evidenced by
the outspoken protests which are
being made by more than one
man. But even if the fight
came down to simple battle
between the two parties, the
Democrats have the power to Illustrate
the evil designs of their opponents;
they have the power to prevent the gil
gantic steal which the Republican lead
ers are trying TO perpetrate by the most
underhand and unprineipied methods.
If the eight Democratic senators refrain
from attending when the legislature is
organized they can prevent the organi-
cation of the senate just as long as they
choose. The effect of this would be to
prevent the nomination of any United
States senators, and. if the Republicans
should persist in maintaining their posi-
ton, would place drag on the wheels
and eventually leave the governor of
the state to appoint two senators. AS a
last resort these obstructiOnist tactics
would prove effective and would send
two Democrats to Washington, in ae-
cordanee with the expressed will Of the
people Of the state of Montana.