The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-01-22
THE wH1r1BYtnURpER.
Opinions Of = Butte Papsr With Re-
gard to the Covardly Deed.

gard . the Cowaro1y 1eea. so
Butte Mont. Inter. Mountain.
The particulars of the sssassina-
,ion Of Fred D.. Whitney in thel
Occur d'Alene country by mob Of
calling themselves civilized
white mon show it to have been one
Of the most inexcusable and das-
hardly crimes ever committed in
the dark and bloody ground Of the
According to the state
ment of Mr.. Goodale, who returned
on Saturday from tho scene Of the
murder with the body of the victim.
there seems to have been no provo
cation for the oowardly atrocity.
Whitney was an honest, sober, in
dustrious and affable man. He was
a sincere friend of labor and = mem
Der in good standing of the Miners
Union, which he zealously support
ed in every proper endeavor. He
was an advocate of good wages and
enjoyed the confidence of every de-
cent and patriotic worker in the
region where he was employed. His
sole offense in the eyes of the men
who wantonly shot him down in
cold blood when he was making no
resistance was that in the exercise
of his discretion as foreman of the
Helena Frisco. mill he had dis
charged two men for incompetency
and filled their places with two
Montana men from Butte. Butte
men are evidently looked upon az
Objectionable in the Ceur d'Alene
country. Idaho men by the hun.
drods come to Butte looking fol
work and obtain it, but whom Butte
men go to Idaho to accept employ
ment they are subjected to suspicion
and their employer is marked fol
slaughter. That was the case with
poor Whitney whose murder seems
to have been considered an inciden'
of only passing Importance. Ye1
every honest miner in the C@ul
d'Alenes should be ready to do hi
part in handing the culprits ove1
to justice; every business man il
that region should demand the ar
rest and conviction of the guilty
parties, whoever they may be, ane
the Governor of Idaho should in
woke every instrumentality withir
his power to bring the murderers t.
the gibbe.. Citizens of Idaho wh'
would do less than that are unwor
thy of the rights of freemen ant
deserve to be stripped of their fran
chise. The miners of the Ceu
d'Alenes should themselves NEE
and denounce the foul crime com
mitted in their midst and call upol
every agency of the law to brin
the guilty to speedy punishment
The business men of Wallace an
Wardner should join withthe miner
and put up their money to bel
capture the murderers instead {
condoning the shameful act by thei
cowardly silence.
The Governor of Idaho, if he b
man and not mouse, if he CON
prehends the binding nature of hi
oath of Office, and if he has one dro
of American blood in his veins q
a particle of respect for his ON
authority or regard for the goo
name of his own State, should offe
reward and de everything in b
power to have the murderers hange
by law on the topmost tree of tt
topmost peak of the Ceur d'Aler
mountains as a notice to the worl
that murder is not a recognized il
dustry in Idaho. Failing in doir
his full duty and doing it prompt
and without apology or explanation
the Governor Of the "Gem" Sta
should be impeached and drive
from Office in everlasting disgrac
Why should not Montana men
ne safe in Idaho as Montana?
free American citizens what RICH
do they sacrifice when they cross Il
State lines in any direction? VII
would the men of the Ceur d'Alen
think if every Idaho man who com
to Montana looking for work, or
he were summoned to accept wo1
should be shot down by q mob
rufians defiant of public opinio
of the law and of the constitutio
What, further, would be thong
Of civilization in Montana if t
victims of such offenses agar
humanity should be allowed to
in the streets denied even the bene
of a Coroner's inquest or dece
burial? Thank God the men
Montana are made of better st
than that. Here the law is supren
The flag means something. Libel
10 not license. Our best citize
are among those who work
hardest for their daily bread. M
violence and murder here are l
provoked every time an Idaho m
comes to town looking for honora
employment to support his fami
There is not to-day in Butte a sin
man, be he miner or millionai
who looks with anything but hor
upon the damnable act that has
vertised Idaho 20 the world a
State whose officials wink ct cri
and fond1n crininola