Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-13
THE GOVERNORS MISTAKE.

1t is said that some men try to stand so
straight that they lean backward, and in
OVERRIDING one duty seriously interfere
with another. Such seems to have been
the case with Governor Smith of this
state. On the presumption that fugitives
from the Couer d'-Alenes might be found
in Thompson's Falls and Missoula he d.
rected the authorities of Missoula county
to arrest suspects and turn them over to
Gen. Merriam in Idaho. 1t is understood
that a number Of men We're arrested un-
der these instructions and turned over to
martial law and the bull pens Of our
neighboring state.
Although himself an attorney, in con-
slant practice before the courts in this
state, and with ready access to the office
of the attorney general of Montana, his
excellency seems to have overlooked the
fact that in directing the arrest Of men
in this state suspected of completely in
the Wardner troubles in Idaho, and turn
ing them over to a military tribunal with
out q reQuisition. he was performing an
act that would break down a principle vi
tai to the administration Of justice.
1t is perhaps only fair to Governor
Smith TO say that he was actuated by an
intense desire to assist the military au-
thorities in ap~prehending the men who
had violated the law at Wardner, and to
that end was willing to cause the ar
rest Of strangers in Missoula county.
without a requisition charging them with
any offense against the law. on the sus-
picion that they We're fugitives from
Idaho. The Inter Mountain ha no means
of ascertainlng at the present time how
Alissoula county and taken to Idaho
charged with no crime by the courts Of
our nelghboring tate: but if none suf-
fered that indignity the act Of the gov
ernor in directing that course of proce-
dure is none the less r~eprehensible.
The laws Of Nor tana make ample pro-
visions for the extradition of criminals,
and fugitives from justice can be appre-
hended and turned over to the authorities
of other states by a process that will af-
ford all due protection to the innocent
around the guilty. Our laws do not con-
template the surrender Of a suspect from
abroad without a requisition defining his
alleged crime. What is true of Montana
=. .z 4 - - ---.
unusual course Of procedure for Governor
Smith to waive this rule at the instance
of Genera! Merriam. and permit federal
troops to come into Montana and make
arrests without a state warrant. Mon
tana is not under martial law, and it is
almost incorceivable that the executive
thorities of Missoula county to cooperate
with federal troops in apprehending men
who Were merely suspected of having
recently fled from the mining districts of
Idaho.
1t is true, Governor smith finally decid-
ed to change his plans in this matter, and
is said to have written Gen. Merriam
that his troops could make mo more" ar
rests in Montana without a warrant from
the state. This would imply that such ar
rests have been made. If so, has his eX-
cellency directed the return of the sus-
poets or the issuance of state warrants
to cover the cases? Or, has he decided to
follow the example of Rip Van Wrinkle
end not count those cases in making his
Dledges of reform for the future?-
There can be no question blu,
hat the men arrested in Mis-
soula county by the federal troops
were taken out of this state ille-
gally and in direct violation of the con.
stitution, and it devolves upon the gov
ernor to see that the wrong is promptly
righted. To deprive men of their liberty
without due process of law is a serious
thing, in a state where the civil authori-
Aies are in full of the situation
and where military interference is an
arbitrary usurpation of authority.
The platform adopted by the national
democracy in 1896, and which Governor
Smith and his democratic friends in this