Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-18
Should Not Ee Repealed by
the Legislature.
THE VIEWS OF A CITIZEN
The Morals of All the Men of the State
Are at Stake--A Logical
Argument is Made.
To the Inter Mountain:

To the Inter Mountains:
There has been a good deal in the Ana
conda Standard of late about the moral
ity of members of the legislature. That
paper has been wonderfully worked up
because some part of that body went
astray and disgraced the state and ad-
V~ertiSed it as a rotten borough. That's
what it is, thanks to the democratic
party. But what strikes me as very
strange is hat while the Anaconda sheet
was SO agitated because forty or fifty
men were tempted and fell, it yet says
not a word on the subject of the in
famous pending bill to license what is
now a crime in this state and which will
subject the entire male population to
| temptation. The bill to license gambling
is a bill to ruin thousands of homes in
Montana upon the bastard plea of needed
revenue and the difficulty of enforcing
law owing to official crookedness. To
that plea what does the Anaconda Stand
ard make answer? What has become of
it's solicitude for the public morals which
in the Clark election was SO much in evil
dence? BY what right does the Standard
seek to enter the homes of the people as
an advocate of honest and decent gov
eminent and public morals while it is
silent upon the great crime which this
Legislature is now asked to commit and
which the governor will soon be asked to
approve? Why should the legislature of
Montana go on record as opposed to the
abolition and in favor Of the encourage
ment of a public evil which is growing
to be greater than intemperance itself?
| yNhnn PnnrnCootnti1 Jip1cov n fnyr
days ago nobly denounced the crime Of
vote buying the Standard held him up as
an honor to the state, which he is. When,
however, the same gentleman later made
some remarks in favor of the suppression
of gambling and the enforcement of the
law, for the good name of the state and
the protection of the homes and firesides
of the people, the STANDARDIZED the
Standard reserved it's remarks. Gambling
is the greatest curse which today threat
ems the people of Montana. Every bust
ness man knows that, for his books bear
evidence Of the. fact and the criminal
court records emphasize it. The Shafer
murder case which is now costing the
taxpayers hundreds of dollars is directly
in point and it is only one of scores of the
same kind that have happened and will
happen in Butte. 1t is no longer possible
for a man to keep a few dollars in his
pocket. He is beset by temptation to
risk his earnings and neglect his family.
Professional gamblers of some sort,
'respectable' and d%isreputable alike,
combine either openly or secretly to
Corral every dollar of loose change in
the community. They are constantly
dangling bats in the sight of the weak
and unwary and the legislature of the
state is now asked to help along the
game with the aid Of the governor, while
such papers as the Anaconda Standard
look on without saying a word. There
is a reason for this and it shall be glVer
if any in Montana will dart
to print it.
The good men and women of Montana
are watching this democratic Legislature
and the democratic governor and Won
dering if the men who stood up for public
morality in the senatorial hght Will OF
this gambling issue, sacrifice their gooe
name and complete and perpetuate th'
DEGRADATION of the legislative body ant
the political party which is IN contro
of it's work.
A CITIZEN OF MONTANA.