Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1899-10-05
THE OFFICIAL PAPER OF GILLIAN
COUNTY, OREGON.
zHE cokUR ., ALkHE ERouskE

no, for alleged compllclty IN the de-
struction of the Bunker Hill L Sui
Gvan mill last April. According
TO the Idaho State Tribune, the otli
cial organ of the Miners Union, of
that district, these men have been,
aud are still being prosecuted and
mistreated in manner thatshould
make the keepers of Russian ex-
lies in Siberia turn green with envy
From the paper above referred
to we make the following extract:
"About week ago the inmates
Of the bull pen were discovered IN
the act of tunneling out and while
it must be generally admitted that
persons imprisoned on charge of
crime forfeit in great measure
their standing and respectability
by attempting to escape from the
officers Of the law Nevertheless
self-preservation is the first law of
nature and to escape is the natural
inclination, and after remaining in
the bull pen for five long weary
months, without charge or trial,
while two sessions of the district
court Of Shoshone county have
been held, and with the further
knowledge that the civil courts
have been barricaded against them
by the Krag- Jorgenson rides of
Governor Steunenburg, the attempt
to escape was but natural and we
doubt if in all Idaho there can be
found ten persons who would not
make the attempt under like cir
cumstances, but for this attempted
escape a punishment is imposed
upon them. They were ordered to
dig a ditch nine feet deep around
the entire prison, which order they
stubbornly refused to obey. Their
refusal was not only human but
just. The prisoners in the bull pen
are convicted Of no crime and un-
der the law of this country are pre-
sumed innocent until proved guilty
and no officer, however great, has
any moral or legal right to compel
them to do manual labor against
their will. They are entitled to
wholesome food, comfortable beds
and decent treatment and can in
no sense be rightfully treated as
felons until judgment has beer
passed upon them by the courts o
the country. But it appears thai
the authorities have no regard fol
law and decency, and when th'
prisoners refused to work at man
ual labor at the command of Cap
tain Edwards and without remun-
Grafton they were placed on breac
and water diet. All the straw was
taken from their hunks and they
are compelled to sleep on the hare
boards. Refreshments of every
kind are denied them. Those ad
dicted to the use of tobacco are re
fused it. They are compelled Il
stand up in line in the boiling SUI
seven hours per day aud denied th'
right to take a step or move liml
under pain Of death Such cruelty
is without parallel in this age o
Christian civilization.
Every man who was implicate'
in the riot of last April should b
prosecuted to the full extent of tn
law but, if the above statement
are correct, it would seem that pei
secution and not prosecution is tn
method being employed by the stat
and military authorities in tn
Coeur d. Alenes. If the charge
which have been iterated and reit
Grated by the Tribune for the las
five months are true, there can b
no doubt but that the state author
tiles have trampled the law unde
foot to as great an extentas the rio
ters did. If they are not true VIII
do the authorities not stop the pub
lication Of the paper. If the Trit
une's charges are false the offic
should be closed and the edito
should be locked up. If they al
true the governor and his subord
mates should be impeached. remov
ed from Office ard sent to the per
itentiary.
TLa D-;t:.h ,.o.,n.r., ,,,a.,t bas oov