The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-13

Il
| generation. Effort is being made to
| mislead the public Judgment, but mis-
| tory will record the virtues of these
men and stamp their deeds with its ap-
proval when the personal aspects CT a
senatorial contest will have been for
gotten.
The joint session to-day was more iE-
teresting than the one Wednesday, as
several speeches We're made. When the
name of E. c. Day of Helena vas
in its tone that it reacted on his own
head and rebounded on the totterng
Clark cause. Mr.. Day said
II have been asked several times re-
Gently to state my views upon the pres
ent senatorial situation. I have delay
| ed doing so until was freed from such
| excitement or passion, unntimidated
| by threats and influenced by promises
of personal advancement or fattery.
That time has now arrived. The dis
tinguishing principle of our system of
law is that every man, no matter how
SidNe tle charge, is De
innocent until found guilty after a
fair and impartial trial in duly con-
stituted court of Justice. This assembly
has been startled from it's usual de-
Lucrative condition by a report of a
committee relative to certain alleged
transactions of its members. I nave
carefully read the testimony produced
here before you, and there is not an in
eliminating word in it, save the testi-
| mony of those who had conspired to
violate the law, and Who are effectuallv
shielded by the protection thrown
around them through their appearance
before a committee appointed at their
own solicitation and before which they
alone were asked to appear The cir
cumstances surrounding the appoint
ment and action of this committee are
of the most peculiar character In view
of these facts, the presumption of inno-
cence to which I have referred, should
! remain unimpaired. I was elected TO this
legislature with the understanding that
I would support by my vote a certain
and in obedience to what | believe to
be the wishes Of the great majority
of those whom I represent, I cast my
vote for w. A. Clark of Silver Bow
When the name of Judge Stephens of
Missoula was called, that gentleman re-
sented in unmeasured terms the insin-
uations of Mr.. Day against himself and
of ha JIa
could not rest under the innputation
made against his character and his mo-
tives after residence in Montana of
almost life time. Now that his locks
are whitened by age, he declared that
as all through his life, so in his SER
vice on the committee. his only idea
had been to do his duty honestly and
fearlessly. and that he had DONE He
said further:
Il may not have understood the re-
marks made by the member from Lewis
and Clarke, Mr.. Day, or I may be mis-
taken in the differences I have drawn
from those remarks. l am an old man
and all my life I have attempted to do
my duty honestly and fearlessly, under
any anl all circumstances, no matter
how trying. 1t is hardly necessary to
expect me to do otherwise al this late
hour. 1t appears to me that charges of
moral turpitude have been made
against the committee of which I am a.
member the committee on investigation
into the charges of bribery. If / let
these charges pass unchallenged, if I
did not rase my voice against the ac-
cuser, I should feel that l had not done
my duty. So far as I know. not one of
the members of that committee was
cognizant before the membership Of
was to take part in that investigation,
but I feel that I have done my duty
and no man can ask me to do more"
Representative Toole of Deer Lodge
county said MY hair is not so gray
as that of the venerable member from
Missoula county, but I am a member
of the committee referred to by the
member from Lewis and Clarke, Mr.
Day, and I am a resident of the state
of Montana. I would be false to my
friends, false to my family, false to my
home, false to that committee, if [ al
lowed Mr.. Days remarks to pass I'M
challenged. I have boys, and I am try
ing to teach those boys honesty I re-
sent with every fiber of my being, the
imputation that the committee on in
vestigation is guilty in any way of
connivance. No finger of suspision can
justly be raised against any member of
this committee. My home is in this
state, my family lives here, and l can
not let this moment pass without de-
nouncing as infamous the remark that
this committee has acted from any but
the purest and most honorable motives.
No such imputation can be made
against me and remain unchallenged.
Chairman Stiff, when his name was
called, said: unlike the member from
Lewis and Clarke, came here pledged
to no man, under no obligations to vote