The San Francisco call., 1899-07-06
AN ATTORNEY GENERAL IN FUSTIAN.

HE CALL had occasion within the last le" udyS
to comment upon some political references IN
an official dispatch from Major General OtlS.
That kind Of deDarure from military brevty and pro
prietv was not wholly original But the Attorney
General of the State OF Idaho IS surely entitled to the
credit of a discovery
1t seems that in the neighborhood OF Wallace IN
Shoshone County, Idaho, for some years members
o the Miners Union have been accustomed to decor
ate the graves OF their dead and to have professions
and speeches Now, whether this custom originated
in some violence or breach of the law The Call does
not know and for its purpose in this article does not
care The probability is that in most instances
OF antaqOnis between capitalists and laborers, there
was some wrong on both sides The propriety OF the
annual celebration does not enter into the present MS
tory The essential point is that the Attorney Gen
eral OF Idaho has assumed military functions and has
issued proclamation absolutely forbdding the ex-
ercise of a constitutional right, by the wives
and daughters OF the members of the Miners Union.
This distinguished functionary has determined that
the occasion Of the celebration is criminal and that
even women shall not be permitted to pay any tribute
OF respect their unforgotten relatives, whose lives
were at least surrendered their conception of right
Attorney General Sinclair is evidently rival Of
Don Caesar de Bazan and of Bombastes Furoso If
there is anything in the constitution statutes of
Idaho to invest him with the fustian dignity OF mill
tary despot such gross departure from the principles
of American constitutional liberty should have been
certainly pointed out. But there is such law In
Idaho in other States, when proclamations have
constitutional legislative sanction they issued
by the Governor. There, as everywhere else in our
country the Attorney General is simply the chief law
officer OF the commonwealth
General Merriam to a considerable extent has re
lieved himself from responsibility for the unnatural
conditions existing in Idaho The military power Of
the United States the assumption that the State
unable to deal with the situation was properly
invoked to restore law and order and to insure the
arrest OF criminals But, when this result had been
obtained the legitimate exercise OF arbitrary author
ity chad been exhausted. The Governor, however
acting as partisan for the mineowners and denying
all the rights and privileges OF citizenship to the
miners whether within without the union, declared
martial law, and series of usurpations followed for
which 1t will be difficult to find a precedent in
Americas history, The story OF the bull pen the
lnhumanity TO insane the wholesale arrests
without Of law, the imposition of illegal and
despotic rules conditions of employment the hard
coarse, brutal usage OF American citizens, so fre-
quenty charged have not been successfully contra
dicted, and. taken together. constitute record that
is disgraceful the State in which it originated and
to every public official who has participated in this
OF imperialism.
Nothing, however, has occurred in the neighbor-
hood OF Wardner SO entirely incapable OF apology or
extenuation the usurpation OF Attorney General
Sinclair His position as an exponent OF the law
should have been absolute guarantee that whatever
other members OF the State government might do he
would stand for the rights OF his fellow citizens in the
teeth OF any imperialisc programme that might have
been devised. But, as OF fact he is the most
conscienceless OF all the officials who have so readily
converted themselves into the plant instruments OF
aggressive capital He has ostentatiously and even
defed the law he is sworn TO maintain.
He has deliberately accepted position that denti-
ies him with the Liputians who degrade their coun-
try by their substitution OF little brief authority"
for the equality and for the dignity OF the law