The Anaconda standard., 1899-01-30
MONDAY, JANUARY 80, 1899.
TEN PAGES.
<<fT will be interesting" remarked
the Butte Miner yesterday morn

-.sT will be interesting" remarked
the Butte Miner yesterday morn
ing. "to note the manner in which
the Anaconda Standard takes the cleo
tion of W. A. Clark to the United States
senate" WE'LL we can fancy that the
Miner might feel deeply interested in
the Standards manner Of taking the
results of last Saturday at Helena. In
this business the Standard has dealt
with the relations of W. A. Clark to the
politics of this state. 1t is Mr.. Clark's
critic wherein his personality is related
to politics. 1t has nothing to do with
him or his affairs, except wherein his
political campaigning has made his po-
litical methods the subject Of legitimate
newspaper discussion. 1t was in that
spirit that the Standard dealt yester-
day, as usual, with the Clark senatorial
issue, and we presume that the COM
ment which the Miner confesses it
eagerly anticipated, was clear to that
the manner in which the Standard
took the election" can be stated thus:
First, Mr.. Clark's election was a tri-
umph for bribery; secondly, 1t was
victory for the republicans; result
which the decent democracy Of Montana
utterly repudiates.
Z, Try as it will, the Miner cannot de-
ceive itself in regard to the purchase
Of this senatorship; at any rate, what
ever it does with itself the Miner can
not possibly persuade even a small frac-
tion of the\people in it's limited constit-
uency that the majority for Mr.. Clark
was unbought. The only matter of
passing speculation with the people of
the state is as to how much Mr.. Clark
paid. ~Why, time and again, last week
some of the bribed men in the legislat ture
sat helpless and speechless under the
whitening denunciation of those who were
seeking to stop the sale of the legisa-
ture. They endured that which no in
nocent man, no honest man, would
stand. Not a man among them lisped
word of protest, except that Carr ven
tured it but collapsed, and the alleged
minister of the gospel Hannah, made a
stagger at it, and made a holy show Of
himself. Day after day the truth was
thrown right into the teeth of these
men; they were we'll aware that their
eloquent accusers knew a great deal
more than had been brought to public
attention by the formal exposures. IN
bribed men would never be speechless
under a lashing like that of last week.
AS to the political factor in the cleo
tion, discussion is not needed to make
clear the point that w. A. Clark could
not have scored for himself a. demo-
cratic majority, if the senatorial vote
had been taken once a day for a solid
year. There were so-and-so many
democrats whom after diligent inquiry,
Mr.. Clark became well satisfied he could
never buy. All men know that in for
mer senatorial exploits he bought re-
publicans: a certain element in that
party which manages to get into the
Montana legislature apparently finds
easy affiliation with Clark's money. AS
a rule these republicans come a good
deal cheaper than democrats-more
than half the republicans who voted fol-
w. A Clark last Saturday were reputeG
to be on his list before the first joint
session vote was taken. .,
Did the Miner notice the associated
press dispatch of yesterday morning
in report of w. A. Clark's election;
1t was sent out from the Office of the
Helena Independent, which was the per-
sonal organ of Mr.. Clark during the
campaign, and which, as the Miner is
aware,is essentially Mr.. Clark's prop
erty. This dispatch said: ''On the sec.
ond ballot the republicans came tc