Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-10-27
THE PLAIN FACTS
ABOUT DEPORTATION

IF any of these men are criminals.
in Gods name let the criminals be
punished Let not the innocent suffer-"
This is the burden Of the wall which
Unctuous Alva. lover OF the down
trodden people and of fat once, is
sending up from the stump wherever
he can find n stump TO stand on. And
| what Is all the fuss about2 Simply he
cause the military authorities OF Colo
rado. acting under the direction of
Governor Peabody, deported about
200 desperate or suspicious cbarac-
ters from Teller county. and about half
as many from San Miguel county in
order to restore the peace OF those
| communities.
Mr.. Adams and his fellow Demo
| Gratis denounce deportation on the
ground that Is It unconstitutional. II
| is true that the Constitution contains
no reference to the matter but the
Democratic candidate, in his zeal for
the Federation cause, quite overlooks
| the fact that extraordinary conditions
demand extraordinary measures for
| relief.
When the deportations were begun
in Teller county the military author.
| tiles were In control The criminal
element was held In subjection. but
only by the presence Of soldiers II
was certain that az soon as the troops
should be withdrawn lawlessness
would break out afresh Many OF the
| men who committed the crimes which
| brought about the state Of lnsurrec
ton were believed to still be In the
district; at any rate their sympathiz-
| ers were there In force. and their pres
ence made 1t impossible to convict
those accused of crime or to restore
peace and order. Under the "alibl
system" men whose guilt was reason
| ably established went SEQ. free. The
Feredatlon was In control OF most OF
the county Offices and Justice was un.
| known
This was the situation that confront
ed General Bell. So long as the Fed
Of reconstruction could not continue
Therefore he followed the only course
| that could produce the desired result
| He deported every man who could not
prove that his presence was not inim
cal to the good OF the community. OF
course 1t was impossible to separate
the sheep from the goats with abso
lutte accuracy. and 1t may be that O
few OF the deportees were unjustly
condemned. but the committee ex
cised every possible care and II there
were such cases they were very few.
| BY this means the district was
| quickly rid OF the desperate characters
agitators. loafers and riffran who's,
presence had been . curse to 1t fol-
years. Quiet was Immediately restored
and prosperity followed in its track
Since then no community in the stat'
has enjoyed a greater degree OF peace
lawful liberty and security than th'
Cripple Creek district An Idea OF ii
prosperity may be gained from the fig
ures Of the September production
S2,041 900
| Mr. Adams does not object to thil
result so much as 10 the methods b!
which 1t was attained. But the meth
DDS are simply those employed by th'
police Of every town and city in thu
land Scarcely day passes that th'
police OF Colorado Springs do no
give some tramp or other suspic
ious character hours TO leave town.
Whenever vagrants are known 10 In
fest the city in numbers. general round
up is made and the whole outfit Il
driven out-deported. Most OF then
have committed no onense for whicl
they could be convicted; perhaps
few OF them are simply honest mel
in hard luck. but here again II is In
possible to separate the sheep fron
the goat.
AS a general proposition their pres
ence is a menace to the people Of tn
city, for there may be among ther
many who are only awaiting q chanc
to commit crime. The Constitution
and the laws provide no certain way I
deal with them. 20 the police ever,
where have adopted the deportatio
plan and everywhere It works SUI
cessfully. 1t has been done for as man