The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1905-04-20
NEVADA NOT
SO BAD AZ
TER
Other People Have No
License to Cast
Stones at Us.

thinks OF their action In removing all
restrictions from gambling. Nevada
has always been a pretty tough prop
osition among the commemorative of
the nation; but she las never been a
hypocrite. She has never assumed
virtues she did not possess and she
has never denied or attempted to shirk
the responsibilities Of her vices.
No doubt the newspapers of New
York, and Pennsylvania, and Indiana,
and Missouri, and Colorado, will ex-
claim with yirtuous indignation
against Nevada for throwing herself
wide open to the gambling element
and the immortality that clusters
about the speculative habit. But it
is not for these people to cast stones
from the porticos of their glass houses;
they must remove the beams from
their own eyes before they look for
notes in the eyes OF their neighbors.
Eveh California has no right to
take a brief for the prosecution Of Ne
vada on this complaint. Ii the Leg
islature of Nevada has granted extra.
ordinary privileges to the gamblers,
we must not forget that our own Leg
islature refused to pass a bill prohibit
ing fake prize fights. If the morals
of Nevada are loose, a goodly proper
tion OF her specific immortality is fur
nished by citizens of California. The
Reno marriage, for instance, is sourced
in the California divorce.
In California and the other States
likely Il rehuke Nevada for her delin-
quences, the people pride themselves
Oh their churches and religious soci-
cites. In Nevada the church and the
society are frankly subordinate to the
gambling he'll and its accessories. In
California and those other States, in
spite of churches and in defiance of
renitentiaries, vice is more prevalent
in proportion to tie population than
it is in Nevada; hut the chief distinc-
tion between the two social conditions
lies in the circumstance that Nevada
is shameless while the others are
shameful: the vice of Nevada is open
and ~aboyeboard, candid, fortnight,
honest IN its expression; the Others
are smugiy hypocriticai, g%aberdined
in a yirtuous false pretense, always
compromising for sins they are in
clined to, by damning those they
have no mind to.
In the matter Of political corrup-
ton Nevada has never denied eulpa-
bility. neither has she sought to ex-
cuse her turpitude in this regard
Many of her United States Senators
have bought their seats as they would
buy their household furniture, in the
open market; her Legislators have
been grossly corrupt but the corrup-
ton excited no remark other than
comment on the relative value OF the
chattels purchas ed. California has
always attempted to pretend that her
United States Senators have been
elected upon their personal merit and
ability, whereas it is notorious that
two of them paid over half a million
dollars ior the privilege OF sitting with
Quay and Elkins and two-score repre-.
sentatives of the millionaire interests
of the nation. Only the other day
our State Senate expelled four men
who were caught taking brides. In
Nevada these men would not have
been caught, because nobody would
have thought it worth while to pun
ish four Senators for an offense conf
mon to all. Our Senate pretended
that they were 'purging" their house
of unclean members. In the Nevada
Legislature that high moral attitude
would be impossible unless the entire
body expelled itself. In Nevada the
crime does not consist in being found
out.
California is "civilized," and like all
civilized communities she is artificial,
Her morality is a veneer to conceal
the corruption that reeks within
Nevada ia barbarous and elemental
Ia that community men are what
they seem. Even their crimes have
been crimes requiring manly courage.
the highway robber has %prospered
but the horse thief has dangied iron