Amador ledger., 1905-09-22
y HIS EARLY POLITICS. III
Rsw neessvelt eaee Argued fse xsalel ~
Play Before . COWBOY Audisnse
and Won His Point.

Roosevelt often pointed out the n
Justice of lynching. and In the round.
up Of 1885, as the cowboys were gath
cred about the camp fre at night, ha
delivered his nrst speech for better goy.
0fnment. ..
Every man." he said. turning to hia
strange audience. has the eonstitu.
tional right to trial by jury. He should
have some opportunity Of making 3
defense before final Judgment ID passed
and his fate 10 sealed. It II neither
humane nor fair to catch man sup.
posed to be thief and then shoot him
full Of holes before you have proved
1t. How much better 1t would be &c
give him hearing. trial by jury and
verdict according to the evidence
Now, boys, the only way to bring thii
about Ia to organize . county govern.
msnt"
The seed q go9d government was
sown that night, and for the harvssl
let the following paragraphs tell tbs
story:
Quietly circulating among the VII
layers and cowboys. he sounded their
sentiments and urged, with all the elo-
quence Of his youth, the necessity Of
government. At many ranches he was
met with the rebuff, We've got along
10 far well enough without . county
government, and I guess we can live
on in the same way" From the cow
boys came the strongest opposition
Theywere not used to being restrained.
A local government, they feared, would
be check on their freedom and bring
about radical changes in their life.
They were well satisfied to associate
with this tenderfoot; but to taste his
reform was another thing. So they
cursed and fought his proposition In
the saloons and In the streets and
lashed the promoter with the strongest
anathemas of q cowboys vocabulary.
Against the storm of opposition the
young mariner guided the ship Of state.
passing the inert conservatism OF the
farmers and gliding by the, jagged
rocks Of the cowboys' dislike to har-
Dor Of civic virtue. Roosevelt returned
to Medora, and called a mass meeting
In the town hall for the evening Of
March l, 1885, The hail was packed
when he arose to address the crowd.
In plain words he pointed out the
necessity Of government. and advised
the immediate formation Of q county
Institution. The Marquis De Mores, a
French rancher, who, like himself, had
gone into the cattle-raising business,
seconded his remarks. The preliminary
steps were taken. A committee was
appointed to call an election on April s,
Before the election the COMMITTEES
waited on Roosevelt, and the spokes-
man, cowboy, gruff but honest, said:
I'VE kinder thought that because ye
had asked us to form this here govern
ment ye would like ter be one Of the
officers. And we just cum to know
which ye would like, sheriff, or mar
shall or judge"
Boys" replied Roosevelt. delighted
with the compliment, II did not agt.
tate this government matter to get an
3fiice, but to make life better for you.
do not expect to remain herevery long
and even should I accept an ONCE |
would soon be compelled to resign and
go back east thank yog for the
honor. See that you nominate good
men whom you trust. honest and re-
liable men, and you will always have
good government" s. 6;,
The committee went away, -half-dis-
gusted, half-amazed, wondering what
sort Of man that talier was"
The nominees were mostly represen-
tative citizens. Two of the commits
sioners were selected from the agricul-
tural districts; the third was . cow
boy. But the nominee. for probate
Judge bore the reputation Of crook.
Roosevelt heard of it and at once set
about to defeat him.-Pearson's Maya
zine.