, 1907-03-11
AN EXPLANATION.

To the Editor Of The Republican:
As touching the matters referred to
in Saturdays Republican under the
title "A Card" permit the following
explanation: Two letters were re-
ceived from a former university stu
dent describing his journeys in Mex
leo. One of them contained an inter
esting description Ito the undersigned.
at least) of his ascent Of the famous
Volcano. Popocatapetl, a mountain
nearly $4,000 feet high. As this was
a rather unusual achievement and as
his description Of the views from its
summit was of more than average
quality, the two letters were handed
in at The Republican Office with the
comment, 'If these contain anything
of interest to the public you may use
any part or all of them" My direct
connection with the letters ceased at
that time, but not my responsibility. l
presume I ought to have designated
just what might be published. Leav-
ing the choice to others, less than
one-third Of the matter supplied was
put into type, and this contained no
reference to the Popocatapetl descrip-
ton, which was the one portion that
had suggested publication. 1 am sorry
that anything calculated to give Of
tense should have been printed. OF
one thing l am sure, namely, that
neither the student who penned 1t nor
the professor who supplied it, nor yet,
indeed, the paper that published 1t, in
tended any reflection upon anyone.
That offense was given is a matter Of
regret, and l take this public way Of
offering an apology for my connection
with it.
Having offered my apologies In all
sincerity, l should be content to drop
the matter did not the card" convey
to the public an impression concern
ing the financial relation of this col
lege community to this city that is not
only erroneous, but m%anifestly unjust.
No notice need have been taken had
our critic not involved my colleagues,
as we'll a myself, or had he been able
to withhold that uncalled for fling at
our student body. The people Of Lar
annie are eminently fair minded and
need but to know the facts in order
to give everyone his Just due. There
r a few, however, who have the i'm
preston that their taxes go a long
way toward the support Of the univer-
sity. Nothing could be farther from
the facts. Were its maintenance de-
pendent upon the taxes collected from
the households of Laramie, its doors
could not remain open long. There
are more families whose university tax
Ia less than 25 cents per year than
there are Of those who pay 81 or more.
He whose university tax amounts to
81 car scarcely be counted among our
poor. You need not take my word for
this. Get your tax receipt and then
multiply the assessed valuation as
shown thereon by .000% (% of 1 mill
on the dollar) and you will be sur
prised to e what a mere pittance
you have personally contributed to the
maintenance Of this institution. Per
haps may be permitted to mention
one fact that may not be generally
known, namely, that many of the mem
bers of this faculty receive but little,
If any, of their salary from taxes lev
led upon the people Of this community
or this state. The critic even may be
surprised to know that not SO much
as a penny from his hard earned dol
lars has entered into the writer's sal
airy in the last dozen years.
On the other hand, what is the re-