The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-24
What Gov, Sparks Said
When eAskedforTroops
REPLY TO ROOSEVELT
Gives ouG frssm Itis lscxi
-fr~-ncs of Truagss Ha~ fse~-
vented Trsabi.-loursst lRuaNs-
ns&s Men in t.oliIGuAd ia
IGaF Of 9hAspsr
War 81 sAslcnsvI


tEN IAW AHAssNtr#tr8 AFw@@ a
Reno Scs De eI-Fran hs bed
today Governor SPARKS 0ho Is ,ro
sick. made the following statement la
explanation = his a., ln "a Pr~.
ldent Roosevelt t. send troops e.
Goldfeld
throughout this whole autraesrs
! have acted according 40 sue best
Judgment believed t4at trouble
Mas imminent ia the mining camEs
] knows that dynamite aaI been stolen
from the mines that the miners WvFr
armed and pre pared Ter trouble and
the rlCkettng Of miners aua prevent
ing men from working ~ae &auagtuE
property was also atNClse1 That thc
Sheriff and other ciNll authorities
were unable 10 cope With the eltu-
ationI made these facts known tn
the President and in the absence u
any statement ! advised that troops
be sent 10 prevent trouble | thought
t. good could be had from eailiHg
"a special session 81 the legislature
II has developed since the arrival II
the troops there has mas been no Ntu-
lence And this Is Why | asked for
troops ] believed that ~ long as
there were regular soldiers on The
ground there would ne no outbreak
but ! feared and had reason - u
fear. that unless such action Was taken
Immediately there would he riot and
~bloodshed.
While / was in Goldneld. / in
vesugated personally the conditions
that prevailed. | found IN lathe bust
ness men we're afraid of violence aud
that the women were in terror Dog
ems of women have left the camp be
cause they feared trouble found
there was organized a band Of nigh
graders and that the sheriff Is alb
solutely unable To secure Il conviction.
OF any thieves learned that
there are over n thousand rifles I'm
the possession OF the miners and 1hat
the spirit Of many OF the men - such
as to warrant me in believing that
those rifles would be used upon
small pretext
While General Funston Was there
I conferred with him frequently Al
,er he had made n thorough iuve-tiga-
ton seeking Information from al
sources hC told me that IL Was hi'
opinion that the troops had arrived
none too soon. | think he considered
the situation grave and he gave rns
to understand that he endorsed my
action In requesting that the troops b'
sent He practically stated that .
portion OF the troops would remain IL
GoIdfield until winter had passed.
president Roosevelt has evidently
acted upon the advice OF the commits
! SltHl WHICH ne StIll W lhNt-tlkaNt
They were there n short time anC
their Investigations were perforc'
much more incomplete than thos'
conducted by General Funston.
have always had a high regard for tn
President, but ! believe he has mad'
a serious mistake / hope that n'
blood will stain the streets Of Gold
field, but / fear before man day.
have passed some violent outbreal
will prove the unwisdom or this act
Il have given no thought TO issuiu,
a special session call Of the leRisia
ture. If ! thought | could accom-
plish anything by 50 doing | woult
not hesitate a second. | shall do al
in my power to maintain order how
ever"
Situation is Delicate SAYS Genera
Funston.
san Francisco. Cal, Dec. I'll Gen
eral Frederick Funston has returned
from GoIdneld. where he has beer
since December 18th, investigating tn
trouble between the Goldieid Min
Owners Association and the Wcsterr
Federation OF Miners,
There is no denying the fact tina
the situation in Goldneld IS delicate
said General Funston. "As thing
stand now at the camp I do not lool
for nj The troops have avoided
displaying sympathy for either sid
and the majority OF the union miner
seem ~peaceably inclined But tn
mine owners have taken a Very de
termined stand. and given their ulti
matum that they will never again en-
pioy a member OF the Federation
They declare they viii operate thei
mines with non-union b although
they have not yet done 50 to any e&
tent.
Il fear serious trouble II they star
importing n~on-union miners from tn
outside.
LAS 10 the merits Of the case IL I
not easy to form an opinion