The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-03-19

LILY 6oNcILoi DuSteu tHe fHdcHlHe, anu
that's why Edwards and his crowd
are sore.
1t is a well-known fact to anyone
familiar with h legislature that the
men working for these bills are the
ones who are always found voting for
corporation interests. l was present
In Helena during most of the fight,
and certain men told me with tears
in their eyes that they We're against
these division bills, but they did not
dare ppo them because Edwards
would murder their stuff in the SEN
ate.
ty" were against these bills, why did
every member from Silver Bow coun-
ty in the house except Walker vote in
favor of their passage?
just to show how little the gov
ernor really tried to influence legisla-
ton in respect to county division. and
especially with any adverse effect, his
w brother, a member of the house.
voted for these bills. If Governor
Stewart were in any sense subservient
to these interests, or was in any n
obeying their will when he exercised
the veto power, they would never have
allowed him to suffer the embarrass-
ment of the veto, but would have done
their work earlier by preventing the
passage of the bills.
The simple truth is this: 1t is a Sc
we're Jolt to the machine gang who
ave been running the legislature to
meet a governor with backbone
enough to throw the harpoon into
them. No wonder they emit a roar
like this one from Edwards. But it
will take more than the mere asser-
ton Of Johnnie Edwards to convince
the progressive democrats of eastern
and northern Montana that Governor
Stewards veto was in any sense die
tated by the Amalgamated Copper
company, or in fact by anything else
than the governors own sense of
honesty and decency and good gov
eminent.
As to kelly's Opinion.
One of the %palpable misrepresenta.
tons of the Edwards interview APP
pearing in the Billings Gazette is that
"the attorney general of the state was
SdIIcu upOIl ny lie oppoSltlOH " lIltSC
new counties for an opinion" Sena-
tor Boardman of this county, who was
himself the author of the Richland
county bill, claims credit for having
secured the opinion, in which Attor.
ney General Kelly emphatically de-
clared that these bills, if passed,
you'd be unconstitutional. But, as a
matter of fact, the opinion was OBJ
tanned for the committee on towns
and counties of the senate, and was
not an ex parte document of either
side in this fight. 1t was an opinion
issued in the ordinary course of bust
ance with the attorney generals pre-
scribed duties.
Senator Edwards seeks to belittle
the importance of said opinion by as
sorting that it was produced by an
assistant in the attorney generals Of
flee" AS a matter of fact, I under
stand that it has been the practice OF
our attorneys general in the past to
leave the consultation of authorities
and the actual writing of man i'm
portant opinions to their assistants, it
being manifestly impossible for the
chief himself to do all this work. But
that is neither here nor there. This
particular opinion was signed by the
who knows Dan Kelly will swear thai
he would not affix his name to an
opinion Of doubtful authenticity or
questionable import.
Contrary Opinions.
Mr.. Edwards also asserts that
numerous attorneys of the state o!
the highest standing as to ability and
integrity have written opinions con-
trary to that furnished by the attor-
ney general" But who We're these at
torneys and what were the conditions
under which they wrote opinions
which were sought for to serve a GER
tain purpose?
Former Attorney General Albert
Galen, a machine politician, wrote ont
of these opinions adverse to the at
torney general, but even he safe
guarded himself by saying that he
could not forecast what would be the
action of the supreme court.
Judge Henry c. Smith, author of
one opinion, while on the supreme
bench rendered a dissenting opinion
in the Lincoln county case, and had tC
be consistent in this instance by TAX
ing the same stand.
Gum & Rasch, Helena attorneys
We're employed to write an opinion at
lacking that of Attorney Genera
Kelly; but Mr.. Gum was an attorney
in the Lincoln county cas- and haG
p~reconceived eX parte opinions On the
question.
Odell Mcconnell was the retained
| attorney of the Wihaux county neOnle