The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-04-03
Personal and Pertinent

Editor Missoulian.-I note in the
Beaver Valley Gazette of March 13,
published at Wibaux, an article by
Senator Edwards of Forsyth, in which
he condemns Governor Stewart for
vetoing the county division bills, and
also an article in The Muscular of
the 18th by Hon. D. j. Donohue' OF
Glendive, UNFOLDING the governor on
the veto question.
Both these statements have over
looked the main question before the
Thirteenth legislative assembly, which
was whether or not the large copper
companies shall have absolute control
Of the state of Montana. I have before
me the roll calls on county divisions;
H. B. 1892, by kirschWing, providing
for the payment of more taxes by the
big copper companies, and the roll call
on the steering committee. When we
compare these roll calls we find that
tn, copper interests had majority con-
troll of the senate, and failing to get
the same control of the lower branch
of the legislature, started what Gov
ernor Stewart terms log-rolling in his
veto message on the county division
bills. The governor is unduly mild in
his language, He should have called
it sandbags. in the hands of Senators
Whiteside, Donlan, Edwards and Gall
wey.
These senators had the important
job Of saving the big copper COM
panies' bacon. and needed some kind
of bait that would take we'll with the
members. They needed votes they
could handle md hlr~ nm fhn Eoo,1rfv
division bills. Senator Donlan came to
me early in the session and asked me
If did not have county division hopes.
I replied that l would have whenever
I had orders to that effect from 81 per
cent of my constituents. After they
had gotten all the county division
members that would take the bait,
they found they still lacked control of
the house, and sprung the fair removal
bill to force the Lewis and Clark dele
cation to vote with the copper inter-
ests. McNally of Silver Bow, one of
Johnny Morony's ri~ght-hand men,
came past me when We were in the
midst Of the steering committee fight,
and, looking across to where Senator
| Whiteside was trying to bluff Day of
Lewis and Clark, said: 1--WE will make
that old goat - come across, or we
will fix him on the appropriation
meaning that if the Lewis and Clark
delegation did not vote with the copper
interests there would be no state fair.
(McNally was chairman of the com
mittee on appropriations.) You can
readily see how it works out when
| Senator Whiteside gets DR.. Macdonald
on the ticket and helps elect him
speaker and the doctor appoints one
Of Morony's men chairman of the
committee on appropriations. You
simply come through or YOU state in
stitutions get it in the neck.
'.dorony, Donlan, Whiteside, Ed
wards & Co. simply We're 50 hard up
that they sandbagged by holding up
bills until members came through.
slugged legislation, good, bad and in
dffferent-promised anything from a
townsite on the milwaukee railroad to
a compensation act, if they would only
come through and let Johnny Morony
boss the job. Johnny wanted the state
fair removed if he could sell 100 acres
of and for $500 per acre, otherwise
not. Senator Edwards shakes the
prizefight bill before the crowd to at
q "ih' 'Aiih W.
pack off a few more millions in net
profits.
Talk about a promising bunch of
young men! Well, I guess! Senator
Whiteside promised DR.. Macdonald
that they would deliver the vote on the
steering committee, and the doctor be-
lieved him and east his Influence as
speaker With Johnny's bunch, and then
found that the senator had deceived
him. / warned the doctor about five
minutes before he called us to order
what would happen, bat h had taken
the bait. Nine hours later he found
that, to his sorrow Senator Whiteside
had sacrificed another good man on
the copper altar. Not the first one,
either. Whiteside had sacrificed sew
eral dozen on the same altar.
l also told Jordan of Dawson that
his action in letting Whiteside handle
him on the steering committee was
putting him in bad; hat their word on
a deal of that kind was no good; that
they were only using him to save the
silver Bow bunch: and that he was
digging a hole big enough to hold half
a dozen Wibaux counties. But he also
had taken the bait.
Whether or not the governor and At
torney General Kelly are standing in
with the Amalgamated bunch, it fig
ures out the same on the peoples
ledger. The big copper companies
have escaped their share of the taxes
for another two years. l have no rea-
son to doubt the governors motive in
vetoing the county division bills. and
the only reason l have to doubt Dan
Kelly is the item in Donohue's article