The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1916-10-06

the theory that all bills were paid
and that it could be run for the
smaller sum as DR.. Hyde had repre-
sented in his report. 1t was then
that somebody had to "squawk" and
let 1t be known that the old bills
must be paid In some kind of money
even tho the new governor failed to
Save q million" It was then that
the Hyde deception, helped and sup
ported by Senator Thomas, came to
light, and Representative Peter G.
Johnston on the state affairs COM
mittee had to shoulder one more
humiliation not of his making. DR..
Hyde's report had said, II am pleased
to be able to report that all items
of indebtedness have been fully paid
to date, including the salaries of en-
ployees for December" and then the
administration was asked to place
So, 800 at his disposal to pay Novem-
Der and December bills. The official
report of DR.. Hyde, and the word Of
Senator Thomas were not sufficient
to make things all right at the asy-
lum; the claimants were still asking
tnat money be appropriated to pay
the bills. While Governor Alexander
played horse" with the people to
".saye q million dollars" for the state
by taking it out of appropriations
needed for education and for food
for the insane and for engagements
and improvements for various state
institutions; while Representative
Johnston asked for explanations as
to who was telling the truth about
the asylum; while DR.. Hyde was spar
ring to save his job; while men on
committees tried to adjust a bad mess
and men on the floor played to the
galleries and to the reporters, 294
men and women more or less insane
sat in the wards of the Blackfoot
asylum yearning for home and
friends and hungering for cabbage
and carrots, turnips, onions, red ap-
pies and fresh pork.
People May Remember
DR.. Hyde. Senator Thomas and The
Blackfoot Optimist were authority
for the statements that everything
at the asylum was all right excepting
that more room was needed, and that
the doctor had decided that steriliza-
ton, (unsexing) of the insane might
not be the best course to pursue to
relieve society of the burden of their
care.
Reflect Senator Thomas
w. L. o& +l;olx tho nocnJo nf ffia
county should reject Senator Thomas
as their representative in the state
senate just because he had been in
error on a matter of public interest.
The editor of this paper does not
think they should, and does not ad-
wise voters to defeat him on that &C
count. for who is there that does
not make mistakes! We do not think
the people should refuse him re-elec-
ton just because he played the part
of a standpat politician and spoke on
a subject when he knew nothing
about it, for that is a way politicians
have now days of standing by one
another in times of stress. We think
people might forgive him for denying
the charges till he had time to in
yestigate them. We would have done
tnat too, only we should have quail
fed 1t by saying we did not believe
the charges and that we believed 1t
was all rot or at least that the reports
did DR.. Hyde an injustice.
Missed a Great Opportunity
We think Senator Thomas missed
one great opportunity to show that
he was big and broad and honest.
When he learned that the reports
against Dr.. Hyde were substantially
correct and that he had been defend
ing something that was wrong, two
courses lay before him. One was to
go into print as he had done before
and confess that he had been mis-
taken when he gave out the former
interview. That would have marked
him as a manly man, entitled to re-
spect and confidence, and everybody
would have admired him for it. The
other course was to keep still and
let the matter pass; to allow the
man of deception to go on and mis-
manage other institutions If he could
only get appointed. That course
marked him as one who lacked the
honor and the courage that really
big men are made of.
.. We Are Not Advising
We could not advise people to vote
for man with such a record. We
think the people of this county will