The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1947-06-05
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
INIT ASSOCIATION
lJTf ,zEzt51;r ~Izze0lEs>l-
Are We Losing
Our Wild And
WooIIy LobeI?
By Charles D. Rowe

Vanclng age iaylnga nOlQ OF Mon
tana manhood and robbing it of
its wild and woolly characteristics,
of its herman" aspects?
When we read what is taking
place in other states compared with
the quiet and peaceful life in Mon
tana, we sometimes wonder.
Did you read in the magazine
section Of the Sunday Spokesman
Review an article entitled the
Speaker of the House" The article
was an interesting biographical
sketch of Herbert M. Hamblen,
speaker of the House of the recent
Washington state legislature. 1t APP
pears that Mr.. Hamblen is a very
able man. and the writer said Ham
blen soon let everyone know he
meant business "One of his first
rulings was to bar liquor from COM
mittee rooms or on the floor. During
previous sessions of the past II
= years, the prevalence of liquor in
committee rooms induced so much
carousing il was often impossible to
get a quorum the article said.
Apparently no such rule was
necessary at the late session of the
Montana legislature. And that is
what makes us wonder if we are
losing our wild and woolly charac-
teristics. Are we less wild, are we
less woolly than our sister states?
As a member of the recent Montana
House, / was frequently in and out
of many committee rooms, up and
down corridors of both House and
Senate, and my duties often carried
me into the Senate chamber. At
no time was there the slightest
evidence of liquor in any of the
committee rooms where my duties
called me; at no time did l hear or
see any invitations extended to bend
the convivial elbow 1t appeared
that by common consent liquor was
taboo in and around the House of
Representatives. l am told it was
not always so.
And then there was that other
news item regarding an uproar in
the legislature of a midwest state.
II appears that in that legislature
pandemonium broke loose one day.
Cat-calls. hissingS shoutings and
general uproar produced a con-
fusion nigh unto riot. Those on
the outside said it sounded like the
roar from a hotly-contested base
ball game
Again we contrast that with the
quiet and peace of Montana pro-
cedurc. To be sure there we're
times when Montana temperS be-
came somewhat riled when debate
grew rather warm and vigorous.
But at no time. did the speaker
have the slightest difficulty in
maintaining order.
All of which arouses our wonder.
Be that as it may we still are in
clined to the belief that the sover-
eign people of Montana do not elect
men to their law-making body to
go~Ghere and spend their time in
drunken carousing. Legislating for
a people is a serious matter Per-
hapS after all Montana is to be
congratulated on the sobriety and
earnestness of its recent legislature.
Day by day the evidence ac-
cumulates that if mankind is to
save itself from destruction, we
must have lasting peace.
The scientists are still at their
pastime of inventing more and more
devilish engines of distinctions They
are now figuring on the possibility
of exploding an atomic bomb in a
rain cloud and thereby loosing upon
d city a virtual rain of death. The
advantage" of this technique would
be that an entire city could be
drenched with radioactivity, and
that of course would bring death
to countless men, women and child
rem. non combatants. Interior cities,
hundreds of miles from any coast,
would be subject to such destruc-
ton.
Here's an interesting item that
came to my attention during the
past week.
Do you know that Montana has
1903 small business concerns,
owned and operated by about 43f-
270 small businessmen.
Do you know that Montana has
8,481 retailers
585 manufacturers
769 construction firms
1886 wholesalers
1882 service trade firms
295 amusement firms
1913 listed hotels and tourist
camps
10 daily and weekly newspapers
and that these concerns employ
over 10000 wage earners?
Collectively the greatest economic
and tax paying asset in this state.
This is the voice of small business
in Montana.
It is quite generally conceded to-
day by thinking men and women
that the most dangerous conflict IN
the world at present is that be
tween democracy as we here in