PI HI.1C
SCHOOLS
frY.
AND MORAL
There are many who ought to know
better who .join in the outcry against
our public schools as fountains ol im
morality because the Bible is not read
and prayers recited in them. It used to
be the case in New England, where pub
lic free schools began their glorious
career, that not only the Bible was read
and prayers offered, but the catechism
was studied and recited as one of the
leading features of the curriculum.
Many seem to regard it as a mark of
degeneracy that this usage has been
abandoned.
At the outset a distinction must be
made between religion and morality.
The latter is taught as much as it ever
was. What those persons really mean
who charge that our public schools are
godless and immoral is that they
do not teach any particular creed
or system of religion. When nar
rowed to the real point of controversy,
it is ea.-y enough to dispose of the objec
tion. Public schools are not the place
to teach religion as distinguished from
morality. The teaching of children in
reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic,
grammar, etc., has no more necessary
connection with teaching religion than
teaching them any of the mechanical
arts, and there is just as much propriety
in opening our stores and factories with
Bible reading and pravers as opening
our public schools in that way.
.Since the early New England
days we have become a hetero
genous and cosmopolitan people, in
which all nationalities and creeds are
represented. The moment you spring
the question of religious instruction in
the public schools there is endless dis
cord. Some want one form and some
another, and each prefers to have none
at all to having any false system taught.
We have no State religion, and if the
State supports the schools there is no
more right to teach religion in the
schools than to establish a religious test
for voters and office holders. And if
you go back to those early days it will
be found that church membership was
made a qualification for voting and hold
ing office.
< )ur public schools are now designed
for intellectual developemeut chiefly.
The time is coming when they will in
clude also industrial and manual de
velopement as well, which is of equal
public importance. There are good ob
jects in and of themselves, though in the
opinion of many they do not rank in
importance with religion. So long as
religion is divided into warring sects
there could not possibly be any harmony
in teaching any particular form of re
ligion. It is therefore best to leave this
part of instruction to the churches and
the family, where it can be done daily
or weekly in the way to suit individual
preferences.
The school curriculum of to-day is a
very broad one compared with early days
when the whole was included in the tra
ditional three It's. Then there was room
enough for another R., but now the cur
riculum is surcharged with a variety of
studies more or less useful. Enough cer
tainly is undertaken to be done in our
public schools to occupy all the time,
talent and means engaged, and the most
perplexing question now is how to get
time for all that is most necessary.
We have no patience with those who
from any cause stigmatize our public
schools as fountains of immorality. The
charge is false in every respect. We as
sert without fear of successful contradic
tion that there is as much immorality in
private as in public schools. Much is
charged against the public schools for
which they are no more responsible than
the changes of the moon. If parents
would see that their children are under
as good influences and restraints out of
school as in school the results would be
very different.
(food, sound, thorough intellectual
discipline and development ha- of itself
an elevating, moral influence. In our
opinion general public education, the
best that can be had, is a fundamental
necessity for a free State, and we cannot
regard an enemy of our public schools
as comprehending the duties of good
citizenshi p.
The revenue reformers address their ap
peal chiefly to the farmers, knowing that
they stand no show with other classes.
They claim that protection benefits only
the manufacturers and their employes at
the cost of the farmer. Here is a compara
tive table of the principal articles of farm
produce in the Chicago market nnder the
last year of the revenue tariff and at the
present time :
Wheat.......................-..........$* .74
Corn................................
Oats.................................
1'orlc................................
Hors, live.......................
Hoks, best............................. - —
Beef, (food............................. 2.75
Beef, best....................... 3.00
And the further fact is to be noticed that
though the price to the producer has ma
terially advanced such has been the reduc
tion in price of transportation that the
cost to the eastern consumer is actually
less than in 1860, the cost of transpor
tation being now little more than one
third what it was in 1660. Not
only does the farmer get better
prices for what he sells, bnt on an average
he gets the chief articles of consumption
25 cent, cheaper now than in 1860. The
tariff that has substituted home for foreign
manufactures has actually given the farmer
better quality of goods for less money
There is no mistake of the facts, and an
ounce of fact is worth more than a ton of
theory. _
Senator Stewart, of Nevada, makes
an extended plea for Lamar, and declares
his purpose to vote for confirmation when
the case of the Mississippian is reported to
the Senate.
Dec.
Dec.
1S60.
1887.
..$ .74
Î .77
•48J4
... .17
.32
... 14.62
14.9214
... 4.25
4.35
... 5.25
5.40
... 2.75
3.00
.. 3.0U
5.00
WOOL PRICES.
Before any one takes stock in the
table furnished by the Independent as to
prices of wool and their fluctuations it
would ' e well to consult some standard
authority. For instance, the American
Almanach is not prepared under any
political auspices to sustain any theory
but simply gives statistics on all sub
jects from official sources. It gives the
highest and lowest price of wool each
year since 1825, using for authority the
reports of the Secretary .of the Treasury,
the New York Chamber of Commerce,
Shipping List, Price Current and Pro
duce Exchange. The difference in price
between Boston and New York could
not have been great.
In 1825 the highest price according to
this authority was 38 cents and not 60
and the average price was only 34 cents.
Let us go on ten years to 1835, instead
of the average price being 65 cents the
highest price of the year was only 40
cents while it went as low as 25 cents
during the year. In 1845 instead of the
average price being 45 cents the highest
price of the year was only 30 cents and
the average was only 27 cents. In 1S55
the highest price was only 34 and the
average was 29 and not 52 cents as given.
In 1861 wool went as low as 22 cents
and the highest point touched was 40
cents, and not 47 as given. In 1S64
wool touched the highest point ever
reached in this country, $1.10 per pound,
and the lowest price was 75 cents, which
the Independent gives as the average.
Coming down to 1875, w r hen the Inde
pendent gives the average at 39 cents, the
lowest price of the year was 38 and the
highest 58. In 1879 the highest price
reached was 33 and it went as low as 20,
while the Independent gives the average
at 30.
la 1S84 that paper gives the average
at 26. Spofford says the lowest was 33
and the highest 3S.
There is only one quotation in the
whole list that corresponds and that is
for 1886, when the average was 32 cents.
It is quite essential that we should
have correct data before we attempt to
draw any conclusions.
The facts show, if they show any
thing, that we have done wisely in pro
tecting wool. It has so increasi d the
home production that home competition
has reduced the price to the purchaser
low*r than foreign competition ever did.
When by this home competition prices
get too low to be profitable, men will go
out of the business and prices will go
up. But the present prices as compared
with a long range of years show that
there is not a pretext for the recom
mendation of the President to reduce
the duty on wool.
It may not be a very important fact in
the opinion of some persons, but it is none
the less a fact that the condition of a large
part of the mechanics in this country is
better in every essential respect than that
of some of the nobility of Europe. Every
traveler abroad 'and every book of travel
on the continent gives information of the
degenerate and impoverished descendants
of noble families, with nothing left them
but their titles, doing service as hotel
waiters and runners and in various other
menial capacities. In fact it is
not a very rare thing to come across
these seedy scions of nobility in this
country. Again, it is in evidence from
nnmerons reliable sources, that even in
England, where the principle of primo
geniture has interposed to keep estates
from being cut up among heirs as on the
continent, many aristocratic mansions are
closed while the owners are away in some
cheap, obscure corner of Europe in order to
eke out their diminished incomes. This is
true all over Europe to a greater extent
than in England. It is a matter of common
notoriety that many of the English no
bility are bankrupt and bnt for offi
cial sinecures a great many more of
them would be paupers. A London paper
quite recently published the fact that if
there was any censorship existing in Eng
land, such as once regulated the right to
hold a seat in the Roman Senate, ont of
550 entitled by patent to seats in the
English House of Lords, barely 115 could
be found fit and qualified for the position.
If that does not show degeneracy we would
like to know what could. If this is
true of the English nobility what must be
the condition of the French and Italian
nobility, whose estates have been gen
erally confiscated. These degenerate de
scendants of noble ancestors consider it a
disgrace to work in the fields or in shops
with greasy mechanics, as they choose to
call them, and eke out a half starved ex
istence in some parasitic employment.
There are not simply hundreds bnt thou
sands of them on the continent of Enropo,
whose condition is one of comparative pov
erty and distress by the side of most of onr
mechanics. In this country, where labor
is honored, it is from the laboring class
that onr richest and most honored citizens
have sprung^_
Some of onr readers will be a little sur
prised, as we were, to learn that potatoes
were imported in large quantities into
New York, not only from the Canadian
provinces but from Liverpool, Glasgow,
Dundee, Hamburg. Antwerp, Rotterdam
and Copenhagen. In four days of last
week no less than 149,349 bushels of pota
toes were landed in New York from
Europe, on which the duty amounted to
$22,402.55. Ocean freights, with duty
added, are cheaper still than onr railroad
transportation charges and onr more pros
perous workingmen are able to pay better
prices than can be obtained on the conti
nent.
Will Report Unanimously.
Washington. January 11.—Chairman
T w ishend will present in the House to
da. f the opportunity oilers, the unani
mo report of the military committee in
favor of the adoption of Representative
Boutel's reeolation concerning the dis
position of the captured flags.
IT DON'T APPLY.
Mr. Henry Watterson, in his article
in Harper, makes one point, that tariff
restrictions are contrary to the spirit of
the Declaration of Independence. We
are glad to see Henry coming back to a
respect for that venerable instrument
that, before our constitution, declared
that all men were born free and equal
and endowed with liberty. Our south
ern friends, and Henry among them,
lately told us tartly that our government
was not organized under the platitudes
of the Declaration of Independence.
Nevertheless we feel a sincere respect for
that document and should dislike to be
found advocating any principles directly
or inferentiallv condemned therein. That
Declaration set forth as a grievance that
England imposed restrictions upon our
trade. The constitution of our
forefathers was that as British subjects
they were entitled to enjoy the same
rights as British subjects in England.
They did not object to being taxed or
having restrictions put upon trade any
farther than this, that so long as they
were not represented in the British par
liament where the taxes and restrictions
were imposed, they were not treated as
British subjects at home, and they claim
ed the right to levy taxes and impose
such trade restrictions for themselves.
Great Britain took another view of the
case and lost her best colonies and only
retains the rest by conceding all and
more than was claimed in our Declara
tion of Independence. By the utmost
stretch the principle to which Water
son appeals could only apply to
the dealings among the people of
the same country and in all
parts of it. Surely no one will deny
that we have the Simon-pure article of
free trade among the people of all our
States and Territories. We are plant
ing new colonies every year just as much
as England did. We do not send them
across the ocean because we have do
main enough nearer Lome, but we are
sending them out on the frontier in Da
kota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado,J etc.
We are sending them out by the thou
sands, in vastly greater numbers than
England did two hundred years ago, and
these emigrants organize counties, cities
and States with just the same and as
full rights as the people of our oldest
communities enjoy.
England would not allow any kind of
manufactures in her colonies. It must
all be done in England and the col onists
must raise raw material to sell to the
English manufacturers and purchase all
their manufactured wares in England.
Such things were considered intolerable
oppression, sufficient to justify rebellion
and revolution then. But so far as the
essence of the thing is concerned, Cleve
land, Watterson & Co. are seeking to
persuade our people to do voluntarily
what the whole power of the British
government could not compel three mil
lions of poor, scattered colonists to do.
Can it be possible that we have sunk so
low as to be begging to come again in
the servile condition from which our
forefathers revolted?
High as is our personal esteem for Wil
liam H. Claggett and sympathizing as we
do most heartily in the wish and endeavor
of the Cœur d'Alene people to become at
tached to some State in which their pecul
iar interests will be better fostered and
they will have greater facilities of inter
course, we cannot listen to the proposition
to divide Montana, nor do we believe that
the people of Eastern Montana would any
more listen to the proposition. A diversity
of interests is not only not injurious but
is greatly beneficial. Eastern Montana
with her wide stock ranges, sometime to
be cat up into agricultural holdings, and
her .rich and extensive coal deposits is just
what we want to give proper diversity ot
interests. One part is the natural supplement
of the other, one will be beneficial to the
other. Dakota did not begin to be settled
to any considerable extent until after the
mines of Montana had drawn hither a
large population. So eastern Montana is
not yet feeling the impulse of settlement,
but it will come just as sure as Dakota
has been settled and will be a rich portion
of our commonwealth. The development
of onr mines will give a market to the
produce of eastern Montana. We shall
need her coal supplies for our smelters,
furnaces, machine shops, factories and
homes. The fi actuations of fortune in a
mining and agricultural community will
correct one another on the principle of a
compensating pendulum. Now when the
time seems at band for the early acquisi
tion of statehood let us not give place
to the spirit of division, which can only
result in the postponement of this great
boon. Our associations have been formed,
our diversities of interest are easily recon
ciled and will be mutually respected.
Some other arrangement might seem theo
retically better, but that is true of every
State, however small, and our observation
is that large States have less cliques and
divisions and in all respects get along bet
ter than the smaller ones, like Rhode Is
land or Delaware. There is not a foot of
the soil or area of Montana that we care to
part with. We want a State large enough
so that no family or corporation can ever
aspire to r un it in their special i nterests.
When the sewerage system for Helena
is in all respects matured, we have faith to
believe that the loan of $150,000 fer the
purpose of its constrnction can be placed at
an interest rate below six per cent. Helena
is a solid, endaring, rapidly expanding
municipality, and if cities of Minnesota and
elsewhere of no greater financial strength
and credit can negotiate loans at four or
four and a half per cent we must believe
that Montana's Capital City will fare
equally we ll in the investment m arket.
Offered the "Sit.""
Rochester, N. Y„ January 11.—Profes
sor Harrison Webster, of Rochester Uni
versity. has been offered the presidency of
Union College.
of
JUDGE McCONELL'S DECISION
The decision in a recent water case
published in the Herald yester
day, settles a great many points
vast importance to our people. It set
tles firat the most important point of all
that a company cannot use the public
streets of # a city without being subjected
to reasonable regulations by ordinance
and without being compelled to furnish
to all customers alike under reasonable
regulations.
As we understand it our city council
has passed such an ordinance regulating
rates. They have provided that all other
water companies using the streets of
the city for their pipes shall furnish
water at the rates proposed by the
Woolston company. Certainly so long
as one company has offered to
furnish water at these rates, it cannot,
under the decison, be held unreasona
ble. If an ordinance, fixing a reasona
ble rate, is now in force, any person ten
dering the established rate for a reasona
ble time in advance would be entitled to
the use of tfie water. We do not be
lieye the company could insist that even
the established rates must be paid three
months in advance. If one month's
prepayment is tendered we believe the
court would issue its mandate compel
ling the company to supply the water.
When the month is up, unless
another month's rent is paid,
the water may be turned off The
company is as fully secured against
lo 9 s as if three months prepayment is
required. If a person is in arrears for
water rent the court intimates that the
company may make payment of all ar
rearage a condition of turning on the
water. But it does not by the most dis
tant inference justify the deduction that
one person can be made to suffer for the
arrearage of another, nor that the prop'
erty owner can be held personally re
sponsible for the water rate of tenants
if there is such an adjustment of pipes
that the supply to each can be controlled
without trespassing on private premises
Court decisions, of course, only cover
the facts of the ca*e presented, but the
principles that control these ar* often so
set forth that they can be readily ex
tended and applied. Such is the case
with the decision mentioned.
The comparison of prices given in
previous article shows that the duty on
imported wool has so incieased the pro
duction of that staple in this country that
it is as cheap now as it ever was under the
Democratic revenue tariff, the difference
being that we get our supply now chiefly
from home production. Certainly it should
not take much to prove to an American
citizen that it was better to patronize home
production than depend upon foreign and
distant sources of supply. The facts and
figures show exactly what protectionists
contend lor, that by substituting home for
foreign supply the result will be in the end
the same to the consumer, with the ad
vantage that we have a source of snpp'y
from which we are not likely to be cut ofi'
and we support an extensive and impor
tant industry, which in turn helps
to support others. The wool industry
especially, which the President has
singled out for attack is one of the most
general. It is found in every State, east
and west, north and south. It is one of
those vital and fundamental interests that
every civilized nation has encouraged and
protected. It is the boast of English
writers on economics that Englishmen
consume twice the amount of woolen goods
of any nation in Europe and four times
the average of the continent. It is re
garded by them as an index of higher
civilization. Such was the importance at
tached to home manufacture, as well as
production of wool in England, that fer a
long time the importation of woolen goods
was utterly prohibited in England. That
was before the time that England had the
control of the ocean. Now her interests
have changed she cannot begin to produce
the wool that she tan manufacture and her
ships of commerce and war control the
supply from foreign countries where land
and labor are cheap and wool can be
grown cheaper than in other more
settled and advanced countries. When
onr ships of commerce throng the seas and
we have a navy as superior to that of
England as her's now surpasses the rest
of the world, we can, perhaps, safely and
profitably adopt the course that England
now pursues. Bnt it would be sheer mad
ness to have onr supply in any measure
dependent upon the mercy of a nation
with which we have twice been at war and
the only one with which we are ever likely
to be at war again. When we seriously
contest the dominion of the seas with
England, an event as snre to come as that
the world will continue to stand, there is
going to be a struggle. England cannot
retain her colonies nor supply the material
for her manufactures or commerce without
this control of the seas. It will be to her
a life and death struggle. Nevertheless
onr growth wili just as naturally and
necessarily lead ns to contest that ocean
supremacy -as the snn rises and sets.
We expect presently to hear of Lamar's
confirmation, notwithstanding the many
and vigorous protests from Republican
sources throughout the country. With no
other Republican votes than those of Saw
yer, of Wisconsin, and Stewart, of Nevada,
which seem to have been pledged to the
Mississippian, his elevation to the Snpreme
Bench is assured. There may be other
Republican Senators favorable to the ex
Secretary, but Evarts, who has been c:ed
ited as among his supporters, is really not
one of them. There is no doubt about the
offensivenesa of Lamar in word and act, as
Senator and Secretary, redering him speci
ally obnoxious to the loyal sentiment of
the country. With some, however, policy
more than principle will move to acqni
escence in his confirmation. Lamar is an
yld man. Ta his sixty years may be added
the physical infirmities of ten years on top
of that. His j ndicial labors will presnm
ably fce short, with the probability that
another President than Cleveland and not
of his color of politics will appoint his suc
cessor.
A WATER CASE.
Text ol the Recent Decision Render
ed by Judge McConnell.
In the District Court of the First Judi
cial District of the Territory of Montana,
in and for the county of Lewis and Clarke^
O. J. Dial plaintiff, vs. R.S. Hale, defend
ant—Oral decision of court upon applica
tion of the plaintiff' for writ of mandamus
to compel the defendant to furnish him
with water.
The questions of law involved in the
case I have investigated since the argument
the other night, and these questions of fact
in regard to which testimony has been
given do not present anything of such
difficulty that it requires any further con
sideration. It is a question of importance
to the company as well as to the plaintiff'
and to the citizens of this city generally.
It is contended on the part of the de
fendant that this action cannot be main
tained ; that the water confined in the
mains of the defendant company is their
private property, and that they can furnish
it to snch persons as they see fit to upon
contract, and that they are governed en
tirely by private contract with all their
customers ; that they are ander no daty
nnder the law to furnish water to the citi
zens ot this city, bnt that it is a matter of
private arrangement and private dealing
entirely.
It is contended on the part of the plain
tiff' that by virtue of their occupancy of
the streets of the city with their mains
that they are under a legal obligation to
furnish water to all the citizens who may
demand it, npon a tender of their usual
rates of charges, or the payment of them ;
that they are bound to do this, and upoD
a failure to do it a writ of mandate may
issue to compel them to do it ; that ander
the statute there is no plain, speedy and
adequate remedy at law for their failure
to do it ; that there is no adequate remedy
for such failure except a writ of mandate
to compel them to do it.
I am fully of the opinion that the plain
tiff in the legal position taken in this law
suit is correct. No company can say that
they can occupy the streets of the city
with their mains, confining the water in
them, and then say that they have the
right to sell it like a man does his private
merchandise to the public.
It is too plf.in for argument that an ac
tion at law is an inadequate remedy for
the failure of the company to eupply wa
ter. A judgment, for pecuniary damages
will not supply the want of water. Wa
ter is an element of universal use, and is
indispensible to the wants of the people,
and for a party occupying the streets for
the very purpose specified in their charter
of furnishing pure water for domestic and
other purposes to the people of the city,and
being permitted to occupy the streets of
the city with their mains, and owing a
duty to the city to famish water to its
people, to say that an action at law will
lie for the recovery of damages for a breach
of contract or breach of duty, and that this
is an adequate remedy, is to talk nonsense.
When a man wants water nothing
will serve as a substitute for it.
He cannot drink money nor
wash with it, nor use it for
domestic purposes, and where there are no
other facilities for obtaining water except
from such company, the pnolic looking to
them for that purpose and providing no
other methods of getting water, it is a trust
that they assume towards the people of the
city that they are bound to discharge, and
there is certainly no remedy except a writ
of mandate to compel them to furnish
water, the very article needed, and not
money, for the want of performance of
their duty in this respect. About these
legal propositions I have no sort of doubk
The company on the other hand have
the right under the statute under which
they are chartered to make all necessary
by-laws. They are left to their own judg
ment about what is necessary, bounded by
the limits of reason. They cannot make
any by-law or regulation governing the
manner in which they will let the people
have water, except that which may be de
nominated reasonable, and if they make
any that a citizen feels aggrieved by, that
he thinks is not reasonable, the matter can
be brought before the court and the court
can determine whether it is reasonable or
not; and if it is reasonable in the judgment
of the court the court will uphold it ; if it
is not reasonable, the court will treat it as
a nullity. There are rights and duties
which are reciprocal in reference to supply
ing the people of the city with water
through the mains of the defendant.
I will apply the principles to the partic
ular facts at bar. Before I pass to that
Buhject I may be permitted to refer to the
case of Price against the Riverside Land
company, 56 Cal., 431, and the case of
McClure agaiDst Bondet, 67 Cal., 426,
where they hold the doctrine that the
remedy is by writ of mandate.
And upon the question as to
righi; of the company to make reasonable
regulations, I refer to the case of Shepard
against the Milwaukee Gas Light Co, 6
Wis„ 530, and the case of Williams against
the Mutual Gas Company, where the doc
trine that I have enunciated is clearly held.
In one case the regulation was that a cer
tain hotel that consumed about sixty
dollars worth of gas a week should be re
quired by a regulation of the company to
deposit or keep on deposit one hundred
dollars in advance. The owners of the
hotel tendered $75 a week, paying $15 in
advance every week. The company, hav
ing made the regulation that $100 should
be deposited, cut off' the gas and would not
allow the hotel to have it. The Supreme
Court held that the regulation was not
reasonable, that the amount tendered was
reasonable, and that the company must
famish the gas npon that security.
Now, the defendant company is not
bound to furnish the people water for
nothing. They are not bound to extend
credit to any one any more than a mer
chant is. They are only bound to famish
water upon the payment of the money, or
the tender of it. If they see fit to extend
credit that is a matter purely with them ;
credit is not a matter that any one can de
mand as a right. They have their water
for the purpose of supplying the people of
the city, and the peoplé have a right to
the water, but only npon paying for it at
reasonable rates, and in the absence of any
ordinance of the city, or any other law
regulating the rates, saying what they shall
pay, it is a matter to be regulated by rea
sonable by-laws made by the company.
The individual who seeks to nse the
water of the company and demands water
of the company, mnst tender at least
a reasonable amount of compensation for
the water that he proposes to use. And
farther, it is the basiness of the owner
of the house, or the person who occupies
it and demands the water, to provide
means by which the water can be diverted
from the mains of the company to the
premises where the water is sought to be
used. It is not the bnsiness of the com
pany to do that, unless by private contract.
It is their duty to permit a party who
seeks to divert the water to connect his
apparatus with the main of the company,
so that he may have water; bnt when he
constructs his apparatus for that purpose,
and he seeks to convey the water to a
block containing a number of tenements
constructed for the separate use of fami
lies, he mnst so construct his works that
the company can regulate the water, so as
to control it in regard * to supplying each
particular family, if he expects the com
pany to look to these families for the
water rent. If the work is so constructed
on
on
to
of
a
on the part of the owner of the property
that the company cannot furnish water to
one family without giving all the other
families a chance to nse it at their election,
then it would be a reasonable regulation
on the part of the company to refuse water
to any family under the circumstances,
and to look to the landlord alone for the
water rents of the whole building. On
the contrary, if the landlord so constructs
his apparatus that the company can regu
late the water to each family and not de
pend upon a secret, unapproachable ar
rangement accessible to each family, by
which they would cut it ofi or let it on at
pleasure, it would be otherwise ; but the
company must be so situated that they
can control the water before the landlord
can say to the company, 'T won t pay the
water rates npon this block ot buildings ;
yon must look to the tenants. If each
tenant can be supplied independenly ot the
others he has the right to go to the com
pany, and upon a tender of the usual ra'e
of charge for a buiiding of that sort de
mand water of the company, and the com
pany is bound to furnish it, and he can
have a writ of mandate to compel the com
pany to furnish it, if it refuses to do so.
Where the arrangement is that there is
bnt one connection with the main, and
that connection leads to the private prop
erty—the private pipe of the owner—and
distributes it to all the buildings alike, to
compel the owner of the water to collect
of each separate owner, and to furnish
those who refuse to pay, whether they pay
or not, in order to furnish those who do
pay, not being able to prevent it on ac
count of the constrnction of the works,
would lie to compel each man to become
the collector of his fellow co-tenants in the
same building, or else do without the water
himself ; and I say that it is a reasonable
regulation, and to my mind it is not debatable
that the company can say to a man who
constructs his building in that way, "W e
will look to yon and you make your ar
rangements with your tenants ; if you are
willing to rent your building for $50 a
.month without water, and it is worth $3
a month to furnish water, yon can raise the
rent to $53 and collect it yourself ; I can
not control it ; I have no right to go into
these houses and shut the water oil from
A, B, C, D and E, and let F have it."
I do not think that the writ of mandate
should be granted in this case for the rea
son that Mr. Crounse's building is sc con
structed that the water company cannot
furnish water to Mr. Dial, however willing
he may be to pay for it, withe ni furnish
ing it to all the balance ; and before Mr.
Crounse can compel the company to look
exclusively to his tenants he must obtain
his apparatus so that the water can be
turned on to each separately, and then they
are bound upon the payment of the money
to furnish water, and not before.
It appears that there is now $160 due
against this building for water, and the
company is not bound to furnish water for
ever for nothing. They furnished it a year
on a credit, so that under these circum
stances the writ must be disallowed. When
that money is paid, and a sufficient amount
in addition as an advance.^ if the company
demand it, that would life reasonable, say
for a week or for a month, is tendered or
paid, then upon refusal to turn the water
on, under these circumstances a writ of
mandate would lie.
I want to be understood as stating that
in my judgment, under the law govern
ing the relations of the citizens and the
Helena Water Company, they are subject
to the writ of mandate ; but whether the
writ shall issue in any particular case or
not depends upon the facta of that
case ; and in this case, not beiDg
able to famish complainant here with
water without furnishing it to four other
families, and that inability is owing to a
defect in the construction of the apparatus
for the distribution of water through the
building, which is not the property or un
der the control of the water company, and
the water company has a main running
along the street in front of the building,
and these people are permitted to connect
with that main, which they have the right
to do, and which the company could not
prevent them from doing, and they have
connected themselves in such a manner
that the wpler company cannot furnish the
water to one family without furnis&ing it
to all, it can make a regulation and say to
Mr. Crounse, "I will hold you for the en
tire rents, and unless yon pay them I will
cut the water off from the buiiding," and
that is all that the defendant company has
done.
Hence my judgment is that this pro
ceeding be dismissed at tbe costs of the
plaintiff_ __
"The Bay Spy in Dixie."
The special serial feature of The National
Tribune for the pa3t two months has been
the absorbing war-time story, "The Bay
Spy in Dixie." The exciting narative is
still in course of publication and appears
in page-installments in successive num
bers. The production is in the best style
of the renowned army correspondent
"Carleton," whose war histories and
sketches—notably "Following the Flag,"
"Story of Liberty," "Boys of Sixtv-one,"
"Days and Nights on the Battle Field,"
etc.,—have been read and admired the
country over. The war articles in the
Century have in the past two yearn added a
hundred thousand subscribers to that
magazine. The National Tribune, more
largely and specially abounding in the
same class of literature by the foremost
soldiers of the nation, has surpassed all
other publications in climbing the ladder
of popularity, and probably to-day has at
least a half million of readers. "Carleton"
is doing bravely with the work now on
hand, and Jo Kerby, the boy spy and
lightning striker, is becoming famous
throughout the land. Address The Na
tional Tribune, Washington, D. C. Price
$1.00 a year. Back numbers supplied.
Elected Senator.
Loüisville, January 11.—At noon to
day the two houses of the Kentucky legis
lature, in joint session, elected Beck for a
third successive term in the United States
Senate.
Through the kindness of Col. De Lacy
we have enjoyed the rare pleasure of in
specting a venerable relict in the shape of
a book, printed in London in 1682, upon
"The Present Condition of England." It
is a curiosity in every respect, in style of
composition and print as well as the mat
ter. The book is excessively eulogistic and
one would think from the reading that the
rest of the world- was of very little account.
The population of England at that time
was estimated at about five millions.
The anticipations of the author have
in many respects been surpassed in
he growth of England, but relatively she
has been outgrown by nations not then
born. Colepepper was at the time Gover
nor of New York, Andros of New Jersey,
Penn of Pennsylvania and Lord Baltimore of
Maryland. The chapters on weights and
measures, coin, and especially that on the
origin of English family names, are ex
ceedingly interesting. It is a rare treasure
and seems donbly venerable in this newest
part of the new world. It was a Christ
mas present to Col. DeLacey, and he very
naturally sets a great store by the treasure.
was
La
a
of
at
NEWS OF THE TERRITORY.
Doings and Goings on Outside of the
Capital as Noted hy Our
Exchanges.
BUTTE ITEMS. .
Inter Mountain: The fire department au»
preparing for a ball on Washington's birth
day.
The mercury plays between 20 and 30
degrees below zero and fine sleighing is en
joyed.
A dinner party in honor of Miss Hattie
Marks of Helena, now visiting in this city,
was given on New Year's by Miss Blanche
Morris.
Trains over the Union Pacific are de
layed by heavy snows.
*J. Chauvin, the furniture dealer, hasWn
sold out at sheriff's sale to satisfy a mort
gage of $15,000 held by the First National
bank.
The ladies gave » Lean yoai ball last
evening.
The city is paying warrants on presenta
tion.
The Miner says that J. J. Hill, of the
Manitoba, and others are to erect a mag
nificent hotel in Batte this year, to cost
several thousand dollars.
Silver Bow county buries its paupers for
$17.75 for each funeral.
FROM BOZEMAN.
Courier: Bozeman came very near ex
periencing another baptism ot fire on F:i
riay morning. The building east ot the
La Clede hotel, owned by Mrs. Rountree
and occupied by Kolble & Topel as a mer
chant tailoring establishment, was dis
covered to be on fire. I he fire was occa
sioned by a defective chimney. The tire
laddies, profiting by recent experience,
were on the ground in a giffy and promptly
suppressed the incipient blaze. No great
damage resulted to the building.
From present indications the burned dis
trict will all be built up next summer with
a far better class of buildings than those
destroyed by last week's fire. Even those
who were the heaviest losers, and may
consequently feel somewhat financially
embarrassed, will find no trouble in getting
what money they may need at low rates
of interest.
Chronicle : The total loss occasioned by
the recent fire is variously estimated at
from $20,000 to $30,000. The fire occurred
at a point wheie the buildings were all
frame structures, many of them erected
soon after the town was started.
AT BILLINGS.
Gazette : The young people of Billings
are talking of organizing a dancing club.
Second Lieutenant George M. Hays, of
the Webb guards, was yesterday presented
with a sword and two Hags on account ot
his 9 ucces 9 as an officer. The trophy came
trom Hon. Sam H. Wildy.
Lot 9 of snow and 20 3 below zero is the
weather record siuce January 1st.
Friday, commissions were issued to Cap
tain W. F. I.eroy, First Lieutenant A. L.
Babcock and Second Lieutenant G. M.
Hays, of the Webb Guards of this city,
being Company H First regiment Mon
tana Guards.
AT ANACONDA.
Review : The Anaconda Brewery owned
by R. Fenner, was destroyed by fire last
Friday. The origin of the fire is a mys
Friday. The origin of the fire is a mys
tery. The loss falls heavily on Mr. Fen
ner at this time of the year, as he cannot
rebuild until the weather will permit in
the spring. The lo98 is estimated at fully
$5,000, and there wus no insurance.
Following is the tonnage received and
forwarded by the Montana Union railway
at the Anaconda station durmg the year
1887:
Pounds.
Received............................................1,207.154, >J45
Forwarded......................................... 395,407,340'
Total........................................1,602,662,340
At the brewery fire on the morning of
December 30ih, Charles Rhorer was caught
by the fiame9 in an upper room. To save
his life he jumped from the window, a dis
tance of 14 feet, striking on a lot of beer
bottles. The neck of one of the bottles
ran through his foot, entering at the sole.
FROM GREAT FALLS.
Tribune : A toboggan club bas been or
ganized and a slide made on Prospect Hill.
About 2 o'clock last Sunday, when the
Montana Central passenger train from Hel
ena was near Craig, the rails spread, and
the coach, baggage car and caboose went
off' the track and capsized. The locomo
tive iemained uninjured on the track. The
passengers were considerably alarmed, but
except some bruises, none were seriously
hurt. Mr. Gibbons, with his wife and
child, were among the passengers. H:s
child received a slight scar cn the face.
Conductor Peester and the train hands did
all that was possible for the comfort of the
passengers, and in a short time the track
was put in good condition and traffic pro
ceeded as usual.
The ladies are preparing for a leap year
party.
Scores of real estate transactions have
occurred in the past few days, among them
being the purchase by Mr. A. Nathan oî
W. S. Wetzel ol half a lot on Central ave
nue, adjoining Mr. Wetzel's brick block,
for $3,200, and by E. R. Clingan of P. H.
Hughes the lot on the corner of First
avenue south and Fourth street for $3,00".
PHILIPSBURG POINTS.
Mail: The output of the Grauite Moun
tain for the week ending December 21th
was 60,193.22 ozs fine silver and 31.626 o/s.
gold.
John Owens, who left the Burg about 11
o'clock last Sunday night for his cabin in
Douglass gulch, was found dead about
half a mile below his house with every in
dication of having frozen to death.
MILES CITY MATTERS.
Journal : The ice skating rink is in full
blast.
The wife of John Bolf, an employe at
the Macqueen, had a spasm yesterday, dur
ing which she swallowed her false teeth,
four in number, which were attached to a
plate. A physician beiDg called, did all he
coaid bat the teeth are yet out of sight.
Excellent sleighing is enjoyed for the
first time this winter.
The heaviest snow storm of the >eason
raged on the 3d inst. A high wind was
with the snow and had it been less moder
ate a regular blizzard would have been re
corded. The snow has drifted badly and
will interfere somewhat with travel.
AT MISSOULA.
Times: The track laying force on the
Bitter Root was reported to be in the
vicinity of Corvallis Tuesday.
Smith «Sc Gamble, lessees of the Be.i
mine, have thrown np their contract, but
other parties are now in the city trying to
Becnre a bond on that promising property.
W. W. Bark, chief dispatcher ol the
Rocky Mountain division, stationed at
Missoula, was the recipient New \ears
eve of a magnificent gold watch chain and
badge. The handsome present was from
his many friends on the division. }
The debt of Missoula county amounted
on December 1st to $118 597.54, a decrease
since the 1st of March of $9,310 54, whicu
is a very creditable showing for the al ;
ministration of the present board ot
county commissioners, especially when it
is taken into consideration the fact that
the tax levy was three or four mills less
than it was the year previous.
Missouliun: Mrs. Chadwick, of Helena,
is visiting her enter, Mrs. John McCor
mick at Fort Mi8sonla.
A petition for a post office at Lou I ou
with the proper number of signatures has
been sent to Washington, and it is expecteu
that the office will be established in a tew
days. John F. Delaney will be the post
master and they will spell the name
old way "Lo Lo."
the