The Bozeman courier., July 23, 1926, Page PAGE TWELVE, Image 12

About The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Managet
T. H. Sean,
W. W. Casper, Managing Editor
THE BOZEMAN COURIER
Published Every Friday Morning at 43 West Main Street, Bozeman, Montana
-"IN THE FAMOUS GALLATIN VALLEY"
By
THE REPUBLICAN-COURIER COMPANY
i. .. — — —————
«3
Phone 8t
Established 1871
Official Paper of Gallatin County
The victims of mob rule in 1926 included six
negroes, two whites, and an Indian. Seven of
them were charged with statutory crimes, one
with burglary, and one with wounding an officer
of the law. Three of the executions occurred in
Florida, two in Mississippi, and one each in Arkan
sas, Kentucky, New Mexico, and Texas.
CIVILIZATION PROGRESSES
Civilization in the United States is progressing.
In the first six months of 1926, only nine lynch
recorded. This ties the record for the
mgs were
same period of 1925, but is six less than the num
ber for the first six months of 1923, 21 less than
the total for the first six months of 1922, and 27
less than for the same period of 1921.
Thus, since the latter year, lynchings have de
clined more than 83 per cent, which is indeed an
encouraging indication.
The law, for all of its imperfections, still re
mains civilization's principal weapon for self
protection. And when the people of this country
reach the point where, no matter what the pro
vocation, they let the law take its course, we shall
have passed an important mile-stone.
Assertions that the law is faulty both in con
struction and in operation do not affect the truth
of this statement. If the law is defective, the
correction of those defects is in our own hands.
We grant that it will require time, courage, and
determination, but it can and must be done.
In this connection we take issue with no less
a person that Lew L. Calloway, chief justice of
the Montana supreme court. In a recent address
at Livingston, Justice Calloway declared:
We don't hang enough men these days.
If criminals were given the drastic punishment
meted out by the Vigilantes, instead of the mild
censure of our time, there would be but little
crime in America.
If Chicago had such an organization as the
Vigilantes, that city would be much better off."
Justice Calloway's language is strong, and in
sofar as the first two statements quoted are con
* ♦ *
a
44
cerned, we believe he is right. We assume that
when he recommends "the drastic punishment
meted out by the Vigilantes," he means it should |
be imposed, in an orderly way, through the courts.
But when he asserts that Chicago, where the law
is and has been in operation, would be better off
with such an organization as the Vigilantes,"
we feel certain that he permits his righteous in
«4
dignation to override his sober convictions.
Most of us know something of the Vigilantes
and what they did for Montana. That they dis
charged, in a remarkably efficient way, and un
pleasant but necessary duty to society we un
hesitatingly admit. But conditions were different
then. In Montana in the early sixties the law
was unknown. Each man was a law unto himself,
and the six-shooter decided all sufficiently serious
, questions. In that chastic environment the bandit
and the murderer thrived, and no man's life or
property was safe.
Something had to be done, and quickly. Law
and order could not be established in the territory
until decent folk had been sufficiently freed from
the power of the criminal element to assert them
selves. Fear of the law, if not respect for it, had
to be created. So the Vigilantes, the success of
whose operations depended upon the swiftness!
and the secrecy with which they were conducted,
dealt with the situation. They did not take the
law into their own hands, for there was no law.
What they did was the only thing that could be
the only preliminary action that would
instill a fear of the law in the hearts of evildoers.
They made possible the establishment of the law
in Montana. Then their task was finished.
The situation in Chicago may be grave, the
law may be defective, and the courts may be
failing in their duty to civilization. Yet the law
and the machinery for its functioning have
already been established there, and although they
may be faulty they stand for civilization and all
that it implies. Should we slip back hundreds of
years by making use of a crude instrument de
signed for far different conditions? Ought we
to confess in despair, that we lack the ability to
cope with the situation through the institutions
we have set up for that purpose, and resort to
the secret tribunal, accountable to no one and with
all its terrible dangers of misuse of arbitrary
power, to accomplish a temporary correction?
We do not believe we should. The blame for
Chicago's predicament does not attach itself to
the concrete, fundamental principle of law, but
rather to the imperfect instruments through
which it must be manifested and to the people
who permit such instruments to be used. If the
statutes are defective and weak, they may be
done
revised and strengthened; if the courts are cor
rupt, they may be purged of that corruption. Let
us not, in our anxiety to correct existing but
transitory evils, abandon the basic, orderly pro
cesses which centuries have proved are the only
vehicles by which true and permanent progress
can be made.
To revert to Vigilante methods in this day and
age, in Chicago or anywhere else, is unthinkable,
and might lead to conditions far more unsatis
factory and pregnant with more real danger than
those which now exist.
highminded men of unusually strong chacter, and
only that, with their zeal for righteousness, kept
them from misusing; the power they took upon
themselves. It is extremely doubtful if another
The Vigilantes were
such body of men could be brought together, and
it is still more doubtful if they could function so
effectively and to such good purpose.
We must not go back to mob rule, however re
stricted and no matter what the provocation.
Rather let us summon our courage and stand by
the law, the champion and the protector of civiliza
tion. It may falter, but it will not fail us.
Harvard was represented by eight; William
and Mary by three; Yale by three; Cambridge
(England) by three; Princeton by two; "Philadel
phia" by two; Edinburgh by one, and the Jesuit
Speaking of resorts, a certain fox farm up the West
Gallatin is mighty popular these days.
REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS
Many persons entertain the impression that in
Revolutionary times, because education did not
then occupy the prominent place it does today,
most of the men who headed the crusade for
liberty had had but little schooling.
That such a belief ip erroneous is attested by
figures compiled by School Life, a publication
the bureau of education of the department of the
interior, which show that 23 of the 56 signers
of the Declaration of Independence were college
bred men.
College at Rheims by one.
Sixteen others of the signers had received "ex
cellent" or "classical" educations, one of them at
Westminster school, London. Two had obtained
all their formal instruction from tutors. Only 16,
including Franklin, Wythe, Roger Sherman, and
Robert Morris, had had but little schooling,
-
Despite all that has been said, Main street is still just
one darned hole after another.
ITS GREATEST NEED
Possibly the greatest need of that wonderful
organization, the Boy Scouts of America, is a
clearer understanding on the part of the general
public of the fundamental principles of Scouting.
James E. West, chief Scout executive, has said
repeatedly that the greatest handicap with which
the movement has to cope is the fact that, be
cause of its dramatic and superficial values, it
enjoys much popularity and receives support from
many substantial people who have no clear under
standing of its fundamental merits.
Too many people in America look upon Scouting
arf a purely recreational or play program. They
do not realise that the many dramatic and spec
tacular features of Scouting are but a means to
an end, and that the real purpose of the move
ment is citizenship training and character build
ing.
The value to the nation of the Boy Scout pro
gram, and particularly its method of "learning
by doing" in the performance of civic service, lies
in the fact that it is a means of helping to develop
a consciousness that a democracy involves the
spirit of participating citizenship. There is
! abundant evidence of the character of service that
Scouts are rendering every day m all parts of,
the country. All this has been definitely pro
vided to impress the boys with the importance
of their relationship tö organized*.society.
If every citizen who has the welfare of the
Boy Scout movement at heart would endeavor
to form a clear, accurate conception of its funda
mental purpose, a long step towards still greater
accomplishment in that field would be taken. The
Boys Scouts of America today is t'aining the
leading citizens of tomorrow. The sooner we
realize that, despite its "play" features, the spirit
of the organization and the aim of its work are
serious and noble, the sooner we shall be able to
co-operate with it in an intelligent and effective
way.
Formerly, the next thing after the primary was the
November election. Nowadays, the next thing is a senate
investigation.
Place Floral Anchor on the S-51
Jsmy
' •• ■■ ■
m
m
HI
Æ
i
3*
V.
-
.•*
1*> ■
-
•i
i s '. • ■.
Floral anchor being placed on the conning tower of the ill-fated sub
marine S-51 by the Veterans' Association of Federal Employees of the Navy
Yard, New York, while crowds lined the railing of the dry dock.
At the
&
By National Press Service
PRESIDENT MAY TRAVEL.
WASHINGTON. D. C.—The pres
sure on the president to make at
least one trip into the West or South
west, is Steadily increasing,
it is now understood that he will be
unable to make the trip to Denver
for the mjeeting of the Bar associa
tion, there is a possibility that later
on he may journey afield and into
the Southwest. If it were possible
to make a part-way journey and then
return, those who are close to him
say his inclination would be to start
in short order. Unhappily for him,
however, it is pretty well understood
that a trip west of Chicago, unless
it also included a round-trip to the
coast, would be more apt to displease
While
than to please the people, and a trip
of that sort would involve speech
making, and thus entail serious labor
and preparation.
It is hinted that the one partic
ular deterrent in the matter of a
western trip is his fear that it might
be construed as a political jaunt. He
appreciates the right of the people in
the western country to see their
president, and has been deeply
touched by the messages he has re
ceived inviting him into that country,
but he has thus far thought such a
journey Would look too much like
political hay-making, while the con
trary is the truth. There is no doubt
the president could make a journey
at this time without comment of that
nature reaching very much of a
point.
( WASHINGTON, D. C.— Notwith
standing the Democratic hullaballoo,
they have not yet captured the sen
ate, and let it be said now that to
get control of the senate they will
have to gain nine of the 27 seats now
held by the Republicans. Thirty-four
members of the United States senate
will be elected November 2. Of these
contested seats, 27 are now held by
Republicans and seven by Democrats.
The result of the senatorial election
will determine which party will or
ganize the senate on March 4, 1927,
and in all probability it will deter
mine also the legislative program be
tween that date and March 4, 1929.
CONTROL OF SENATE.
The personnel of the senate today
is as follows:
Nominated Republicans...
Democrats ..
Farmer-Labor -
56
39
1
Tota i
The Republicans admittedly have
no particular chance of gaining ono
&te at sUke> but even th e most in
genious mathematicians has not been
1 aiAe to fi8rure out where th * De ™°'
Republicans anticipate a sharp con
test but they are exceedingly hope
*®J:
96
The seats to be contested for in
November are, with one exception,
the one« which were part and panëel
of the presidential campaign of 1920,
The tremendous vote by which Presi
dent Harding carried the country in
that year carried into the senate a
number of Republicans from states
which are normlly Democratic or
which at best are debatable political
ground. There being no presidential
contest this year, personalities an.l
local conditions are likely to prevail
and candidates will not have the mo
mentum of a national ticket to help
them along.
THANKS NEWS WRITERS.
WASHINGTON, D- S.—The presi
dent's ^ conference with the
papermen at the white house on the
afternoon of the* day he left for his
news
of the Washington correspondents
assembled, and for the time being
the White House spokesman vanished,
and the president stood forth in
own personality. He gave the whole
affair a personal touch. He
pressed his hopes that all the
would enjoy such vacations as came
to hand, and remarked quietly that
felt the newspapermen going
him would, and added a little genial
note of commiseration for the
vacation, was most interesting.
There were at least half a hundred
obliged to stay in Washington.
ing a little further, and with a
fine note of sincerity in his voice,
not only thanked the newspapermen
for the co-operation they had given
him during the year, but congratu
lated them on the care and skill
| discretion with which they had
j pTete< j his views to the people of
! country at large. Without this
k2>
V!
//
An Announcement
Concerning the publishing of
your Telephone Directory
EGINNING with the next issue
j of your telephone directory, The
Mountain States Telephone &
Telegraph Company will assume
_I complete control of the publica
tion, including the advertising privileges. Rea
lizing that the telephone directory is an essential
function of efficient service, it follows that this
is the logical manner for supervision of the
work. With the view of better service ever in
mind, a Standardized plan for publishing tele
phone diredories is being carried out through
the Mountain States region. Better diredories
from the standpoint ot both the user and adver
tiser will result.
Plans call for the inauguration of a program of
general improvement of all telephone diredo
ries, and a tremendous amount ot time and energy
is being expended to bring this about..
The telephone diredory is the mod referred-to
book in the United States. Thus it has come
to be an important established advertising me
dium tor every conceivable article of merchan
dise or service Its value has been proved by
thousands ot discriminating advertisers in every
line ot business. The telephone diredory circu
lates in homes and offices where the buying
power is greatest, hence it otters an excellent
potential market tor your advertising. It is live
economical advertising 365 days and nights
throughout the year.
YOUR ADVERTISEMENT SHOULD BE IN THE
TELEPHONE DIRECTOR Y
For rates or further particulars call or
write your total telephone •Manager
/
The Mountain States
Telephone & Telegraph Company
■
operation, he said, very sincerely, his
task would have been made a great
deal harder, and with this co-opera
tion he was able to make his views
better known to the people of the
nation at large to whom he said he
had a special and particular responsi
bility.
He complimented congress for its
work, and at the same time he di
rected attention to the fact that on
the whole he had secured from con
gres$ legislation to which he had
committed himself at the beginning
of the session. The co-operation of
congress, he further went on to say,
was a fine thing based on the under
standing and appreciation by the
members of what he was trying to
do, and a co-operation which was
free from any trace of subservience.
DEMOCRATS UPSET.
»
WASHINGTON, D. C.— Senator
Reed of Pennsylvania introduced a
terrifying and spinejarring sugges
tion into the senate rules committee
the other day, when he proposed a
rule to the effect that any senator
who failed to receive at least 15 per
cent of the adult voting population
of his state should be debarred from
his seat. Mr. Reed had been stirred
a little bit, it must be admitted, by
the holy horror of the southÄjP Dem -
ocrats over the expenditures in Penn
i sylvania. With magnificent gestures
flowing periods they had been
! tirading in the senate over the money
I spent in Pennsylvania, contrasting
: the modesty of expenditures in their
j own home states. An examination
I of the election returns, howeve-,
shatters these haloes, and it also dis
! closes the fact that if the Reed rule
j were adopted there would be a num
ber of immediate vacancies in the
present senate.
In Mississippi, for example, the
adult population is approximately
900,000, yet the evanescent Pat Har
rison, it appears, has never received
more than 97,Ç00 votes, a little over
10 per cent and under the 15 per cent
| which Reed suggested,
Robinson, of Arkansas, has re
ceived 100,000 votes; Carraway, 126,
ex
he
000 .
The beflowered Heflin, of Alabama,,
has received 154,000 votes, as against
1,150,000 population.
Inasmuch as there are cities and
towns in the East, North and Middle
West where a greater vote is cast
for the election of a town or city
alderman than these southern Demo
crats have received, the point would
seem to be reasonably well taken.
As an aside it may be said that
even before Senator Reed put hie
finger on this sore point, the Demo
crats had been worrying about it. All
Go
he
and
efforts in the past in the South have
the been to discourage registration and
co
(Continued on Page Thirteen)