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Show MONTANA. ' j M m On the fourth instant Montana dedicated her new tj M ' ' jfl splendid capitol. Anticipating the event, tho I H fjj W Independent of Helena said: "We dedicate our Mfl ' I new capitol building to justice, to self-government, H j .1 to rule of the people by all the people, remember- Mil ' tfl ing that the rights of the people are safe only with r K 1'ffl the people and that our public officers are not 'T 'r I rulers, but servants. We dedicate it to wise laws ljjj, I founded on justice. A great and beautiful state- j IF 'jfl house cannot make a great State. The people make 1m , W the State. Let us make our Statehouse a temple of f f i liberty." rrf w (I Brave and beautiful words. Let us all say ft ?i ' ,1 "Amen." There is a splendid stock of men and gtj ll ii sjfl women in Montana. Upon that soil and in that 1m H climate the generations of men in Montana ought m- J J ffl to be among the foremost on tho continent. When W' ' M the roll of States is called, at the mention of Mon- Wk ffl tana, the thought should come to every mind, "One 1 i $lfl of the very greatest, an empire in itself, a spot ttj jfl where liberty has builded one of its fairest temples ' ' fl and its sure foundation is upon the hearts of the J 1 people who possess the great state." There is but ;lj 'fafl one danger. Montana's great present wealth is in jj ' iM her mines. They are among the foremost in the IF J jB world. The working of them naturally draws to Kg )$M them such combines of capital that the managers' 1 ' j'jfl of that capital are liable to become arrogant and ilii f'fll domineering in its use; liable to want to dominate . Sfi ffl the State and its officers and to become firm be- f I fl Hovers in the omnipotence of money. If antagon- ?K"tB ized they will be likely to establish a system of S V fl rewards and punishments, and in the carrying on lr " fl of this system to fasten upon the people a belief t fl that it is all but a game in which the holders of lYtf fl the big cards only will win. This thought is one II 'h9 of the most demoralizing that can come to the mil " masses of a State. mtm ffl Beneath it men's characters are crushed; con- HH h Ifl tinued but a little while and men and women are tjf I jl je ! fl alike tainted with the poison which swiftly leads flx!'? ?fl to the decay of manhood and womanhood alike. fjgf JM Again, almost the first thing which men, sud- Hi I fl denly made rich, aspire to is high official station. BLf jffl It is then that the purchasing of men begins. Hi'? ' Should this ever become the situation in Mon- fll! l!ufl tana, then it will be idle for her press and her flfi? ! B orators to declare that her Statehouse is dedicated fflf r "fl to justice and the people's rule, for Justice will flf i fl hide her scales and break her scepter and the peo- Iff h fl pie will not only not rule the State, but will be Bit ' fl ruled and, worse, too, will accept the degradation flllfl without shame. BlJflBfl The lesson should every day be taught in every BttflEfl Montana school, that if Montana does not assume ' IISHH a potential place in the galaxy of States, and hold UJfiKH that place on its merits, it will be because her peo- illf fflHfl pie are not great enough and true enough for the BilJBB place assigned them; that the causes are at work HftflflH which in a few years reduced Spain from being the iltflBfl foremost of nations to one of the weakest, which XfJIHH destroyed the high manhood of Spain and caused 11 fflllB her women to cease to be worthy to be mothers BlJflsH of heroes, and unless arrested will mean the early flSlflflfl decay of her people. BkbbB |
