his request. The
Governor reported to me the conditions as follows. During 1907 the
Goldfield mining district became divided into two hostile camps. Half
of the Western Federation of Miners were constantly armed, and arms and
ammunition were purchased and kept by the union as a body, while the
mine-owners on their side retained large numbers of watchmen and guards
who were also armed and always on duty. In addition to these opposing
forces there was, as the Governor reported, an unusually large number of
the violent and criminal element, always attracted to a new and
booming mining camp. Under such conditions the civil authorities were
practically powerless, and the Governor, being helpless to avert civil
war, called on me to keep order. I accordingly threw in a body of
regular troops under General Funston. These kept order completely, and
the Governor became so well satisfied that he thought he would like
to have them there permanently! This seemed to me unhealthy, and on
December 28, 1907, I notified him that while I would do my duty, the
first need was that the State authorities should do theirs, and that
the first step towards this was the assembling of the Legislature.
I concluded my telegram: "If within five days from receipt of this
telegram you shall have issued the necessary notice to convene the
Legislature of Nevada, I shall continue the troops during a period of
three weeks. If when the term of five days has elapsed the notice has
not been issued, the troops will be immediately returned to their former
stations." I had already investigated the situation through a committee,
composed of the Chief of the Bureau of Corporations, Mr. H. K. Smith,
the Chief of the Bureau of Labor, Mr. C. P. Neill, and the Comptroller
of the Treasury, Mr. Lawrence Murray. These men I could thoroughly
trust, and their report, which was not over-favorable to either side,
had convinced me that the only permanent way to get good results was to
insist on the people of the State themselves grappling with and solving
their own troubles. The Governor summoned the Legislature, it met, and
the constabulary bill was passed. The troops remained in Nevada until
time had been given for the State authorities to organize their force so
that violence could at once be checked. Then they were withdrawn.

Nor was it only as regards their own internal affairs that I sometimes
had to get into active communication with the State authorities. There
has