Daily Yellowstone Journal

WE infer that Miles City will not take part in it. The Journal, printed in that town, says that Custer county is "out for the agricultural college, is bound to have it and will take nothing else."

Our contemporary finds that Helena is out for the capital by "usage and natural selection," while Bozeman and Deer Lodge are inspired by "the precocious development of an unripe ambition." We understand a part of this—but it sticks us to understand the "usage and natural selection" part of what we have quoted. What do the words mean, anyhow, in their application to the capital question.

Among other things.

Webster defines the word usage as follows:

Usage—Long continued practice—habitual nature.

It was in this sense that it was used in the sentence partially quoted by our erudite and critical contemporary, the Anaconda Standard. We took the liberty of assuming that the "long continued practice" of having the capital at Helena, the "custom," that had been thus engendered, and the "habitual use" of that city for capital purposes warranted its candidacy. So much for "usage." The "natural selection" idea was our own, and had reference to geographical location and freedom of access. We trust that this brief explanation will suffice. It covers all that the writer held in mind at the time, but if not sufficient we will try to evolve a new theory.