As soon as the committee left Denver, the governor was again very much in evidence, and the greenest reporter of any newspaper could see and talk to His Excellency for the mere asking. The Denver newspaper men asked the governor what he intended to do at Telluride, and why he had refused an audience to the committee of the deported miners.
126 The Pinkerton Labor Spy.
Governor Peabody innocently protested that he had no idea of anything out of the way having transpired at Telluride that required his attention; that no committee of any kind had called on him, and that he really did not know anything whatever about the whole Telluride transaction.
The governor was next asked what his attitude would be in case the deported miners attempted to return to Telluride under cover of an injunction against the Citizens' Alliance ; and the governor, without hesitation, made this reply :
"The miners of Telluride have a right to go to the courts and seek an injunction. The men forced out of Idaho Springs went back under cover of an injunction, and if an injunction is issued to the Telluride strikers, they can undoubtedly go back under it
"There is one thing, however, upon which I shall insist most firmly as long as I am governor of this State. That is, that armed men will not be allowed to parade in this State, unless authorized by the proper authorities. The constitution and laws do not permit the mobilizing and marching of armed bodies of men without the sanction of the governor, and I certainly shall exercise all the authority I possess against such procedure. The laws will be maintained in Colorado. [Is all this a warning to the Citizens' Alliance? Not exactly.] The members of the Western Federation of Miners will have to understand that they will not be permitted to arm themselves, mobilize and march on Telluride or any other place in this State."