The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1858-10-14


a letter written by you to the Saturday
E0e'aing Post, you have not only
wronged the community before the
public, by gross misrepresentation, but
you have also abused me, and greatly
wronged me by representing the first
settlers, as mere " Vandals (which,
if true, must apply to me, and mean
me in particular, for am emphaticany
the first settler and the one who has
been. from the beginning the most con-
cerned in the building up of this village
as it was first built on my land, which
was once my farm. If, madam, you
had more closely, and more candidly
opened your eyes and ears to facts, and
allowed your pen to be guided more by
reason than by inaaginat;on you would
have written very differently from what
you have done. / am well aware that
the pen of the novelist, may, by the
aid of imagination, describe neat beau
iful, aoeU arranged houses, as mere
&C roc shells stuck IN the sand" You
might even imagine, as believe You
own you have succeeded in, that the
clean, beautiful sand was seas. Being
SO nearly allied also to physician, who
may occasionally treat case of ague,
you may also imagine there were hum
dred cases to one, and become exceed
ingly nervous, aud thus imagine that
all the hale, hearty, healthy counter
ances, the picture of health, whom you
meet from day to day, were sallow,
and sickly, and shaking with agHe.
Surely such an imagination must be
torment to its possessor, and is posi-
bly,, the prime reason of your own sal
lowness and debility. Had you, mad
am, been more accustomed to Western
villages, and seen few more besides
Doaoagiac, and above all, had you
been aware of the fact that young,
and thriving village, of only ten years
groscth, could not, in the nature of
things, possess the adornments Of
Philadelphia, New York. or Boston,
you would, if candid and honest, have
pronounced, this village as superior to
most Western villages of ten years
growth, both as to its religious, liter
arg and business advantages. There
is no village of the size and age on tho
line between Chicago and Detroit,
that can boast of as noble church ed
ifces-the number of fine dwellings
and business buildings. The fine es-
tablishment of G. G. Jones q Co., not
being inferior as to material, beauty
and accommodation to most of the fine
business buildings of Detroit; and
Fanother fine brick building by Mr.. ].
Smith, is going up at present.
1 am charged by you of being .
TunauI because cut down the trees
on my farm, or cleared the forest, in
order to have a chance to plow and
raise crop. Now, madam, possibly
you cannot be so ignorant, about agri-
cultural pursuits, in the Eastern cities,
as to suppose that crop of wheat or
corn could be raised in a forest any
more than Philadelphia could be built
on uncleared timber lands. Did YOU
never think that the site on which Phil
adelphia now stands, was once thick
, forest; that in order to build that city it
was necessary to clear it? Did you
} not also think as you observed the wav.
ing fields of corn and wheat, that once
thick forests covered those fields, and
J that the farmer cleared away the tim
} Der, that he might make room for
wheat and corn. These are facts, and
not mere creations of the imagination
facts, real facts, which have come
within the reach not only of my obser-
Uation, but of experience which trust
| madam, you willin the future, bear in
mind, lest you might be led from the
: want of correct information, to do the
like injustice to other villages, that you
have done to ours.
1t may, indeed, seem prescriptions
in me, an humble farmer, to reply to
a lady of your literary stamp; and
: possibly many will laugh at the idea ;
but they would laugh still more at me,
if l were to try to cultivate farm
without clearing my land.
We shall leave you here, madam
only by saying, that we believe your
letter to be the mere production Of
prejudice; and that had you been in q
right state of mind, you never would
have written; and since charity for.
giveth all things, we will also be az
charitable as we can, and try and for
give you, believing you do not mean
as bad as you write.
$ p. HAMILTON,
Col. Whitney Jones.
The nomination of this gentleman To