The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1858-03-20

Mr.. EDIToR: An article IN the FTcs ITV0er
Of the 18th inst, subscribed " Humanity,
deserves some attention from me-not on
account Of its merits, bu, in consequence Of
the false impressions which It is calculated
to produce on the mind Of the public. /
can regard the communication in no other
iirht than a mean and das;ardly attack upon
the character and reputation OF one whose
aim has ever been to deal justly and homer
ably with all men, and who IS not conscious
Of any attempt to iutiict the least IL jury
UpCn the individual whose Indignation he
has had the misfortune to provoke. 1t is
an assault altogether unpr0yoked, unlocked
for and uncalied fOr-sO far as ! can under
stand from any prOVOcation on my part
whatcver-a sort Of unexpected thrust Ike
that Of an assGssiu'S weapon in the dark
The speciCuS preteXt for this assault Is
profesScd reply TO a certain Mr. 8" South
Side" Of whom | know nothing, and with
whose communication have nothing TO do.
never wrote a line of it. and have no con-
nection with that article whatever. If Mr..
" Humanity's' equaui,nity has been dis
turbed by that communication, why should
lie pour out the vials Of his wrath upon
me: For assume, without the least hest
tation, that the evident intention Of the
author Of that article is to direct public at
This IS apparent from the references made
to the toll gate erected on the road leading
through my farm, and to certain road tax
which | refused TO pay-not because these
circumstances as stated by your correspond
ent are true, but because they have a con-
nection with my name, which is known to
the public. The facts in the case are grossly
InisrepreSented and perverted, and all that
is said in relation TO the Illinois River Bridge,
and the Macadamized road, have scarcely
shadow of foundation in fact. hesitate not
to pronounce them all as represented by
the author of the article in question, utterly
untre; and must say that the man who
will retail such calumny, and give it publicity
in the manner he has done, is altogether
unworthy Of the reputation Of an honorable
an. One print, it seems, was not sufficient
to salty the cravings of his malignity-he
has run to two or three Offices with his foul
production, and made the mischief he would
do as conspicuous as possible. Shall | do
wrong if call such defamer and a
slanderer: In the first paragraph of his
communication there are many abusive and
scurrlous differences deduced from the ar
ticle Of Mr.. "South Side which | shall
pass unnotced-they afford very good evil
dence of the distorted vision and malevoient
irritation of this sclf-styled Mr.. " Humanity
In relation TO the small tax referred 10,
have only to say that said tax was assessed
upon me, perhaps by Mr.. g Humanity" HIM
self, for the construction OF a road in the
west part of the township in which | had
no lands, nor interest Of any kind whatever.
WHY, then, should | be taxed 10 build the
road a.: That was the question with me; be-
sides had good reason to believe t. at this
tax was assessed upon me from v:ndictive
motives. | saw no justice in Il, and resolved
not to pay the tax unless compelled by law.
Nv neghbors saw the injustice Of the thing,
as WEI as myself, and consequently would
not bid upon property exposed to sale to pay
an unjust demand. Here arc the facts
which Mr.. " Humanity has i.5orcd 80 hard
to dstort and cover with approbium. With
regard to what IS said concerning $500 worth
of stock in the Illinois River Bridget is
true did 20 forward in good faith to take
the stock, and made provisions by large
pecuniary sacrifice to do so. | deposited
the amount needful to make the first pay
ment in the bank before it was due, and
few days after learned to my surprise that
through the agency, | suppose, Of this same
Mr. Humanity" himself, my name had
been stricken from the list of stockholders;
and when | would commute for tolls, have
reason 10 suppose that Tue soiuS aStHCy was
instrumental in affixing the same for ten
months at $50. These circumstances, to be
plain with Mr.. Humanity" constituted the
principal reasons why would not take stock
in the Macadamized road. felt that had
suffered breach of confidence, which should
henceforth discover our relations. l had
also other reasons for declining to take stock
in this road. l could not approve of the
plan of operation, nor of the material pro-
posed to be used in the construction Of the
road. had right to decline, and no gen.
tleman has right to question my conduct,
or aim to cast reproach and odium upon me
in the exercise of this privilege. That Iopen-
ed road through my farm and endeavored to
divert travel in that direction. is untrue. l
was sick and confined to my bed at the time
and know but very little about it, and ad-
NIT no respons ;ity in the premises.
With these explanations, Mr.. Editor,
wish to dismiss the subject. 1t is not nv
intention to provoke 4 controversy. have
said this much with great reluctance My
general practice is to take very little notice
of slanderous reports. If ever / depart
from this practice, it is only when duty
seems to compel me to a vindieation OF my
character and reputation from the asperslons
of open malignity and misrepresentation.
Ottawa, March -, '58. .. al. CLARk.
W.c-o,, March 57th-Recent infor-