St. Cloud visiter [sic]. [volume] (St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1857-1858, 1858-05-13
Border Ruf1anism iii Minnesota

We ~ give brief account this week of
tEs destruction of the press and materials
4 Of the St. Cloud Nsiter, edited by Mrs.
Swisshelm. ht e -s@a:.i " !s,s1 .,i3..
e We had supposed it sufficient that Kan
: sas should be made the arena for the ope-
rations of border ruf6anism, as exhibited.in
the destruction Of printing presses, and we
had hoped that the history Of Minnesota,
would afford no instance, 50 contempt
30 cowardly and so far beneath the name
of an American citizen. so*aaat s&>zsG
There may be some excuse for the saw
age brutaities Of the Indian on the battle
field, who knows no higher law than the
qualification of revenge, but in a country
like this where the interchange Of free
opinions is considered the guardian of our
liberties, there is no such excuse for the
destruction Of property, and such spirit
ofbrutality can only be cherished by brutes
and goaded on by the meanest malicious
ness. .tt '-'- rt ... 80 ...'-T ...4t .
From the beautiful situation of St.
Cloud, from the appreciation which its
people seemed to have of good newspa-
per, conducted by Mrs. Swisshelm, one of
the ablest writer's in the West, we argued
that St Cloud was one of the most prosper
Gus and enlightened Of our Western villa
ges, but this last transaction shows that
with the peaceable and law-abiding citizens
of that place, it has class from the lower
and coarser order of beings, even too much
honored when ranked among the semi-bar-
barous. 49,. e.. ~. .,: -:
Democracy has indeed many virtues,
and according to its latest demonstrations
this manner Of pulling down what is dis
tasteful to the ideas of 'intense Niger
ISM" is favorite idea with them.
! A set of dirty thieves and burglars in
any place is nuisance which all good men
are interested in capturing and justly pun
ishing, but when these assassins walk abroad
at noon day and boast of their villainous
deeds, pretending to belong to respecta-
BILE class Of, society, then responsibility
must be at a low ebb in Minnesota. Res
pectable men, or men with the least spark
of nobility in them, despise deeds of villain
ny, which must be done under cover of
darkness, but these were neither respecta-
BILE nor honorable, and their motives petty,
INSCRIPTIONS and detestable, merely re-.
venge to satisfy political prejudice, which
would tarnish the blacklist crimes for
which many, are suffering in our peniten-
tiaries. -..,...'. ,.
But there are men still left in St. Cloud,
and those men say in their resolutions that
"'The st. Cloud Visiter shall Unsupported"
and further that eve will support it,
Success to such men as this, and may
the censure Of public opinion maket the place
to hot to hold the band of blaek-legs and
assassins who cover their depredations un-
der the capacious cloak Of Democracy
Perhaps this outrage will entitle the perpe-
traitors to government Office, which if con-
sidered an equivalent to the services rem
dered the administration by the destruction
offs Republican press, should certainly be
avery remuneratiye position. - The Hokah
Chief w. r. g 49,.
niaoro oof1,1 0,,+ro ceo ~ G. Tt1o,, ~