The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1860-02-08

of his party i'll this county on the ques-
ton alluded to. Now, if this is corrup-
ton, the guilt of it rests upon us-if that
is forgery, we are liable to the penalty OF
that crime. What has become of that
paper, or whether any letter purportlng
to be from Mr.. Meggett, was in circula-
ton, we know not.
And now, OLIVER GIBBS Jr., as you
introduced the charge of forgery against
me, with great flourish Of trumpots, and
a severity that was meant to be crushing,
l wish to talk to you little on the ma
ture of yonr conduct towards ms in this
matter.
1t will be remembered by every one
present in that Convention, that you pre-
fereI this charge against me, with the
most moving assurances ofyour personal
friendship. You even went so far as to
declare that you would rather burn your
right arm off up to your shoulder, tLan
to be obliged to make such charge a
gainst me. You will pardon me, sir, if [
was somewhat moved at such an exhibit
ton of kindly love. We know of moth
ing to compare with such pathetic aud
self-sacriticing devotion, unless it be that
sweet story of Damon and Pythias.--
Now how did your conduct compare with
your profession? You were aware, you
said, Of the crime last fail. Was it not
your duty as man, much more as
friend, to take the first opportunity to tell
mo of my fault, to warn me that you
could no longer labor with me. and to eli
ther publicly expose me, or strive to re-
claim me from guilty ways? But what
did you do! You treated me with the
same friendship as before, you labored
and cous1lted with me in political matters
giving mo no hint Of my unworthiness,
until last Wednesday, when onraged at
political defeat, you unburdened yourloy
ing and sad'lcned heart by sorrowfuIIy
breathing to me the terrible tale in the sa-
cred privacy of crowded court ROOM
Now, OLIVER, we leave it to you, and to
all who listened to your charge, whethc:
if such conduct is honorable in q D0lit;-
clan, it is not most "strango foul and UNI
natural, NOT to mince the matter, most
damnably mean and dishonorable in a
friend.
Again, OLIVER, YOU stated that in view
ofmy corruptions you could no longer
work with party who endorsed me-
Ny dear sir, why didn't you think of this
matter earlier! Was it not your duty
to tho party to plainly tell inc so, and then
i'll was conscious of guilt, | could stand
back and not be the means Of distractnc
any portion OF the party. We say that
simply as Republican, this was your du-
ty. But what did you do! Yeu gave
me no hint of your disaprrebation. You
have worked with mo till last Wednes-
day. When tho war was raging on the |
action of tho last County Board, you were
SO kind as TO invite me into your office,
AMI read to me from your maauscrip', a
lengthy article, afterwards published in
the JOURNAL. You may remember ut
your solicitation wrote portion of call
f'r the Judicial Convention, and yet all
this time you were fully aware of my cor
ruption. What is the plain inference,
OLIvERs Why, simply that you could
work with mo, while l worked to suit
you, and no longer.
There is anchor phase of this forgery
matter to which we will briefly alludo.-
We believe We have reputation for an
average amount of common sense, and
Mr.. Gibbs was kind enough to speak of
us as young man Of considerable prom
Use. Now we knew that this county was
full of our handwriting, and if we had
been privy to any forgery, would we have
been likely to have done it ourself? If
we had shown no more sense than that.
would not any respectable Jury acquit us
Of criminality on the ground of mental
imbacility! Bat enough Of this charge
We believe that among our acquaintance
we maintain q toIerable reputation for
honesty, and if you, OLIVER GIBBS, Jr.,
wish to convict US Of forgery, it will be
highly necessary for you to prove it,
The field is open. VIII you walk in,
sira
And now few words to the Republi-
cans of this County and District. A few
mon in Prescott propose to bolt the action
of the Republican party in this county,
For what reason! Ostensibly, because
John Dale and ourself have been guilty
Of great corruption, and have been endor-
sed by the party really because Dir. Max