The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1860-09-06

agreeable to all in attendance. The Wide
Awakes are under especial obligations to
them and many others.
We should be glad to close our account of
this meeting here, so that the impression OF
it on the, readers mind, might be pleasant
and agreeable. Weshould be glad if we SAID
anything about them, to say of our political
opponents at Agency City, that their treat,
ment of the Republicans who resorted to
their town to hold a political meeting, was
polite and courteous, such as one political
party has right to expect from their fellow
citizens of all other parties. But truth and
Justice compells us to say, that the conduct
of portion of the Douglas Democrats of
Agency City, on Thursday last, better com
ported with tribe Of Savages, than with
that of enlightened civilized human beings.
From the time the Republicans commenced
their entrance into the place, during the en- :
tire proceedings, the streets were lined with
a crowd of Douglasites, who by word, gesture,
and deeds, did everything that the basest
malgnity, and the dirtiest blackguardlsm
could suggest, to insult not only the male
members of tie various delegations, bnt even
the Ladies. They preSistently kept up, not
only cheers for Douglas, but the most I'M
earthly yells, hootings and howlings, such as
were seldom if eve, before heard in a civilized
community. Such remarks as this were
made to Ladies, than whom none in this
county stand higher for intelligence and re-
spcctabiity, you ought to have big buck
ringers with you One man had big
butcher knife which he brandiShed threaten
ingly towards the procession as it passed.
Several Ladies were hit eggs, and more
than one of the men with brick bats And
in the evening as the Wide-Avakes were
parading the streets, "A cart, with a fellow
enveloped in sheep skin, and four other
fellows propelling it, was trundled along by
the procession, crying out, here is your
"honest old Abe" the fellow in the cart 60
ing through the motion ofsplitting rails -
One prominent and leading Democrat came
out in front of his Store and proclaime
"Hurrah for Kephart; Hurah for John
Brown, Disunion before Lincoln, DisuEion
before Abolitionism.' One went up to a
horseback campany of Ladies ard Gentle
men and said they needed some buck niggers
to make the company complete &c, &c, ad
nouseun, These are fair specimens.
We are rejoiced to say that many of the
best men in the party discountenanced in
the most emphatic manner, this conduct.
One remarked that from thrt time forth, he
was done with politics several whose names
we heard, declared their purpose to act with
the party no longer, and one gentleman, Mr..
Roger Kellogg, and we take pleasure in men,
tioning his name, told the cart performers to
make themselves scarce, or he would whip
them to their hearts content and the. vehicle
disappeared.
We gladly bear testimony to the noble
conduct of these Democrats, and only wish
that we could hear of and mention more
More there doubtless were, but not enough
to exonerate the party from responsibility.
The only provocation we heard of for this
conduct was, that in the morning some Re-
publican, goaded on by the taunts and in
suits of the crowd throwing stones and wa
wing flags to scare the horses, and interrupt
the pole raising, threw several harmless pie
ces of gingerbread at them, and this some
pretend to allege as an excuse and provoca-
ton for the gross and persistent insults
heaped upon the entire company of Republi-
cans during the day, and commenced by
them
This is idle. The cause was very differ
ent. 1t is found in the iliberality, the malice,
the rule or ruin policy and principles of the
Douglas party. They are the concentration
of that fell spirit which, failing to put down
the Republican party by appeals to reason
and fair argument, would accomplish their
purposes by suppressing free speech by mob
violence, by interrupting meetings, by egging
females, by throwing stones in the night
and then cowardly Sinking away into dark
alleys away from harms way.
Such state of things, and the feelings
prompting them, cannot but be deprecated
and condemned by Ill good men. 1t is idle
to talk about the Union, as these men do,
when they arc doing all they can to destroy
those friendly and tolerant feelings, without
which Union is impossible. What do these
leaders desire Do they wish to see our
political gatherings converted into scenes Of
violence and bloodshed, where the voice Of
reason and persuasion cannot be heard on
account Of party passion and malignity !;
where personal hate, shall seek only to wreak
vengeance and inhct harm upon political OPP
ponents. We call upon the candid members
of the Douglas party to think of these things,
and put stop to the rowdy, BLACKBOARD,
mob propensities of their followers, or we
shall see condition Of things that we shall
all deprecate, for we assure them in all sin
cerity, that it is the unchangabIe determine
ton of an overwhelming majority of the
people of the North, to exercise the right of
free speech, and freedom of opinion, unawcd
and unintimidated by such ribald crews as
disgraced Agency City the other day. While
they coDfine themselves to mere words, how
ever ungenerous, and insulting, they can go
it to their hearts content, for most of them
are incapable of anything else but when it