Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-08-02
The Worcester Palladium and Hon. ELI


it is, perhaps, no more than just for us to copy
the chief portions of the reply. We copy from
the Palladium of yesterday
Gas conductor of republican journal in
the district represented by Mr. lhayer, we
| have, i'll accordance with what we conceive TO
be both our right and our duty, commented
from time to time, perhaps with some freedom,
upon the course which he has taken In his
representative capacity. In doing TINS we are
not aware that we have ever transcribed the
limits of tair and honorable discussion and III
no instance have we touched upon Mr., Ihay-
er's priUate character. 1t was therefore with
| some surprise that we learned that Mr.. mayer
| was INDUCING i'll very tree complaints against
the Palladium; such as that 1t was abusing
him continually, and refusing to publish his
speeches in order that its readers might under
stand fully his position. What a traveller says
in a railroad car, in a loud voice, is gwen to
the public as much as it would be If 1t were
proclaimed from the house-top; and therefore
we refer to the declaration which our repre-
sentative is said to have made when on his
way home from Washington in effect, that
he had been grossly abused by the newspa-
pers of his district which refused to publish
his speeches; and that he meant, as soon
as possible, to have a meeting OF his con-
stituents, where he should be ready to discuss
the matter of their complaints with any per-
sons the disafiected might set against INN
provided they would put forward their tallest
men, for he did not want to contend with ban
tunS.'
After noticing the correspondence prelimi-
nary to Mr.. Thayer's meeting, and the public
challenge to himself and others to be present
and encounter Mr.. Thayer, the editor of the
Palladium continues =
whatever ,ce have said concerning Mr..
Thayer, has been said in the columns of this
paper, and nowhere else; and we shall not
leave them for a less ample field. AS our rep
resentative had never sent us copy of any
speech of his, nor asked for the publication OF
any one, nor for the privilege of replying to
any of our comments or structures, we were
struck with sensation remotely allied to as"
constituent, Saturday evening, upon receiving
the following missile, which Mr.. Pickwick
would certainly have considered and treated
as a challenge direct, to wit =
WORCESTER, 2Sth July, 1860.
Sir-As you have seen fit very frequently, during
my congressional services to assai my votes and my
views shall see fit to reply to your assaults next
Monday evening in the City Hall. [ therefore re-
pecfuly invite you to be present, and sustain be-
fore the people the charges you have publicly made
in my absence. \ our obedient servant,
ELI THAYER.'
We repeat, that the columns of the Palladi-
UNI contain ali we have said relating to Mr..
Thayer. 1t may there be found, word for
word, letter for letter, and comma for comma
and there we propose for the present to cob
fine it and then if we 'assaiP his votes and
views, or make what he is pleased to call 'as
saults, and charges made publicly in his alb
sence, or in his presence, zoe shall hare the re-
cord at hand; and it is now apparent that that
is an essential necessity for any one who ven
lures to make a remark about Eli Thayer.
Mr.. Thaycr had his meeting Monday eve
ming as he proposed. He was heard of through
the day, in various places, drumming up an
audience among the Douglas men, that he might
be sure of plenty of cldpperS for whatever he
might say that was insolent, abusive, or SLAM
derous towards their opponents And they
responded in large numbers to his invitation
seat after seat being filled with men who, if
they ever voted at all, never voted anything
but a depocrdtic ticket; and many of them
IriShmen, who were so much delighted with
his scurriity towards men who had voted for
him, that one Of them exclaimed, 'BedGd! an
a year from no,o he'll be a good Cattolicp
MIR. Thayer having made up his meeting
himself and made all his arrangements with
out consulting the two gentlemen invited to be
present District Attorney Aldrich and the ed
itor of the Palladium), who seem to have
was allowed by them to have the occasion full
ly to himself and air his rhetoric without
molestation or interruption. The exhibition
which he made of himself was, as happily
expressed by one OF the audience, that OF II
| great, inflated personal pronouRP He harped
much upon the tact that the Palladium, in no.
ticing the confused reports OF the doings of
congress at the close of the session, had mis-
called bill before the house. But the ques-
ton is not whether the Palladium makes an
occasional mistake. 1t is not whether its edi-
tor is well informed, astute, or consistent. 1t
is simply and solely, whether Eli Ihayer truly
represents the republicans Of this district IN con-
greSSi We say that he does not and we shall
continue to say SO and it is our belief, that if
he were as big as he imagines himself to be,
| he cannot come here and put a GAG and MUz-
zLE upon the press, because it ventures to
comment upon his votes and his views.
And now what has the Palladium done, Of
which Mr.. Thayer complains Were the
game worth the powder we might without
much Inconvenience repuGlish all that has
been said in these columns about our valiant
representative, and thus furnish the people an
opportunity to judge Of the justice, the propri-
ETY. even, Of Mr.. Thayer's somewhat uncour-
teous complaints. We voted for him and sus"
tanned him i'll the elections of 1856 and 1858,
| a I'd therefore conceive that we have had full
| right to comment upon his votes and views,
and also his public acts, as our representative
in congress and so little pride of opinion
have we, thatif any one will show us that we
have done Mr.. Thayer the slightest injustice,
we shall be ready at any moment to make the
amplest reparatlon
Mr.. Thayer went to congress as a republi-
can--as the representative of a strong republi
can district lie knew as well as any man
what was expected of him as a republican,
The principles and purposes Of the party were
laid down before him as plain as a turnpike
and he certainly knew enough not to be told
that he went to congress not to represent himself
but 10 represent his republican constituents; and
that if he could not do that, it was his duty to
vacate the position, and allow Ills constituents
to fill the place with some one who could rep
resent them truly How has he performed
his duty
His 'squatter sovereign notions were pre-
scented by him in the same republican conven
ton of 1858; and they were so much in con
tict with the principles and policy Of the re
publican party, that we could not suffer his
speech to pass without comment, lest it should
be said that silence gave consent to the trutl
OF its statements. So general was the dissat
istaction among Mr.. Thayer's constituents
that he would not have been nominated Tor re
election, had not poSittUe assurances been giyer
by MN tnat at all times he tC0md be f0und UOtins
and acting cih The republicans in congress. Upol
the strength of those pledges he was re-nomi
mated and reelected. How those pledge!
have been broken and dsregarded, they VIII,
have read his speeches in congress and the re
cord OF his votes there can easily decide fO
themselves. 1t is true he continued to cal
himself republican, and occasionally voteC
with the republicans but his speeches, an,
every vote OF his upon important measures
have been either in direct opposition to tn,
republicans or antagonistc in their spirit ant