The Portland daily press., 1862-11-03
The Argus at its Old Tricks Again.

Ole age, mas become aware tnat the lives OF q
certain class of persons are made up of Sc
ries of sinnings and repentings. Through the
weakness of the flesh they yield to temptation,
but conscience, not scared and incompetent to
perform its functions, comes to the rescue, and
they repent-or at least, sorrow-with genu-
ineness that promises well for an improved
life. The Argus in this city, having no con-
science to prompt repentance, or even the pre-
monitory symptoms of repentance, has for a
long time made its life to consist of series of
lyings and denyings, and this, probably, is
the nearest approximation to an honorable life
that it has ever attained to- and the best evil
dence it has recently afforded of acknowledged
allegiance to moral obligation. Within three
days gentleman of unimpeached integrity, a
worthy member of christian church, once
an active Democrat, said to us that his change
of political associations, and party relations,
had effected no change in his opinion Of the
Argus, for he always knew it to be an uncandid.
unfair, dishonorable, lying sheet, that would
never do justice to an opponent, that seemed
to prefer lie to the TRUTH and whose praises
were its greatest disservces to any man of
character and reputation.
1t is now but few years-three, we think
since Col. Porter of Lowell. lifelong demo-
crat, and man who has done more for the
democratic cause than the whole Argus corps
combined, held that sheet-the then leading
paper of its party in the state-up before the
House of Representatives, of which he was
mamhar and dannuncad IL aS Tho ,,;no A ~
gus!" If there is one thing in which that pa
per has maintained strict consistency, it is
that, under all its changes of late, no matter
who has been at its head or who AT its tail, 1t
has been persistent in its lying;-it has never
shown particle of regard for facts or for truth;
it has never hesitated to make any kind of a
statement that would answer it, purpose, for
the moment, and then, when convenient or
when cornered, it has lied its way out. Lie
and Deny"-thi is or should be its motto, for
it is truly significant of its practice. We have
case in point illustrative of its general
course. Saturday morning, after copying from
the Press of the day previous the remark in
which we said, that paper had abused the
President with malignity befitting demon,n
says:
This is simply lie, unmitigated, uncalled
for, made out of the perverted mind OF the ed
itor. apparent to every reader of the Argus
1t is one of those lies Mrs. Opie. whose work
should be forwarded to the Press, classified
under the head of g foolish" The folly is ap-
parent, for there can be cited no paragraph
from the Argus in abuse of the President, to
say nothing of the alleged demon" character
of the language we have used.
Against this square-edged denial, we simply
place from the Argus of Aug. sth, the follow
ing editorial sentence, which, for characteristic
meanness, studied abuse and deep malignity
could scarcely be matched in the annals of par
ty journalism:
1.-THE President could be endowed with keen
eye to discocer the difference bettceen honesty
and dishonesty, between ability and incompe-
teney, between success and failure, in the
management of our national affairs. and would,
with Jacksonan resolution, applaud and pro-
mote the one and utterly and promptly con-
denim the other, we are free to confess our be-
lief that the cause of our country would soon
be on better and more hopeful footing. But
Mr.. Lincoln is President for his term and we
must make the best of it We can.
Here the President, whom the Argus has
never abused, is denied the possession of even
common-sense. "If he could be endoped" SO
that he could "diseorer the difference betpeen
HONESTY and DISHONESTYl" He don't
know what honesty is; he can't tell the differ
ence between it and dishonesty; he don't know
enough to distinguish between "abiity and
incompetency !; he don't know the difference
between "success and .fdilure;;" but If he
y; Epn tba H.
"IF he WOULD applaud and promote
the one and utterly and promptly condemn
the other, then ice are free to confess the be-
lief that the cause of our country would soon
be on better and more hopeful footing!" In
other words, if the President were not fool
1--WE are free to confess the belief" that we
don't know but he would be knare, If he
knew his duty, it is doubtful if he would do it.
This is precisely what the above paragraph
implies, and yet the writer of it has the bra
zen efrontery TO say no paragraph from his
pen can be cited " in abuse of the Presi-
dent!" Lying and Denyiagl
The Argus tells his readers that our slate
associate in the publication of the Bath Times"
said only the other day in his paper, that he
should be astonished to find the editor of the
Press in the act of telling the truth" When
the writer penned that sentence he knee he
tcas stating falsely, for though it might have
been written ever so late in the day, vet he
could not have been so obiuscated as not to
have known that the person who made that
very witty remark never had the slightest
thing to do with the Bath Times till after we
had ceased all connection with it,
But what signifies to notice the statements
Of this rotten concern. We know the fact that
republicans cannot possibly have a more con-
temptible opinion of it than do very large
class Of democrats. For the credit OF the city
abroad we may say, that the editor of the Ar
gus, whose name appears in its columns, is abb
sent, and in fact has been at home but very
little for the last several months. The work
of the editorial office is in the hands of name
less subs" who have actually rotted out of
other offices in the State-irresponsible scrb-
blers who have made themselves familiar with
all the corruption that testers in a venal news
paper office, but have never become acquaint-
ed with the amenities of the gentleman, the
courtesy to be observed in controversy. or the
ciyilities of ordinary life. They only know
that If lie is to be told they are the ones to
tell it without danger to reputation, and the