The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-02-19
The Pres. and the Dead Heads.

The Press and the Dead Heads.
Railroads, steamboats,, and stage coaches
complain Of dead hesding that is to say of
preachers, editors and brethren of the craft,
riding so much without pay. The newspa-
per press en- lures more Of this dead
The pulpit, the bar and the theatre, corpor-
ations, legislative assemblies, societies, re-
ligious, benevolent, agricultural, mercantile
establishments, venders of quack medicines,
railroad companies, stage-lines, and every
variety Of individuals, including political
parties, draw largely upon the liberalty OF
the press. The press is expected to yield
to all these interests; is requested to give
strength to all weak institutoHs and enter
prses it is asked to puff some preachers
! into over, hadowlng pulpit orators ;; TO puff
small orators, politicians, and unprinciplcd
demagogue into great men and patriots to
magnify incompetent railroad officers into
railroad kings; it is expected to herald
abroad the fame Of quacks Of all classes,
bolster up dull authors, immortalizc weak
Congressional speeches; it is required TO give
sight to the blind, bread to the hungry, tai.
ents to the fools, and honor to thieves and
robbers; it is asked to cover up the infirmi.
ties Of the weak, to hide the faults of guilty
men, and wink at the fraudulent schemes OF
fscoundrels; it is expected to flatter the vain.
to extol the merits Of those who deserve
nothing but the scorn and contempt of all
good citizens; it is required, IN word, of
the newspaper press, that it becomes all
sends out its bills for subscription or afver
tisi. g it is denou iced as mean and sordid,
and it's conductors as wanting in liberalty.
There is no interest on the face Of this green
earth, that is expected to give as much to
society, without pay or thanks, as the news
paper press of the country. The ittie-soul-
ed man, who inserts in your column fifteen
shilling advertisement, expects you to write
out at least Eve dollars worth of editorial
notices And the obscure and niggardly
man whom you have written into a position
of Importance, far beyond his merits, con-
siders that his name adorns your columns,
and gives circulation to your iournal.-Lou-
isoisle Journal.
From the New York Indepe ndent,
Our Washington Correspon.
hnsacn
WAsHINGroN, Feb. 0, 1868.
To THE EDIroRs OF THE IEDEpENDENT
The skies are Frightening. The reaction
aries are losing strength every hour, and
henceforth they will be without power over
the people. There is no place where one
can discover change of sentiment among
the people so quickly as in Congress, espe-
cial!y in the House Of Representatives. The
Congressman does not always heed the por-
ular will with sufficient readiness, but the
observer can easily see by his conduct that
he is conscious that he is dssobeying it
The change for the better in Congress, in
this respect, within fortnight, is marked.
The " Copperheads (excuse the slang word
for its expressivensss) are by no means so
defiant as they were a short time ago. Up.
on the opening Of Congress, Voorhees,, Val
landigham, Cox, Powell, Sa llsbury, Bayard,
and others whom ! will not mention, were
bold and joyous in their demeanor They
had lost the sneering, malignant manners Of
previous sessions, and were good natured
even, SO certain were they THAT this war and
the Administration were about to be arrest.
ed and overtbrown. Yallandigham spoke
too quickly in favor of stopping the war,
and Fernando Wood was not shrewd in
showing his hand SO openly in his tactics
displayed at Albany. find now that even
the acknowledged Copperheads in Con-
gress are shy, silent, and begin to grow ugly,
which is the surest sign of all that they are
discouraged. In the debate upon the Militia
bill in the Senate, Mr.. Nesmith, Democrat
from Oregon, took strong ground in favor of
standing by the Administration, in its bold
est measures. He was followed by Garret
Davis, of Kentucky, who, after few Aings
at the Emancipation Proclamation and New
England, took a position by the side ofNes-
mith. The Government. he said, must be
supported in every contingency. Even
Wadsworth, in the House, the worst Of the
Kentuckians in Congress, upon the slavery
question, made solemn declaration that in
spite of the acts of the Administration,
which the people of Kentucky disliked, they
would stand by the old flag, and would nev-
er dishonor it. These are small facts when
taken siugly, but together th0y farm an i'm.
portant mass Of evidence, going to show
that the Government will really lose nothing
from disaffection in any quarter by the
strong auti-slavery position which it takes.
I. loyal men will stand by it through eve-
0.'s End the disloyal may as well
take their stand with -
evBe not the slave of authority il you
think anything Of yourself, think for your
SELF
The right to be oussed fool
Is safe from all devices human;
It's common (ez ginr'l rule)
To every critrer born o'woman.