The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1864-03-24

Limkelssa le,s A id rs.ss

LinkeDsa les Address q sdt
The following Add,es was delivered be.
fore the Editorial Convention at Des Moines
on the evening Of the 2Sd: % ~ .-.''j$
= GEsrLESEN OF TIE Iowa Press III is
but simple Justice to myself to state that I
did not know until late last evening that
was to have the honor of addressing you on
this occasiortj This must be my excuse for
the sins which you may charge against me,
whether they shall be sins Of commission OF
omission. You all know perfectly wei! that
he who is accustomed to think with pen in
his hand is not apt to be fnll Of resources
when thinking, as they say in Parliament,
ION his legs" To the powers or the graces
of oratory ! lay no claim whatever, and can
npt say. in fact, that | hold in the high ,st
esteem the man whois always ready with a
| speech. But if / could be such an one for
this eyeningI SHOULD bs duly gratefal. Not
being,I can only give you the ideas which
have suggested themselves to my mind to.
day1asI have hastily scrawled them on this
fFooolscap, and which, by the way. is a legis.
latiye stealing d .rss rsE .aroar 81
Il1 Permit me to say, first Of all, that af,er a
considerable absence from the State, return
to Iowa with leeGngS ike those of youth
who. having hong wandered from that dea,
spot his home, returns again to the old
hearth stone-his heart beating with almost
divine joy as, he takes the old familiar chair
in the kod familiar room, looks upon the
faces and hears the voices of those he knows
esteem him, and pray Gods blessings on
him evermore, have, found no country
thatI liked to look upon as | look upon Iowa,
no people myre4ntelli gent than the, Iowans,
none so ingeH6ua, 30 warm hearted, so un-
selfish. Not the stern warriors Of that grand
old people, the tramp Of whose legions ech
oed round the world, were prouder of being
Roman; citizens than I am proud If being a
citizen of Iowa. In the high position of her
representative men in the National Congress,
in the immortal glory of her troops in SO ma.
nv of the battles of the war now raging, in
the happiness and prosperity of her people.
and more especially in the prosperity Of her
press, the dignity, the ability, the indepen.
dence, and the honesty Of her editors.
feel an interest TO less warm than when I
was with you in the body, as | ever am in
tie spirit, though the former has gone down
! to the lades Of Washington City-e-fora sea
son. And before quit talking about Iowa,
jet me ray you gentlemen. the compliment
to which you are entitled. You are fairly
entitled to the praise, of having rs indepen
dent able, fearless and progressive Journal.
ism as can be claimed for the journalism, OF
any ether State. If,you have no great dai.
lies like ysomein the large cities of the coun
try, il is only because you have no large ci.
ties, But the country papers" of our STATE
will lose nothing in comparison with the
country papers Of sAy State in the Union
keoknk in comparison with plenty OF ctes
! is but country town. But it supports two
daily newspapers which give their reader.
the cream, at any rate, Of all the news stir
ring in this and other countries. If Burling
l,ton dpes not now have two dailies, it certain
4 ly has, one Of which we all feel proud CLARK
Durham, of the H,sck Eye. exerts to-day al
influence no less poten,ia! than that Of tn,
most eminent statrsman Of Iowa. When h,
took that paper, shout ten years ago, less o
more, It was sadly run down at the heel Il,
close attention to his business, by the exer
else Of wise economy, by his enterprisins
spirit, by his Independent course, he hs'
built up paper which makes and unmake
many a man, which does more for Iowa tha
/. any member Of Congress, no matter how ia
Tented or how isbofious, can hope to do.
won'd, rather, this night be in Clark Dun
hams boots. even though had a great hol
Pin one, of my lungs, had my head stuck o.
\ my body awray, and was dressed in tn
seedy style Of Wilkins Micawber befor
something bad turned up. than to be in tn
Z boots of plenty Of gentlemen better known
perhaps, but who shall be narneles.. The
there is psa .fssrK
"A -- 'That excellent diurnal,