Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-10-15
Our Reply to Mr., Brooks.

The last time we met our candi~
date for County Superintendent, Mr..
L. J. Brooks, was at Boscobel, the
10Th of September He offered seal
ed article for the Herald, which We
at once agreed to publish, but not OPP
ening it. Talking, we said to him
substantially y:
"Mr. Brooks, we know not what
YOU have written, but this is certain:
you cannot afford to quarrel with the
teachers, soldiers and editors who are
seeming opposed to you. Yeur army
record 10 rather cleared up by your
own statements and nobody opposes
you on that score. But your educa>
ton is believed to be deficient. 80 10
work, then, and make it appear on
good testimony that you have the
scholarship required for u superin,
tcndent or foreman among the teach
ers. You know that in the several
learned professions, az in tho mechan.
ic arts. in fact all sorts OF business,
the head man or foreman ought to
rank all others in scholarship, in me.
chanical ability, &c, as the first among
those under his charge. Why, even
among mule drivers the rule of rank
resting upon the merits OF profession
al ability, has to govern, and the best
mule driver il put at the head and
brevetted as an n. D., or Professor
OF Mule Physics. You therefore can
not expect, however much the people
may elect you, to rank as head OF the
college of Teachers in Grant County,
and TO preside at their Institutes aud
TO lead ut their examinations, unless
qualified by scholarship. See to this
establish your scholarship, and the
teachers, soldiers andIeditors of Grant
County will all vote for you. Fail
here and You will be far worse off if
elected than if beaten, as honors be.
come dlshonors when worn by those
whose heads are untitled tor them.
An idea seemed to strike Mr.. Brooks
ut the pause of orr discourse, and he
said, pass me back that paper tor re
vision you are right, ana you shall
have the evidence of my scholarship
tomorrow, tor the Herdid."
On the morrow the so.called paper
evidence of MIR Brooks sufficient
learning arrived and was published
we giving II ana the writer all the
mild Endorsement they could possibly
warrant. We thought all settled. ex
cept that the teachers and some 9th.
ers might not be satisfied
But, next after the publication
came an acrimonious paper for publ
cation last week, in which the Herald
editor was the chief object OF attack
His manuscript was ANYTHING but
scholarly in style and design. as will
be seen from It's rerbdtim e EteratjO,
Ct SpcItatim Il punctuation copy IN the
Herald this week. OF course we saw
the article would damage his pros,
poets before the people and. as we
felt still pledged il possible to mend
the public breach toward him. We
wrote to him declining its publication
especially for these reasons Its pub.
lication will damage you with the Ell.
ucated public, and necessitate opr
publishing certain civil and army rec
ords which may overshadow yonr
name and fame among the masses
But, led by enemies if not BY some
evil nature OF his own, he persisted in
the publication of his personal arti-
Gle in the other county papers. and
we also print it this week.
As to any hurtful effect it may have
upon us, of course that is NOTHING
The reading and thinking thousands
in Grant County have formed onin.
ions of US not 10 be shaken bv winds
or undermined by flowing Brooks
That such general public mind has
strengthened in favor toward us each
year, during the more than twenty
years of our public service in Grant
County. we more than feel. We
know it, and know that no man who
lodged his country during the war,
that no man who ever lest himself for 4
Dribing and corrupting legislatures,
hat DO man who, during the war
stayed at home and demoralised the
wives of soldiers and took away the