The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-06-06
CHAR LES TON
SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE 6, 1858.
@IconCclasm."

] The Charleston Mercury evidently values
the enotoriety attachingfto the first class ad-
vertisements Of that journal, which have e
recently appeared in the editorial column
of TIE NEWS; and fearful lest we should
drop the fail it again manifests that species
Of spasmoiic vitality which results from an
application of the galvanic battery to the
nervous system of the dead.
It's. articles of impeachment against TIE
NEWS are three: First, Inconsistency;
Second, Improper criticism; Third, 'sIcono-
clasm." A few words will dispose of each
Of these charges.
/. The record of The NEWS has been clear
and unvarying. Whenever occasion has
called for praise or rebuke, it has bestowed
-either with just and unsparing hand.
Alive to the necessity Of progress, we have
aimed to foster its spirit, to point out the
means whereby local changes might. be
effected with the greatest advantage, and to
| decry abuses, whatever their grade, char
acter, or cause. When General CANDY
issued his order for the removal Of the
Council Board, it was not until after The
News had led off in outspoken animadver-
sion of the measure that the cautiously
pugnacious Mercury saw fit to express
similar views. And as consistency is the
jewel to which the Mercury lays especial
claim, it may well be asked: How long is
it since that journal became the advocate
and apologist of the National Democracy?
How long is it since independence of party
alliance and freedom from party restric-
tions, was the outcry heard from its cita-
del. Verify, we may well exclaim to the
fellow-auferers in our beleaguered Troy
siBeware of the Wooden Horse"
2. The NEWS is charged with improper
criticism. If the time has arrived when
plain practical truths cannot be uttered in
a Charleston journal-truths that are recog-
nized by the people and come home to the
heart and the pocket of an overburdened
ta1-psying community; if obsolete measures
and existing evils cannot be denounced and
reforms suggested, without evoking the
abuse of contemporaries, then good bye to
theindependence ofjournalism, and the conf
dence itmay inspire. Weyield to none in our
respect for the ability and uprightness Of
the estimable gentlemen who we're removed
from the Council Board; but to say that the
city government under their administration
has been the acme of perfection, and be-
yond the reach of reform, would be an un-
truth, which no sentiment of personal re-
gard could justify. These gentlemen are
not responsible for the mass of ordinances
made for another day and generation, but
now an useless incubus. They may not be
responsible for the "Augean Stable" that
exists, or the ssnuisances" that demand re-
form. Thanks to them, they have done
much that was progressive, even in the last
six months; but that newspaper must be
dumb, lest in discussing a measure it may
chance to offend an individual, is simply
absurd. We leave that policy to the care
full Mercury.
3. Itis charged that we have no reverence
for the things of the=past If it will suit
the purpose of the Mercury, we repeat that
"we are sick of the everlasting humbug
that talks and does nothing" We veuerate
the memory of The live, progressive, earnest
men of bygone times, who made South Caro-
lima great and respected, and who, if living
to. day, would be the head and front of the
great changes that have been enforced by
the rude DEGREES of war. The illustrious
names of CALHOUN, HAMPTON, BUTLER,
PRESTON, HAYSE, McDrrFIE, SUMTER, RrT-
LEDGE and A1oULTRIE-the living and the
dead-shine in history as the advance guard
Of that spirit of progress which the Mercury
yainly combats. The time has passed when
men can prop themselves solely on the rep
utation of their forefathers. Brain and
Drawn, nowadays, are the weapons Of the
worlds struggle, and labor is alike honora
ble-whether it be performed by the soft
hand Of him who has been Graded and
reared in luxury, and who now dares to
encounter the ridicule Of those who stand
aloof and prate of "tradilion," or by the
harder palm of the mechanic who, from
boyhood, has earned his bread by the sweat
of his brow. These are the men who shape
public opinion to-day, and to whom alone
we look to achieve our prosperity in the
future.