Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1871-10-27
SOMEWHAT PERSONAL. ~

= II
The Press and Herald, of yesterday, UNI
der the above caption, has column
and half, signed Publishers
Press and Herald" which is a bitter at
tack upon one of the editors of the CHRoN-
FCLE, who has been absent from the city
few days. On Tuesday morning, that jour-
nal, in commenting on the charges recent
ly made against the Public Printers at
Nashville, saw fit, in the depths of their
"stupid malice" to speak of the CHRoNI-
CLE.as being ''mercenary.p We hurled the
charge back into the cowardly face of the
writer, and cited few instances going, as
we thought, to show that the charge came
from ''mercenaryp sheet. The charge of
being mercenary we regarded as offensive
~ personal, and. though unpleasant to US,
we retorted, in a somewhat personal "
style. They come back over the signature
of Publishers of Press and Herald" in
which they meet q portion of the charges
made by us, and seek to cover others by
malignant attack on one of the editors of
this journal, now absent, but WHO'S amply
able to speak for himself when present,
and any defense from us is unnecessary.
They deny having published Radical pa
per at Chattanooga, but fail to explain
how they could publish a Conservative or
Democratic paper, while one Of them a0dS
q member of the Union League. They al
so fail to state, how Conservative, Demo-
cratic paper could conscientiously support
John Anderson for the Legislature, as he
was fully committed to the Brownlow ad-
ministration, and supported, heart and
soul, the disfranchising policy of the Ra-
dical party. They published letter from
Hon. w. P. Rathburn, of Chattanooga, in
which that gentleman says he had no re-
collection of a conversation in which one
of the manages claimed the sup
port of Northern men, saying that
it was true he published Demo-
cratic paper, but it was a matter
ofbusiness with him, that he was Re-
publican at heart. 1t will be seen that he
doesn't recoLect. In the multiplicity OF
business, Mr.. Rathburn might have for
gotten it. With regard to obtaining pat
ronage from Governor Brownlow's Adj
ministration, we may have been misin-
formed, but if they didn' get it it was not
because they failed to make an effort. The
fact that Sam. Ramage Joined the Union
League about that time convinces us that
we are correct in saying they at least at
tempted to get patronage from the State
Government, and intimated that they
~, n ,oro,oor +;,,oo Ia oil irrb no
litically. Nevertheless, if we, after inves-
tigation, shall find that we have misrepre
scented any one of these men, we will make
whatever reparation may be in our power.
But itnow devolves upon us to perfor m
an unpleasant duty. Though this publ
cation comes to us over the signature of
publishers Press and Herald, u it is evil
IDENTIFY the production of the editor, as was
the editorial of Tuesday morning charac-
terizing the CHRONICLE as "mercenary."
Now he who would be connected with a
'.mercenary press'' is destitute of honesty,
integrity, or any other quality which rem
ders man what his Creator intended him.
No charge can be more offensive to an edi-
tor a publisher than to say he is "mer-
cenary.n The charge, though malicious,
nersonal attack upon our character as jour
nalists, will do us no harm. we natter
ourselves, that those who know us best VIII
acouit us of such an accusation, without a
moments hesitation. But who is it that
makes such charge? It is the same
man. who in 1864, when gaunt hunger
occasioned by the war, was staring por-
ton of our people in the face, and public
meeting was held to devise means for sup
plying the necessities of the destitute,
managed to get himself appointed chair
man of committee to raise funds and