Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1871-11-01
SOMEWHAT PERSONAL,

The Press and Herald, of yesterday, UNI
der the above caption, has n column
and half, signed Publishers
| Press and Herald,n which is a bitter at
| tack upon one of the editors of the CHRoN-
| ICLE, who has been absent from the city a
| 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,n to speak of the CHROME
| CIEias being "mercenary.o We hurled the
charge back into the cowardly face of the
writer, and cited q few instances going, as
we thought, to show that the charge came
from "mercenary" 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 a
malignant attack on one of the editors of
this journal, now absent, but who is amply
able to speak for himself when present,
and any defense from us is unnecessary.
They deny having published a Radical pa
per at Chattanooga, but fail to explain
how they could publish a Conservative or
Democratic paper, while one of them tCds
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 DISTINGUISHING 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 conversation in which one
of the manages claimed the sup
it was true he published Demo-
cratic paper, but it was matter
of business with him, that he was Re-
publican at heart. 1t will be seen that he
doesn't reooUect. 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't 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
would at the proper time be all right po-
litically. Nevertheless, if we, after inves-
tigation, shall find that we have misrepre
sented any one of these men, we will make
whatever reparation may be in our power.
But it now devolves upon us to perform
an unpleasant duty. Though this publ
cation comes to US over the signature of
publishers Press and Herald" 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 pressn is destitute of honesty,
integrity, or any other quality which ssren-
ders man what his Creator intended him.
No charge can be more offensive to an edi-.
t<N-N icl. L. T.
cenary." The charge, though a malicious,
personal attack upon our characters as jour-
nalists, will do us no harm. We fatter
ourselves, that those who know us best will
acquit us of such an accusation, without a
moments hesitation. But who is it that
makes such a charge 1t 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
gather aims for the relief the poor In
that capacity he proceeded to collect sew
eral hundred dollars in money. But, not
withstanding he was importuned on divers
occasions, by George M. White, Esq, our
present City Recorder, and others he never
accounted for the money, but kept it and,
SO far as we or the people are informed,
applied it to his own use. We can give
the names of other gentlemen of like high
character with Mr.. White, who are eogni-
zant with the facts.
A year or two ago, one of his clients APP
piled to an attorney in this city, whom he
now delights to misrepresentan and traduce, to
prosecute him for a fraudulent breach of
trust, and to move to strike him from the
roll of attorneys, for converting his clients
funds to his own use. Had the law been
enforced against him, he would now be
paying the penalty of his crime in the
State prison, instead of traducing honest
men, and making false accusations in re-
ference to "a mercenary press"