Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1871-02-10
Shameful vill;ncation.

other feelings than those, of regret
and detcsta,ion, the disposition
manifested by portion of the po
.itical press to overwhelm candi-
dates for position whom they do not
favor, with not only maliciously I'M
truthful accusation, but with floods
of vile abuse and personal deEama-
ton. The precedent which sane
tons this kind of thing between the
opposing political parties is such as
no decent journalist should follow,
but when the warfare of falSehood
and vituperation is wagcd against
men who have enjoyed the conf
dcnce and respect of the party to
which the rcvilcr processes to be-
long, it simply becomes infamous.
1t has no shadow of justification Ell
ther in considerations of policy or
Justice, and is difficult to account
for on any hypothesis consistent
with a desire for the good Of the
party or of the public.
Of this character is al article in
the Marshall Times Of recent date,
the title Of which is suggestive Of
the animus of the writer: ''One
Candidate for Governor Shclvcd."
1t is most unjustiiable and mali
cious attack upon the character and
record of Hon. John "A. Elliott, late
Auditor of State, in which that gen
tleman is designated as ga villain as
deem and black rs the ycricst thief
at Fort Madison, a d as deserving
as any of them Of sharing their cap
tivity; man as destitute of honor
as common blacklug." This harsh
Judgment is based on Mr.. Elliott's
alleged influence i'll securing the
passage of the present insurance
law of the State, by which liberal
fees are put into the pockets Of the
Auditor; and also on charge that
while Auditor he farmcd out the
funds of the State to the banking
institutions of Des Moincs, recciv-
ing large amounts in interest there
for. No proof is brought to sub
stantiatc these charges, neither, we
are well assured, can any be produ-
ced, but they serve the purpose of
forming vantage ground to--as
indicated in the title of the Times
article-shelvc a candidate for Gov
ernor. Now, Mr.. Elliott is not our
candidate for Governor. We have
heretofore expressed the opinion
and still adhere to it, that if the 9th
District shall unite on a representa-
tive man she is entitled to the Gov
ernorship. But we have known Mr..
Elliott both in his official position
and as private citizen long and
well, and we do not feel like letting
so fragrant and outrageous IN attack
upon him pass without a protest.
Mr.. Elliott was for three succeed |
ing terms elected as Auditor of
State, during which time not wills
per against his honor or integrity
has been heard from friend or foe. |
At the expiration of this period of
six years, he left the office with the
public debt virtually cxtinguishcd,
plenty Of money in the treasury and
the financial condition of Iowa in a
better condition than that of any
other State. This record might |
serve as al Offset to the unsupport-
ed charges Of parties who have a
purpose to ">hclvc candidate for
Governor" but we are not compell-
Ell to rely upon it alone. We have
taken some pairs to get true state
mcnt OF the facts in regard to these |
charges, and viii! lay them before
our readers.
In his report to the 18th General
Assembly, NJ. Elliott called the at
tention of that BODY to the loosencss
and insut1iciency Of our insurance
laws, and urged the enactment OF
those better calculated to give pro-
lection to the public, and to sound |
and reliable companies. These sng-
gestions the Legislature proceeded
to act upon at once. \ committee
on insurance was appointed in each
House, who conformity reported the
present law. Insurance men repre-
scnting home and. foreign compan-
les were invited to take part in the
deliberations Of this committee, and
did so. Mr.. Elliott was repeatedly
solicited to be present at these con
situations, but never attended any
Of their meetings. The law is large
ly copied from those of New York
and Ohio. Among the provisions
thus copied is that relating to fees,
penalties, dc. This provision was
freely discussed in the committee
and in both lIonscs. The same pro-
vision has been adopted by Wiscon-
sin, Illinois and Missouri. At that
time the salaries Of the Secretary Of
State and Auditor were smaller than |
those Of the other State officers, and |
the fees arising from notarial COM
missions, certificates, &C., in the one
case, and the insurance fees in the
other, were expressly allowed to
those officers in compensation for
the deficiency in their salaries. The
question Of fees was fully discussed