Mower County transcript., 1871-07-06
Il Dcgr:t<lrsi .7uiC:,ai.
Hoacsty only a Negative Virtue.

it won'i l." entirely unnecessary for u
'Sa'" lay bare to the public gaz
It's real character AS the paid orya
Of the forty thieves who have robbie,
the treasury for the last tc
years, it was we'll known, and the dir t
;disgraceful work which it has done j,
upholdins those criminals, during al
the time its editor hnew they wcr
stealing, is also subject of publ
notoriety. Tho malicious. lying, per
sonal attacks it has kept mp year attc
year upon those who have hbored t.
rid Mower county Of this gang o
dcspcradoes are also matter Of histor
and are we'll remembered These ar
a few Of the many things which unde
its old leadership sunk that paper t.
the very bottom of journalistic infamy
and reduced its influence to zero. A
the close of last falls campaign, whe'
the long career of crime of its friend
eliminated in the great election frauds
which declared its bogus boiling
mongrel ticket elected, there was no
an honest, upright man in Mower
county whom it could honestly cal
friend. It's criminal record was closed
1t was hated anl dcspiscd of all men
Nor would We now devote a mo-
mcEts time to its consideration were it
no. that, in struggling vain effort tc
recover its lost prestige and patronage
it is sending out emissarics to proclaim
that it has reformed its principles
under new management and will NO
longer discard the sentiments Of public
houcsty. For no personal reason, but
as public duty we owe to the honest
citizens of this county we now propose
to prove from its own utterances that
the Austin Register under its new
leadership places the same low estimate
upon public virtue and honesty that it
ever has done, and is as ready to-day
as ever to labor to promote corrup-
tionists to places of public trust. We
quote verbatim from its own language
used last week with regard to Gov.
Austin. Read it tax ridden citizens
of Mower county, and see what kind Of
man is now pleading for your patron
age. OF the Gov. the Register said {:
"His staunchcst friends claim
for him no decided ability or any
peculiar fitness for the Office except
HONESTY" Is this quality so scarce
in the State that it cannot be found in
combination with LESS NEGATIVE
VIRTUES? Is there no available man
in the Republican ranks who could
carry with him to tho gubcrnatorial
chair some characteristics Of states
man other than tho ABILITY TO KEEP
HIS HANDS OUT OF THE PUBLIC
?"
Honesty IN public officer IS then a
negative r,rtuc? The ability to keep
ones hands ont Of the public treasury as
also u Negative uirtue as At?
Hero then is the whole character of
the Austin Register in a nut shell. 1t
don't want a Governor nor any other
public officer with any such "ncgatirc
utrtuc' as honesty. In this respect it
is consistent. 1t has never wanted any
such men fer Office and when any such
have been nominated it has habitually
boltcd them and given its supports to
democrats as it did last fall. Its aid
has always been given and it appears
will continue to be given to men of
pcs;t;'rc rirtuc such virtues as will
enable them to enrich themselves, and
their newspaper friends out of the
public treasury. Poor broken down
Horace Austin lie can't have the
support OF the Austin Register because
he is honest. He possesses no such
':virtues" as Sylvester Smith, Harvey
Allen, Soloman Snow, J.c Roy Hatha-
way and Aaron s. Everest and others
of the old ring. If he did he could rest
quiet with the assurance that his exc
cutivc career was entirely satisfactory
to the new editor and that he would
receive from him the cncomium "wcll
done good and faithful servant" The
motto Of the Register, then is-':DowN
WITH HONESTY, GIVE US OFFICERS
WHO CAN STEAL WE WANT MEN
OF POSITIVE VIRTUES"