The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-02-23

NVHL eiA uoASAs o&o ~ VOC AuiAOA-
ed, remarks the st. Louie Republican
that Ex-C Congressman w. u. Stoke,
of Tennessee, had been guilty of d.
vers and sundry practices, such IS
are usually classed under the general
lead of-rascality 'a7 La 81 ~
o. The representatives Of prominent
journals took hold of the business,
and worked it UP so thoroughly as to
convince every imp artial reader of
the reports, that the aforesaid honor
rable gentleman, was not only BO
bettcrthaf he ought to BE-, but con-
sidcrably worse. In short, he .was
tried aud convicted before the bar of
public opinion, and so numerous aud
well established were The facts in the
case, that few believed the man
would have the impudeucc to deny
them. But STOKES, like the most of
his ilk, has a great contempt for
newspapers, and he accOl dinghy arose
in his wrath and denounced them one
and all as q pack of, liars, who, for
some unknown reason, had vented
their malice upon an innocent and
lnonending man in whom there was
not the smallest suspicion of guile.
Ills outraged virtue and unapprecia.
ted patriotism were duly paradel
before the country, and with the Dig
nificd confidence of ARIsTIDEs, afres-
ted for sheep stealing, he appealed to
the courts for vindication.
= And STOKES having had his desire
gratitied, has come to grief. Fiji
The criminal court of the District
of Columbia prepared bill of in
dictment against him for receiving
money for prosecuting claims against
the government while member Of
Congress-said claims being fraudu-
lent. After careful and impartial
investigation, in which the accused
had the benefit of abundant cash and
able counsel, verdict of guilty was
rendered, and the criminal now
awaits the sentence OF. the law. sa2r
From the evidence produced it ap-
pears that the much-abused newspa-
pers did not tell half the story.
STOKES principal operation consisted
in obtaining bounties for band of
self-denying heroes who, it was al
legged, had served the nation faithful
ly, and fought bled and died for our
glorious Union in most magnificent
style. Fortunately the prosecution
managed to get hold of the Captain of
this company, and being put upon
tile stand he proceeded to tell Of how
aud of what it was composed. The
gallant Captain - BEATr,- elected
himself commander of an organiza-
tion which. had no existence; issued
his own commission, and ran things
generally on the strictly Independent
line. The rank and file consisted of
one woeden-legged veteran, and a
small boy 10 do errands. This was
the entire force in whose behalf
STOKES sympathies~were enlisted,
and for whom he attempted TO pro-
cure bountics belonging to sixty-f0ur
men. Much has been said about the.
ragged crew who followed fat Fal-
staff 10 the. wars, but how do they
compare with the noble army which
STOKES led TO victory? 7s-g.sio sIsa
Now, genius of this sort ought, by
no means, 10 lose its reward, and we
trust nothing will occur to rob
STOKES OF the laurels he has so brave
ly won. But he is distinguished
Ridical has represented Tennessee
in the national legislature, been can
didato for governor, and is political
power in that state. Can the presi-
dent who pardoncd bigamous BowES
turn a deaf car to the, entreatics Of
swindling SToKEs?. We are afraid
not, aud it is highly probable that
instead Of being in the penitentiary,
the ex-eongressman will be stamping
Tcnne ssec for GEANT and CoLFAx
next summer has u4eraH 5ya7' 9i1l