The Hickman courier., 1872-02-24
rs the Kentucky Legislature
GOrrGPs!
Time CaIIed-EyIlI the Ken
IucEIan ReSp0nGs

Corrupt
Time CaIIed-gyIII the Ken
IucEIan Respond!
The Padueah Keptackion Of the goth,
in a self satisfied way, attempts to reply
to the Hickman COURIER, wherein We
called upon il to give some explanation
of its charges Of corruption against the
Kentucky Legislature. Its generalities
of rreekiug corruptions," fostering
ulcers" aud the like. may serve very
well to adorn literary composition, but
do not reach the point at issue. If ii
is sincere in its desire to expose cor
ruption, it should yield to our point,
to drag forth the guilty parties, and
expose them to the public. that the
honest democracy may send them
scourged and bowling from our camp
But it says, that while it belieres the
truth of these charges, it is not in posses
sion of legal proof Of the .ftsct. We
can pardon the Keatuckiaa for bringing
u case Of such grave and serious nature
into court knowing it could not produce
such all important evidence; and will
wave our REQUEST Tor it to make these
charges good by proof, or the condition
ihat it viii specify the Senators aud Rep
resentatiyes accused of such foul dis
honor Surely, if 1.-THE atmosphere IS
filled with such rumors of corruption, -
the KentacEtaa can name names Let
him speak it as it was told to him, and
set down naught in malice. We appeal
to the people, and to the Democracy, if
it is not called upon to do this much ?
Since these rumors have assumed such
palpable shape as to win the Jclief Of
the Kentuckton and to excite It's eloquent
pen to an effort to arouse the people to a
sense of the corruption existing, it
should fly to the privilege of naming
the accused. To say that "some n,ent-
bars" of the Kentucky Legislature are
corrupt, is too broad, too general, too
indefinite, and confuses any effort to-
wards obtaining a committee of inyesti-
CATION. Which member of the Senate
or House, acknowledging himself assail-
ed. shall arise in his seat and demand a
committee of Investigation There
being no particular member or members
accused, how would a committee of
investigation proceed ? Would it com
mence with the.alpbabet and go through
with the 100 Representatives and Sc
Senators, searching and prying into the
record and private transactions of each.
in order to ferret out few guilty
What an endless, hopeless, useless, aud
expensive task, for body esteeming
itself honorable, to impose upon itself
and all for the sake of mere 17tmor-
a suspicion-which 70 man has had the
courage to back under his own signature
Il IS, in our judgment, unreasonable, to
expect the Legislature, or any other
honorable body, to pursue such course
of distrust toward each other We take
it that democratic people do not desire
TO condemn their chosen democratic
Representatives, unless upon some sub
stantiaI evidence. IF there are Repre-
sentatiyes who are guilty of having been
bribed, who have stopped to such dis
honor as to sell the voice of their people,
we earnestly trust the matter may be
probed, il order that the Indignation Of
an outraged constituency may fall with
fail weight upon them but our sense of
justice, outside of any party feeling,
recoilsat the idea of condemning men,
chosen by aud endorsed as honorable by
their people, unheard, without trial, aud
without the shadow of responsible evil
dence. It is the worst form of assassi-
nation, thus TO stab the honor and good
name of public servants, by mere in
situation and intimatons None feel,
or will admit more readily than we, the
honorable purpose of the Kentuckian,
aud feeling thus, none more regret its
inconsiderate course. Even as the noble
Brutus was influenced to strike the fatal
wound for what he thought was his couu-
try's good, do we believe the Keatuckidn
IS now made to assist in stabbing the
Representatives of its own party; and
well might they exclaim in the anguish
Of disappointed confidence,
1t tu, Brute?
Let far minded people examine this
rule of condenning honorable bodies upon
mere Suspicion Who in time have not
heard Masonic, Odd Fellows, Good Tenn
plars and in fact every Legislature since
time whereof runneth not to the contra
~, suspicioned of corruption? Indeed,
it is somewhat the fashion of the times,
where hotly contested issues are decided,
to handy such insinuations from one side
to the other, which are mainly attributable
to the excitements and prejudices of the
hour, and generally should be permitted |
to die with the excitement which gave
them birth. This, weswould fain believe,
is the condition of our present Demo
cratic Legislature iu regard to the cor
ruptions charged.
But let US examine the grounds upon
which the Kenfuckidn bases its charges
Of corruption, and see if they are suffi
cient to induce democratic journal tlrus