Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1872-11-20
JUSTICE dxnrLxnm5usr1cH

d-xnrLKnEn5usr1cn
Missouri hay suffered such injustice rst this
OF SANDER and misrepresentation a I
,ur Own. Ever since the breaking OUT l
II the war, and long before, in fact, It has ]
,sen fndustrieuAy hsid up - the hot bed /
Il fawlesssess Of every d~eseriptiou. 1t was Z
'npposed 70 be the headquarters Of border {
At the time Of the Kansas difficult /
les. During tho war it was regarded as the
0unlain head Of secession, and the peculiar
rhackers, aud since the collapse OF the re-
'eliiou in Us has enjoyed the reputation of
,e!ag the most intracta5le and seditions Sec
ION of the entire State. Yet notw ithstand-
this bad repute SO long continued. we
'ay without hesitation that the people Of La
'ayette county have MT been and are not
low behind any of their %neighbors far or
lear in Intelligence, in industry ant enter
prise, In reverence for law, love Of justice
in uniformly orderly conduct. Ayexa-
tious perveraitytof fortune not unfrequently
keeps good man under the tongue Of re-
prcsch a long time. 1t would not be At all
difficult to point o. the causes that have
conspired to blacken the fair name aud fame
Of Lafayette .rounty. A Few hst bloods
the Kansas troubles, who did not
ons nitieth part ofthe population,
made just enough noise and did just enough
Tn attract the attention OF the
xvi,cI, lli,.Ily mi,tpok them for rem l
resentatives Of the entire community. 1t
was somewhxt iu the same way we got lie
reputation OF being such a terrible secession
county. In the election Of p..mbers 10 the
in the sprinr VI 81 Union dele
gates were chosen b, Il large majority, show
ing the of our people on that ques-
ton. Whrh the conflict OF arms came, it can-
not 81 denied that q majority sided with the
south, but such As took up arms did it IN =
legitimate way, enlis,ing in the reSular
armies. or the bushwhackers and ma
RAIDERS, who committed their dspredations
here, - large majority were from abroad, but
few sous Of Lafayette participating In this
disrcputable method OF warfare. The
close OF the war found a handful of Radical
unionists and prOscriptionists arrayed in
feeling and interest against the great mass OF
the people Of the county. That such an insig-
nincant minority should he permitted to rule
unresIsted, was not to be expected. The
Democrats, composed of conservative union
men and rebels, endeavored to get control OF
public affairs. This the minority resisted
bitterly, and finally the militia Of the state
was sent to their aid. Seeing that to persist
in the attempts to manage their own affairs
would renew civil strife. The people quietly
submitted, aud for seven years loss than one
sixth Of the adult male population had al
most undisputed control Of everything con-
nected with the government OF the county.
During this time the most important Meas
ures were carried out. Immense subscrip-
ions to railroads were made. aud y prOdigi-
Gus public debt accumulated upon the county.
The property holders in the meanwhile look
ed on and saw this terrible burden hsaped up
OH them, powerless to do aught but complain,
and their complaints would have been short
lived, if there had been any adequate return
for the immense expenditures made. But
when they saw their money poured out like
water TO enrich a few greedy adventures.
while the enterprises for which that money
was voted were left to languish and die, II
isnot wonderful that Indignation, fierce and
strong broke out all over the county and tina,
men began to inquire anxioIsiy Of each other
what car be done to check this torrent OF
ruin? Yet for doing what they would
have been less than men for not doing. we
are sorry to say that many proftsssd friend.
~ e1a ,snrIn .1npoun,aI tIam ~ ltureosnNa.
bic grumblers, old fosies and opponents Of
public enterprise. Yet this is the sum and
! substance OF all the difl :ulties that have bad
any real existence in our midst. The peo.
Pile SIMPLY said to certain Of these all but
selc.elccted officers: '.You have deceived us
in the specious name Of public Improvement
you have robbed and p%lundered us until we
can stand it no longer. and are determined
to DO rid Of you, before you have altogether
ruined u.s." And they did strain to get rio
OF them, by appealing to the Legislature
That appeal was f~ruitless, mare than anything
else OH account of tho machinations OF thos'
same prefts.ed friends Of the people. The,
then made personal appealsto obnoxious par
ties to get out OF the way. These were like
wise ~disrcgarded. and it seemed that the in
cubus could not be shaken on. III alter al
this, certain ominou< warnings were throw
out. bile no approval, at least no surprise cal
| be expressed thcreat. But. as we said las
t week, we do not believe there existed an.
E design on the part Of any considerable por
: ton of the people to proceed to extremes
l and are certain that if any such ever existc'
I the sober second thought has induced Its OF
Iyinators to abandon 1t forever. Tie peopl
. of this county haze not up to this ddfe hurt
, hair of q Jingle one OF those who have S
grievously wronged then, and will not unles
? BY the sanction Of the law. Those who hav
suffered have been tho people's defender
y We make this appeal to the papers through
I out the state, that they shall do US justice
I W. notice in too many Of them articles th'
in aicats all opinion that y state Of anarch
pre-, ills here. What we want understood
that the Great mass Of our people are homes
, industrious. lawabiding citizens, fully capabl
E of managing tl:sir " affair. in a psaccabl'
: lawful manner i. let alone, and that any IT
ports to the effect tnat mobocracy prevail
l mere are false and sia0de-ous.
WELLINGTON l"EMS.