The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1872-10-17
LETTER FROM SENATOR HAH
Lam.
s.sae's stale slaaasr squsieh.a.

LETTER FROM SENATOR HAR.
Lam.
stsne's stale slandsr sauslehsd.
From the Des Moines Republican.
\ WASHINGTON, d. c., Oct. 4.
Dear Sir y ours Of the 3Oth, ult.,
enclosing the following slip, which
you tell me was clipped from the Van
Buren county Democrat, has been re-
ceived, viz: T
| TAKING CARE OF SOLDIERS WIDOWS.
| One of the resolutions of the Phila-
delphia platform says: s'The widows
and orphans of those who died for the
country are entitled to the care of a
generous and grateful people,"
In his speech at Keosauqua, last
| Monday evening, Gov. Stone read the
following letter from the Hon. and
Rev. James Harlan, now Chairman OF
the resident Grant committee at Wash
ington, to a soldiers widow, who Il
postmistress Of q small Office in this
State:
madam :- Believing that you feel
a deep interest in the success of the
Republican candidate for President,
and Vice President, we take the liber-
ty to enclose the committees letter, re-
questing contributions to aid in pub
fishing documents and defraying 9TH
er necessary expenses of the campaign.
If you can forward forty GAO as early
as practicable, it will be gratefully re-
ceived and acknowledged promptly.
| Very respectfully,
| JAMES HARLAN
The whole business of political as
sessments is scandal and o disgrace,
but when it comes to taking forty dol
lars from soldiers widow, to help
keep Grant in the White House four
years more, it is worse than scandal !;
it is mean beyond expression. Verify
these followers of Grant, not only steal
the public treasury empty, to keep
themselves in Office, but they would
4sdevour widows houses" and take the
bread away from the orphans.
And Harlan who claims to be min
lister Of the gospel, says it is we'll
anything to beat Greeley.
The pretended letter as above print
q
by the New York Tribune, and i'm
mediately properly branded in the
Chronicle. The Tribune reiterated its
first statements, to which the Chroni-
Gle responded by authority, as fol-
lows:
MR. GREELEY AND HIS MassAcHusErTs
WIDOW. .s1ssl9
Several days since Mr.. Greeley's pa
per published all editorial fabrication
about nameless widow in Massachu-
setts. 1t asserted that she was a
J" that she held a sssmall
ONCE e that sheswss. q poor soldiers
widow that she had Abeen "assessed
forty dollars" by the resideut Repub-
lican committee, to aid in keepifk
Grant in power, and printed as proof
of Its statement, what purported' to be
q letter over the name of James Har-
Ian, Chairman
1t denounced the committee in
strong terms, for attempting to op-
press this poor soldiers widow by an
assessment for political purposes. We
hypocrisy Of Mr.. GreeIeys spokesmaanna, ana
and stated that no such letter had been
addressed by this. committee to any
widow of any sort residing in or out
of Massachusetts, which would have
been demonstrated by publication Of
the whole letter, if genuine with the
actual address which it bore on its
face.
In reply the Tribune roundly asserts
| that
"The letter was addressed Just as we
have said, and we published the whole
of it except the names of the office
and the incumbent. Why, asks Mr..
Harlan's paper, does the Tribune keep
back these? Because we know very
well that the postmistress would be
turned cut of her place for commu-
nicating hec wrongs to US if the Ad-
ministratioD knew who she was.r
To which we reply, adopting for
| once the personal style of the Tribune.
| "Oh. Horace!" this falsehood is as
| black as the original. If the letter
yon print is genuine communication
from the committee you mention, it
does not bear ''the name" fany ..wid-
ow, nor any feminine appellation. nor
word or syllable indicating that it
was intended to be sent to q woman,
| postmistress or otherwise. Ii genu-
inc, the letter commenced with the
the word "Sir," and you know it,
You did not therefore, drop the name
of this widow from the letter as you
assert, because we knew very well
that the postmistress would be turned
out of her place =
IL if the Administration
knew who she was.n You dropped
the actual address which the letter
bore because it was not q woman's
name at all-because it was addressed
to a masculine. You know that you
| withheld the address for the deliberate
purpose Of deceiving your readers and
making little cheap capital against
your opponent. Well may YOU dis
claim personal responsibility for the
utterarices of your organ.
! To which the Tribune was unable to
make any reply. "a
That Governor Stone could stoop SO
low Us to revamp the Irsbune's false
hood, and add an address, is enough
to make his old friends doubt whether
he was, in fact, innocent of the SWIM
dies so persistently charged upon him
for years by the Democratic party OF
Iowa.
! He undoubtedly knows that the Gree.
| ley party are publishing and circula.
ting millions Of campaign documents
he knows that they must be paid fol
by somebody; he knows that the mon.
ey is raised by contributions BY those
who desire Greeley's election; that he
has himself contributed either money
or work--probably both-to bring
about this result. He knows that thS
Greeley party would not reject q dona
ton from any one on account of beins
an office-hoider. He knows that office
holders have as much right to do wha
they please with their own as any one
If they wanted Greeley's election they
would contribute to that result by tn,
use Of all honorable means, precisely
like other people. He knows that
scomdn would have the same right {,
do so that man would have. III,
knows that high-minded and honora
. BILE lconea, who aspire to aid in ad
ministering the Government do no
! desire to be treated with less consider
alton than men. But il has SO happen
ed that the Republican Congressiona
/, and resident committees have not ad
dressed communications to anybod
. holding a small Office, male or femal,
: on the subject of finance, aad non
! whatever to any "Madame.' or sMiss,
! either in or out of office. Hence. / ca