American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-03-23
General A. N. West.

General 4. NJ. West, of this State.
was a delegate TO the Labor Con-
v"ht'"t, thar recently met at Column
bus, OHIO. In abiding to the matter,
tss Columbus, Miss, Democrat com
ments DIS follows:
Judging rum the character and calibre of
W. "cir,1te from tins State. one n. II. West.
thi- onventiou must have been ,are gather
la, 81 political adventures, with about rs
t""-'h c''im to the couf-ieuce aud suppOr, of
tire '1ir.ring class many Toom!,s shvs-
iei- "es' has cabbled in politics aid rail-
road enterprises in this Sta e, and tl.ose who
Knew h.D. pronounce him of the most I'M
miitgatcd OF ium5u-s, whose elevation TO pub
lie po>ii'cns can be attributed only to the
k,wer OF au inpuden, e that reaches the sub
liuse.''
1t Is not often that we feel called
upon to take issIe with our esteemed
contemporary, but in this instance
we cannot but express our entire
dissent from a criticism that we are
very sure would have been more
kinu wortied had the writer ever
met the subject of his remarks, and
looked INTO the m;i::ly face of the
energetic AID patriotic old man, who
WAS the architect of his own fortune,
amt who always has IL kind word for
tue fai ei1ig, and Il helping hand for
the needy.
Gen1 West, like all seIf.ma,le men.
.'eriaps a little vain; vet if vanii Y
Is a fault, We believe it to he the
.'iie;aa and 'front.' of his offending.
lie catered upon his career a poor
nocfing boy with !, dependent
mother to support, and starting at
the ladders foot has fought his way
D.; hoaest. rugged toll OF hand and
Dfail, from poverty and ins gnifi-
Ga ice, to competence aud distinct ion.
Claiming to he II .'Laboring man.
and, l'Ioud of his origin. it was not
surprising that lie sought to take
part IN what purported to be an as
sehloiaSe of labOiing men proteStio
against the outrageous burdens
beai'ed upon labor by the present
ADMINISTRATION, rather than poit-
lc;u convention; and if as member
OF That body lie favored the nominal
ton ola Labor Il sorn ticket. he was
Observation-Disclosures for the best in
tercsts vi the country or otherwise
by motives us pure as those OF the
n.en who i'll the days of the Revolu-
tiu:i declared taxation without re-
presentation robbery and rebelle,l
against il.
Genl West, whatever his present
status as politician may be, is Ger
tdiniy worthy OF IL proutier title than
that OF ..dabbier in Railroad enter
priseS.7 AS a member OF the Legis
laturc in the golden age Of the Com
Iloawes.itii, he was justly regarded
as the champion of progress, and
took IA leading part in the Legislation
chat resulted in giving the STATE
the three great lines that are now
her main reliance. the MOI. & GIN.
the II. 4 o., and Miss. Central, and
to the building, rebuilding and main
tainance of the latter, lie has given
the best years OF his life, and to the
Presidency Of which he has beer
elected term after term, by men who
have but little use for s'Railroad
dabblers.1
The Columbus Democrat is not one
of those journals whose penchant is
to personal abuse, and we are con
fislent that it has been grossly mis-
informed with regard to our illIstli
Ois fellOw-citizen; hence we SPEAK
NOT for the purpose of detendin.
one who presents a spotless recOrt
when ietractiOn seeks a target-buI
simply as the representative o
thousands who know the Genera
we'll and esteem him as the pOssessOl
Of very many noble and manly quail
ities-whO know him as man o
intellect, energy, skill and integrity
We copy the aboKe from the Aber
deem Examiner for the purpose o
giving it our full endorsement. Ou
friend WOrthingtOn is simply mis-
taken in his man. He does no
know General WEST at all, or tn,
above paragraph would never have
married his columns.