Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1873-03-06
E CITY ELECTfON.

Ing eicctioH yesucruay, III tnlS city
was nearly drawn battle. Ihi
ought not to have been so. The Re
publican party was really never strong
or in the city than it was in this fight
The vote on the general ticket shows
this clearly. Mayor Orr's majority
reaches l48 and we elect by handsome
mojorities the Treasurer and Assessor
losing the Solicitor, most excellent
RAN and attorney.
The defeat of the latter gentleman
grew out of personal pique against
him, entertained by some Republicans
and they worked against him with all
their might. We are very sorry for
his defeat, but no other gentleman can
take defeat more serenely than McNeti
and we feel sure that he is the less
hurt party as between him and the
Republicans who fought him.
The old council was against us and
now by the election of four Demo-
cratic trustees the council stands two
Republicans and six Democrats
While we had large majority in the
4th Ward, we lost our trustee there by
a complete stampede of Republicans
to the Democrats. The I'd and Sd
Wards had both of them fair working
Republican majorties but both these
were lost by three votes. This is be-
cause Republicans failed to stand by
their candidates. We would not deal
in any unkind words on this account
but simply say we deplore such action !;
we do not deplore it altogether because
of present defeat, but we fear that in
the 4th Ward at least, il has bred very
unhealthy detection that will not east
ly be healed. 1t is hard at any time to
keep the vote at city election true to
party lines; this one seems to have
been remarkably free and easy in this
regard SO far as Republicans were
concerned. These little failures do a
party good sometimes, and to see the
election of three trustees against us
when we should have had all Of them,
shows that Republicans were luke
warm. Further, the fact that not half
the actual vote of the city was polled,
indicstes how wanting in interest our
voters were, and when light vote is
thrown, Republicans are always the
sufferers.
The Democracy were particularly
vindictive upon Major John S. Wood
and John j. Willard. Ignoring their
recent recruits, Scheffer, Brady, &C.,
they could not see how man could
conscientiously leave their ranks. They
said that these men changed SO recent
ly that they could not be honest in it.
1t is true that they did nj Ike the
Liberal Democracy go in to get up the
Cincinnati convention in May last, for
it was not their put in, they come in
later by, say about three months when
their cause therefor first arose, viz:
the nomination of Horace Greeley by
the Democracy at Baltimore, July 9th.
Both these gentlemen did most eff
cient work yesterday, and though Mr..
Willard has been defeated and coun-
Gil elected opposed to the Major, yet
these gentlemen stand heartily and
faithfully by their colors and only
await another fight with their once
old friends, but now new found par
ticular enemies. In view of this fact,
we are sorry for our Republican friends
who caught up and reiterated the cry
of Democracy against these men and
went back upon nine-tenths of she Re-
publican party to beat them. s.