Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-11-20
That Threatened Prosecution.

. That I .Ireatened Prosecution. q
The last half dozen issues of the
EUening Express have contained in
uendoes and charges against Mr..
BEAUDRY, which, though written with
total disregard for truth and for the
sole purpose of injuring him, will, we
think, as signally fail in that respect
as they will prove damaging to those
whose aspirations they are designed to
advance. When ajournal moved solely
by desire to protect the interests of
the community assumes the task of
accusing an individual of a crime and
of seeking to bring him to justice, it
deserves the thanks and encourage
ment of the public. But, on the other
hand, when a journal for the sole pur-.
pose and with the avowed intention
OF effecting some private end, as, for
example, the election of u friend or
relative to Office, or in consideration OF
a sum of money paid by tho enemies
of the man maligned, asserts that the
gentleman who happens to stand in
the way is guilty of criminal offense,
and skulks, like the assassin of private
character that it is, behind the excuse
that it intends to have him prosecuted,
instead of the gratitude, it is the repro
baton and disgust of all good citizens
that it excites. Compared with
such mode of attacking an opponent
or rival, ordinary billingsgate has
sweet and pleasant odor. In the arti-
cles referred to, the Express lets itself
down to a depth remarkable even for
that groveling journal. The public is
willing to accord much to filial anxi-
ETY.; it will even laugh at the writh-
ings and contortions of a time-serving
and bribe-taking acrobat; but it will
not pardon a brutal and groundless
attack upon one whom a short time
ago the Express itself ayowed one of
our most enterprising and public spir-
tied citizens. 1t may not be very
acute-this great public-but it is more
intelligent and just than the hired tool
of the ring is willing to accord it, and
it is not SO blind but it will
see that nothing has happened
save a little transaction be-
tween the Express and the ring,
which could change the high opinion
formerly entertained of Mr.. BEAUDRY
by that paper. AS for the details of
the charge which the Express is hired
to make against Mr.. BEAUDRY, it will
be time enough for him to put himself
on his defense when it carries out its
threats to have it's falsehood ventilated
by the Grand Jury carried into execu-
tion. In the meantime, anyone desirous
of adding one more falsehood brand to
the Express, can do SO by examining
the record in the case of DEs AUTELs
VS.. AMAT-the case on which the
whole tissue of falsehoods is based.
The seeker after information will
there find that the city was not inter
ested in the result Of the case-that
the land had been taken possession Of
and enclosed by Bishop AMAT some
six or eight years ago; that the con-
test was exclusively between Mr.. DEs
AUTELs and the Bishop, and that, had
the former failed to recover the land,
it would have remained in the hands
Of the Bishop, without the remotest
chance of the city ever obtaining
foot of it. This history of the case is
not reproduced in defense of Mr..
BEAUDRY, but solely for the purpose
of showing that the Express is not
manufacturing it's falsehoods out of
patriotic indignation over the alleged
city loss, and that it was contest be.
tween two individuals, neither one of
whom was Mr.. BEAUDRY. When
respectable citizen is threatened with
a prosecution before a Grand Jury,
the sole answer it is incumbent on
him to make is to invite the threat
ener to proceed. Any other course
would appear, and in fact be, an at
tempt to prevent the prosecution; and
this Mr.. BEAUDRY has not the slight
est desire to do, but he stands ready
and willing to meet the charge when
it is put upon the record.