The Portland daily press., 1874-09-25
THE PRESS.
A Gentle RsmOnstrance.


The Bangor Whag does not set itself up to
be funny paper, but, occasionally, when it
mounts its high horse and prances forth to
lecture some erring contemporary, it becomes
irresistibly comic. Like one of the mythical
dragons, which st. George demolished, it
shakes the earth with ponderous tread,
breathes forth double stream of fire from
distended nostrils, lashes its sides with its
tail and leaves the air behind it Hinged with
blue and pervaded with heavy sulphurous
odor. The melodramatic element is strong in
the Wing, and blood and thunder predomin-
ate in its mouth-flling and tremendous utter
ances. This sort of thing may sometimes
startle children, but grown persons, who fail
to see much that is formidable in it, are more
inclined to laugh.
This time the Wing takes higher flight
than usual and presumes to take the PRESS
to task in way that is very near akin to i'm
pudence. 1t intimates that the PRESS con-
sorts with the Democracy, has disposition
to break up the Republican party, and is gen.
orally in bad way. 1t "wants to know, you
KNOW" whether or not the PRESS is sound
on the goose, and demands categorical
statement of our "views." 1t fills two.
thirds of column with imposing balderdash
in order 10 make this demand" And all
this because the PRESS reprinted paragraph
from the Advertiser on the senatorial ques-
ton, which the Wing says is disloyal and rev.
dictionary, but has not the grace or fairness
TO publish in its harangue, SO that its readers
may judge for themselves of its character.
In order that the full enormity of our con-
duct may appear we republish the offending
paragraph, which is as follows:
The Advertiser says that "from the best in
formation we can get we believe the one hum
dred and thirteen Republicans, whose election
to the Legislature was reported last week, are
as of them in favor of Senator Hamlin's re-
are reported as doubtful. Giving him all the
logs not Marked this would make majority
of one in the caucus if there is caucus. 1t is
not probable, however, that he can count on all
the doubtful ones, and there are As Democrats
who will have something to say, if the question
comes before the Legislature, where it belongs.
The contest is not over, as the Hamlin news
papers pretend, but is just beginning"
The Wing says that by this act we "coun-
sci bolt" and we suppose that our logical
critic would Insist that we approve of south
EN- outrages because we quote from White
League newspapers without comment. We
do our readers the justice to assume that
they can distinguish between what is quoted
and what is original and that they would
hardly regard us as committed in favor of all
we reprint from other sources. We should
have assumed, before this eccentric perform
ance, that the Wing could make like dis
tinctiop. Now we don't propose to say at
the dictation of the Wing whether we APP
prove or disapprove of the substance of that
paragraph. In our own way and at our own
time we shall say what we please to say on
this or any other subject; and if the Wing
don't like it, the customary alternative is
available. The position of the PRESS is such
that it don't require the bolstering of specific
declarations of principle and when the Wing
the sense to see the righteousness of its luGi-
crously portentous exhibition in reading the
PRESS out of the party with bell, book and
candle in language too heroic for mere m1n-
dane affairs. Did the Wing ever hear of the
Pope's bull against the comet?
We should not do our full duty by the
Wing in this connection without few
words of friendly reproof and counsel.
That journal has, at one time and anoth-
er, INDUCED itself in similar diatribes
against about every paper in the state. 1t
seems to become periodically wrought up to
a pitch of frenzy, and to find it necessary to
work off the superfuous mental steam
through the escape valve of Bombastes
Furioso article of denunciation of the mote
which it detects in some brothers eye. Such
conduct is not at all pretty, and our cantank-
erous neighbor should seek at once for some
other mode of relief. The Wing is in gener-
al well meaning paper but makes a griev-
GUS mistake in lapsing occasionally into the
swashbuckler style of journalism.