The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-08-29
CTR a}aitg AArgns,


Concluded from second page.
fee, than sit, figure read, lur your big
Indian t. dance arouui. |, fas oitcH been
a question with the b ard whether y ham
vas not crazy, having "y0yI tuat the uiala
( ~ /, hereditary ia tn stock lios can
you Otherwise account iuG his strange. un
meaning, senseless words and views? - for
! instance, when the Board in your presence
required him to lay all bills before them, to
be passed upon before he should pay them,
he said he would not do such foolish
thing, BE would not be bound up in that
way that, if we did not like his purchas-
es, we could take it out Of his salary or
sue on his bond; etc. foolish twaddle
that no level-headed business man would
have thought of, which on this occasion,
for wonder, brought your Excellency to
laugh in the face OF your superior, An
indignity which your Excelency seldom
had the courage to indulge in.
These are some OF the many objections
that SO strikingly untitled him for the po-
sition of Warden, for which you urged
him on the Beard the same day poor Smith
was buried, aud before his corpse was cold.
Because the Board have supplanted him
with a good man, as you acknowledge, only
doing what the law PROFESSIONALLY war
rants, you dismiss and attempt to disgrace
us by trumpeting to the public that we
had neglected our duty, when we can truth
fnlly assert, and all the facts prove it, that
for the last twenty days the prison has
| been in more prosperous condition. DO tn
| financially and morally, with fewer punish
ments, than was ever known since it had a
| history. When this man went out of the
office of Warden, tears of joy and gladness
were shed; there was unusual congratula-
tons INDUCED in; thanks were presented
us by guards, employers, contractors, and
all interested, that we would now have
peace and prosperity in the prison but no,
sir,your Iadtda was out, and The must have
place, for he is in the big Logan and Bev-
eridge ring, and he may break loose and
go to Cullom. and will teach these Com
missioners that Wham and | rule the Pen
itentiary and the political ring too. You
then justify your dark ways by telling
the public what you know is not true in
any sense. for we defy you to put your
finger on single instance where the Com
missioners neglected a single legal or NOR
al duty. Can you explain, on the grounds
of duty, the reason why Wham kept con
victs locked in their cells aWaitiay for the
car company to get ready to start up, until
the State had lost from 800 to 400 days
labor, when other contractors were de
manding more men, under contracts not
full? Some men can explainit but | can
not,-at least consistently with his duty.
AND NOW A FEW PERSONAL QUESTIONS
Why was it you told me that Gen. Lo-
gan and friends urged you strongly to give
Wham place on the Board, or as War
den When, in fact, as Gen. Logan says
himself, he would have nothing to do with
it, and was opposed to it, and advised him
not TO take it, and further says that you
seemed determined to have him at all ha-
yards, and, as | said before, thinks your
urging in bringing him here, and your
promises to stand by him at all hazards
have bred in him an assurance unbearable
and disgusting. Was it Wham who
taught you your prison doctrine, which
you gave to the Board the first time you
ever met them, viz: that all questions of
humanity, instruction, reform, and religion
in this prison must be subordinate to the
one question Of making money out of the
prison, in order to make good political
showing before the people ?" This, sir, is
in perfect harmony with the sacred doc
trine of your model Harden on the subject
of discipline. He stated under oath befort
the Legislative Committee that, if he had
his way, he would introduce whipping, y
the whipping post, and the cat o nine tails
| suppose this doctrine he doubtless
brought from the Indians, for his knowl-
ledge of history is SO meagre he never
heard of the barbarous or dark ages
How will all this appear to those Of your
friends who had been gladly supporting
you on the ground that you stand on higl
moral and Christian grounds?
Your Christian friends scold you severe
ly for allowing your guests to shake the
fantastic toe" in the peoples mansion :.
What will they say to your allegiance to ,
man one half of whose language is vulgal
profanity, and who publicly announces, un
der OATH that he would introduce the Iasl
on the bare back, and continue the ring bolt
: and thumb screw and such barbarous
, means as make the heart OF good mar
sick. When this is well known, fear thu
Christian people will not turn out to hea
our rambling gubernatorial stump speake
talk of godlg piety, Christian fellowship
Jesus lore, and high civilization. Those o
! us who are in possession of such facts be
gin to feel that your Christianity is but
tool in the hands Of your political ambi
, ton to carve your way at the expense o
: any and all questions into office.
You sir, we're once poor,-a poor soldie
! Just from the army, begging the people Q
Chicago for office, for your bread and bu,
ter, but your cold heart has forgotten to
soon, J. too, am poor was soldier, an
but for the accidents of war should neve
have asked you for this position; but
shall not whine around you like pupp
or whipped spaniel, and beg for anothe
disgrace and deposition that ! may have
: place, but shall tell the public generally
and may friends especially, the facts
this disgraceful business-facts hithert
unknown-c concerning His Excellency an
his 'pet" Warden, j, w. Wham, an
leave the verdict to the people,
. 4 NJ NJ