Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1875-08-11
COL. SMITHS LETTER AND GENERAL
ROBERTS,

Several of our democratic exchanges
having asserted that the open letter OF
Col. Smith to General Roberts would be
an excellent thing for the latter, we
promptly placed our pamphlet edition of
the letter at specially cheap rates to dem
ocrats who desired it for Gil culation.
Judging from the remarks in the Argus,
Standard and Bangor Commercial, we
might have supposed the sale to democrats
would have been rapid and large. Thus
far, however, not a solitary democrat has
appeared to purchase, although our terms
were advertised literally in the columns
of both the Daily and Weekly Journal.
We begin, therefore, to be of the opinion
that the democrats have no hankering al
ter the letter. Certainly our terms are
dog cheap, and if the democracy desire to
give the letter circulation for the benefit
of their ticket they ought to walk up and
invest at once.
1t is very singular concerning this let
ter, that while the democrats have de-
clared it to be a good thing for them and
General Roberts, they are very careful
not to print i: themselves or buy it from
US ready printed to give it circulation
and still more singular that they misrep-
resent it most scandalously. A commu
nication in the New York World from an
Augusta correspondent represents the let
ter as holding up General Roberts as a
coward and a poor officer" Now the
person who wrote this penned a false
hood, and knew it if he ever read the let
ter of Col. Smith, for that letter distinctly
acknowledges the personal bravery of
General Roberts. In it Col. Smith says:
ut is with great satisfaction that l
recognize and record your personal
"brayery and your general popularity
with your command" IT this be repre-
senting the General as coward we do
not understand the meaning OF language.
What the letter does say about General
Roberts is not that he was a coward, but
that he resigned his place at the darkest
period of the war, when the government
was in need of every man it had in the ar
my, and came home to join hands with
Marcellus Emery. Eben F. Pillsbury, and
others Of that stamp, in their course Of
opposing aud embarrassing the admins
tration in its efforts to put down the re-.
kan Tiki, Ia,
Roberts with cowardice, but to the appre-
hension of every loyal man and patriot, of
every true soldier, it means something tar
worse so bad, indeed. that the democrat
ic papers prefer to represent General Rob-
erts as being charged with cowardice
rather than to state plainly and fairly the
real accusation contained in Col. Smiths
letter.
The actual charge in tho open letter to
General Roberts is one that no democrat
ic paper has attempted to deny. 1t is
true in every line and word. They can
make no reply TO it. To say that General
Roberts showed himself personally brave
is. only to repeat what Col Smith ac-
knowledges. But to reconcile with the
character of Il patriot soldier" his leaving
the army at the time he did and under the
circumstances attending his resignation, to
come home to associate and act with cop
perheads like Emery and PillSbury is y
difficult task indeed. 1t is not at all sur
prising that the democrats would rather
meet the charge of cowardice in their can
didate than the one actually preferred. In
this they are shrewd, but the dodge will
do them no good.
We again give notice that copies of
Col. Smiths letter are for sale at this Of
flee. at specially low rates to democrats,
in order that they may have every induce
ment we can possibly give them for the
circulation of this excellent document
among the rank and file of their party.
During the heavy rain at Homer, o., on We'd
nesday last n farmer whoke crop n al bean IN mad