, 1876-04-12

Mr.. Co1vla haa nppeaxed III now rofe,-
that Of tho complete lotter-writer. We havo
had frequent specimens Of his oratorical pow
ers, 10 has oxtouded tho hospitelitioa Of tho
city to all sorts Of people, from the Governor
General Of Canada to professional pcdes-
triang, and has displayed faculty for elo-
4uonce Of speech that can only ha descrihod
as astonishing. There was time when it
was thought TINT ho would rotire from tle
Mayors ofice to set up . now school Of era-
tory. But he hos now turned his talents in
another direction. It remained for CoLvN to
tako his pen in hand to demonstrate the full
capacity Of the English language Tor complex
ity and obscurity. Ue has written letter
to Marshal GoonELL which isevidently al his
own. Mother 1rr. FORREST, the City Clerk,
nor his Secretary, will clnim any portion Of
tho crodit for this remarkable production.
We quote small portion Of tho opening
sentence as q sample:
WuEuEAs, 1t tho rocont town elsction In gou.h Chi
cago gross outrage waa committed On tho righta Of
tho people by tho fraudulent substitution Of other ba
lots fos those cass by tho electors, to secure tho illegal
return Of officers who wera not tho choice Of the ma
]ority, the publo opinion. apparently we'll founded,
be eorrret; and whereas, etc.. oto.
We hope Afr. GoopELt understands this.
We confess that VIC do not. Wo can only
catch occasional Glimpses Of meaning in this
composition. Perhaps h1r. GOWN himself
did not exactly know what he wanted TO soy.
Perhaps he did not want Marshal GoonELL
and his police force to understand 1t. He
was dealing with q delicate subject. Any
utterence from Mr. GOWN on bal1ot-box
Btufing must bo peculiarly embarrassing, and
IL apt to be obscure. We iufor, however,
that he Ia inclined to Qdmit that tlero hos
been some sort Of an outrage, though he
| ia yet = little doubtful about tho ad-
! Visibility OF admitting 1t. Mr.. Col.
vns hesitation on this point ia
natural enough. When he speaks oi
+" tho Illegal return Of officers who were not
tho choice of tho majority" 10 must bo 70.
minded Of tho fact that he occupies precisely
that position before The poopIa OF Chicago.
He hna himself been holding tho ofloe oi
Mayor ever since last December contrary to
the choice OF majority and through ar
illegal rstnrn Of votea. It Ia Just as much {
matter OF notoEiety that the charter election
QUO year ago was carried by fraud aud gros!
ballotbox stufhng as the town election o'
last week. Both were carried In The SAME
way, viz, by tho stufllng Of the ba'iot-boxes
It WAS just as palpable that the honest vot'
was against the charter as that the homes
vote was against tho EgAss.pa1tI.ra gang
Yet It WAS the adoption Of this charter tha
enabled GOWN, by legal distortion Of It
meaning, to bold on to tho office Of Mayor
and 1t il by virtue of the anne distortion tha
he ASSERTS his impudant claim to hold on
year longer.
In this y,ew Of tho case, 1t may be tha
blr. CoLy1N's letter to bis pertunctory Mar
sbal was designealy made ohecure, thoug
bis natural talent for obscurity Of e1pressio
came To Ills aid There Ia ono other featur
OF 1Ir. ColyrN's Official letter which is worth
Of notice. lie was exceedingly prompt
: forecast danger from = Eeesing Of respectt
ble citizens And voters, and to call out hi
police IN fozcs To maintain public order, br
t hs took no such precautionary measures /
q regard to tho zougbs and ballotboz stut1er
Mr. co1y1s's polics permitted thsss scou.
l drals to saizs the ballot-ho1es and the votini
2 plAoss and to shoys the honest voters AVA,
]. Thsy Permitted ths "knuaks, I md " shea