Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-09-06

of the republican minority, RESPONSE
BILE for the sins of omission and COM
mission of Mr.. Jefferson Davis mill
tary and civil government which has
been recently transplanted from
Richmond to Washington is trifie
gauzy.
Col. IL. II. TRIMBLE, of Bloomfield,
has written long letter to one James
Calnan, which we find printed in the
Oskaloosa Standard, in which he de-
clines in advance the nomination for
Congress in this District, unless it'll
should come to him spontaneously
and unanimously. He says that "as I
"grow older, my taste for politics
diminishes," which is not to be
wondered at considering that he has
been all his life "Harry Nation"
democrat.
We regret to notice running all
through the letter, sad and melan-
choly vein, indicating that Col. Trim
BILE well nigh despairs of the Republic.
A reference, however, to the date of
the letter, gives us July 10Th last, and
the gripping and cadaverous character
of, his feelings at that particular time
may be owing to the fact that it was
just about the commencement of the
green apple season. We hope he feels
better by this time.
In the despair of his grief, lie de-
clares that there is no hope, because
"nearly all the papers in this Dis
"trict are edited by postmasters," of
course meaning republican newspa-
pers.
To this charge, Mr.. Henry c.
Leighton, chairman of the republican
state central committee, editor of the
Oskaloosa Herald, and himself the
very efficient postmaster at Oskaloosa,
says:
"H. III. Trimble wrote letter. He
couldn't think of much to say, so he
thought he would copy an old SANDER
and assail the press of this district az
a Subsidized press" He says nearly
every editor in the district is q post
master. That is wild assertion for
even a Democrat to make. So far as
we have been able to find out, and we
claim to have pretty fair knowledge
of the Sixth District, there are just
three out of over thirty republican
editors in this district who are post.
masters"
Trimble and Leighton have each
lived the greater portion of their
lives in this congressional district, and
both of them are prominent in poll.
tics, and acquainted with nearly all
the public men and editors in the dis
trict of both parties. There is ar
important question of veracity be-
tween them. From our own infor'
nation on the subject, we are inclined
to the opinion that an investigation
will show that Leighton is substan.
TALLY right, and that Trimble is sub
stantially wrong.
We have great personal respect for
Col. Trimble, for the services he rem.
dered the country in the war, and fol-
his legal abilities, and therefore re.
greet that he should allow his zeal fol
his party to thus get away with hi
candor and accuracy, especially as he
"grows older and his taste for pol.
itics diminishes.'
But seriously, Col. Trimble well
knows that it has been the rule of al
parties, time immemorial, to give tht
postoffices, all other things being
equal, to local editors, thus enabling
them in turn to give the people better
papers; that, if he should be elected
to congress, and Tilden to the presi
dency, Capt. Evans, of the Ottumws
Democrat, Tim. o. Walker, of tn,
Bloomfield Democrat, Capt. John G
, Mccormick, Of the Knoxville Demo
crat, ETC., etc., would have his recon
mendation for the postoffices in theil
respective cities, and that they woult
get them, too.
Does Col. Trimble think that sucl
appointments would send the countr,
to perdition by muzzling and subsi
dizing the Ottumwa, Bloomfield ant
Knoxville democratic editors an,
their papers?
And can he have less favorabl
opinion of Major Hamilton, edito
Ottumwa COURIER, and postmaster
of Henry G. Leighton, editor of tn
!. Oskaloosa Herald, and postmaster
and the other fellow, whoever he ma
;. be, that has the other postoffice?
, 1t is pity that the exigencies Q
democratic politics in this congress
!. sional district, should make it appea
!, necessary, to such clever and sensi
BILE man as Col. Trimble ordinarily il
: to write such unmitigated and I'm
. mixed nonsense.
The New York Tribune (Independ
enD is authority for the statemen
, that suit will be Immediately com
1 meuced AGAINST Samuel 7. Tilden fl