Ottumwa weekly courier., 1876-05-10

~. w. o. CRosny,
Ch .irman.
THE Daily Chicago Tribune, of the
9th inst, contained the following cd
itorial note:
s'The gentleman known as General
Hedrick, who has been implicated
Jonas whisky trial in Milwaukee
has been engaged in printing a
little one-horse newspaper in Ot-
tumwa, Ia, and his career as an editor
has been chiefly distinguished of late
by criticisms of the Chicago Tribune.
The Tribune has not been run to his
liking. 1t has not been useful and |
snbservient tool Of the Whisky Ring, |
nor reliable part of any other ma |
chine for plundering the public reve-
nues and hence Hedrick has not
been able sufficiently to denounce il. |
Now it appears that Mr.. Hedrick,
while in the employ of the Govern
ment as Supervisor OF internal Reve-
nue., used his position to acquire in
formation of value to the whisky |
thieves and communicate it to them.
This is the indication of the evidence
adduced. We are very glad, there
fore, to recall the fact that Hedrick
has been abusing the Tribune, and we
hope that it will always attract the
denunciation of just such men and
just such newspapers as they are in
the habit of printing"
Before reviewing the above scurril-
ions article as it deserves, we take the
first opportunity to correct the error
announced, that General Hedrick is
or has been of late editing the CoUR-
TER. The structures alluded to, pub
lished in the COURIER, General He'd
rick had nothing to do with and knew
no more about than any other citizen
Of Iowa. General III. left Iowa for
Washington on the 26th of April, and
has not been in the State since, and
did not write, inspire, or know any
thing about the editorial structures of
the COURIER upon the Tribune Gen
eral H. has not been editor of this
paper for over four years, and for
four months last past he has not writ
ten a column of editorial for il. He
is not now, nor has not been for
years, responsible for the course of
the COURIER; and in reference to the
structures referred to, General III. OBJ
tanned his first knowledge of them by
reading them, just as did the editor
of the Iribnne. 1t is true, General
H. is a half-owner of the COURIER.
and its editor, and the writer of the
structures complained of. is also half
owner, and the latter wrote of the
Chicago Tribune just as independents
ly and absolutely his own sentiments,
as though General II. had no interest
in the paper whatever. So much
touching the question as to who is
responsible for the utterances of this
paper. And while we are on this
subject of our responsibility for the
editorial matter of the COURIER, we
want to say that touching the impor-
tant question as to whom we should
prefer for the Republican nominee
for President, we have reflected our
own views alone, and, up to this mo-
ment, we do not know who is the
choice of General II. When we de-
clared our choice, we had not seen nor
had line from General II. for a
month; nor, in declaring cur prefer
ence, did we 30 much as think what
might be the choice of our co-part-
ner in the ownership of the paper, so
wholly Independent have we acted in
our editorial management. Had we
been Influenced by any selfish motive
or any extraneous consideration other
than the conviction of our honest
Judgment it can be readily perceived
that we might have declared for Mr..
Bristow, to whose department Gcncr-
al II. is officially attached, in one of
the most responsible subordinate po-
sitiOns.
We kaoac that in the discharge of
his duties, General IL. has received
from time to time and doGn to a very
recent period, the very strongest en-
dOrsement and highest encomiums of
Secretary Bristow, and we know to a
moral certainty that should the 71i-
bune to-day ask of the Secretary his
opinion of General HIS. ability and
integrity in the discharge of these
duties, that journal would receive in
reply an answer in unequivocal ap-
prOval Of his services, even though
the Tribune, as the advocate of Bris-
tow for President, is laboring most
assidnously to destroy the reputation
of General II. It is impossible that
there should be any truth in the inu-
endo of the Tribune, that General
Hedrick sought to place in the hands
Of the whisky men those books which
were evidence against them, for this
very plain reason, viz: that the pos
session Of such books would really
have ayaiied them nothing, for the
reason, that General H., who is thus
slandered, had Immediately upon the
seizure of these books, complete
transcript Of the same made and that
transcript forwarded to Washington.
In fact, at the time General ii. is rep
resented as cOnniving with the whisky
swindlers transcript OF the books
had been made and were safely lodged
ia the Treasury Department at Wash
ington- These transcripts had all
been sent to Washington previous to
July last, and the testimony of the
witnesses and the letter produced us
ing the Initial III, said to mean He'd
rick, refer to period long afterward.
This situation Of matters shows how
utterly untenable is this story, to say
nothing of many more strong circum-
stances which might be named to re-
fnte it. 1t is a totally false charge
against General Hedrick-it is the
prOdnct, in the first place, of the
crooked whisky men, and seized upon
by the Tribune and Times of Chicago,
we must conclude, TO injure the repu-
taion of General H., at the request of
the originators of it, or to destroy the
good opinion Mr.. Bristow has of the
manner i'm which his subordinate has
discharged his official duties. We
here give due notice to these journals
that for the very best reason, viz
the unfiinching, nncompromising in
fegrity of General H., in his official
duties, as Supervisor of Internal Rev.
enue, they will never be able to in
duce Secretary Bristow to give ear to
their MefariOus work.
Our structures upon the Tribune
4unra snAdn On apnOoYnf If tic n1ai,