Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-03-17
A Good Town.

A Good Town.
The above is the heading attached to
the following first-class notice of our city,
from the racy pen of AL. Swain, of the
Fort Dodge Messenger:
Independence. about 1875 miles east, on
the Central, is one of the best appearing
inland towns in the State, of its class
having population of some 800 souls,
or the usual human forms supposed to
possess souls. Its business quarter cannot
be excelled in appearance and apparent
enterprise by any inland town that we
yet seen, and we have dragged our No.
9's through most of them. The indie
pendence people, like those of Mount
Pleasant, Oskaloosa, and Fairfield, seem
to think that good comfortable home is
one of the first necessities, and then comes
paint and good taste in general adornment
In fact, Independence looks as If good
many New Englanders, Workers and Key
stones had made their homes there, and
exerted their usual good Influence for
roomy residences. The public improve
ments in the way of town and county
buildings arc good-nothing elaborate, but
just stylish enough to be thoroughly re-
spectacle. The bridge over the Wapsie
shows the most substantial abutments to
be found in Iowa, being made of granite.
The bridge is of iron-another sensible
move, as well as economical, and just
above it stands the larges. brick and stone
water mill that ornaments dam site in
Iowa. All in all, Independence deserves
premium over many towns in Iowa of
more pretentions, and of much larger
population. Its people, though scorched
a half-million's worth about two years
ago, had the (" cand to build up at once
and-well, towns that can work well over
such sweeping disasters are always COM
Portable, satisfactory places of residence
for any man live enough to appreciate
"sand," and personal as well as corporate
activity. The BULLETIN gives the gospel
rue faith finely, and is a recognized
controlled by a man of intelligence
and the purest integrity-Judge Toman.
We were pleased to greet many old friends
Hon. w. G. Donnan, who represented
that District for two terms in Congress, q
straight, reliable man, whose record is
void of buncombc, and blameless; Hon.
G. w. Bemis, who was State Senator for
several terms, and a man worthy of any
honor that the people can confer upon
him, and others. We like Independence
its good sort of name, and its people
are its best definition.
A CORRESPONDENT of the Conservative
this week criticises the BULLETIN for
what he calls can ungenerous fling at
mans misfortune" abiding to our sug-
gestion that E. s. G., the writer OF the
financial articles in our contemporary, not
being conspicuously successful in the
therefore not well fitted to teach finance
to others, and especially to harshly criti-
else the policy of parties in that regard
Far be it from us to rail at any mans
misfortunes, or taunt him with non-suc-
cess in life. Our readers know that that
is not our style. But in the case in point,
the writer has set himself up as an oracle
in finance; has assumed to bear down,
with whitening sarcasm and invective
upon the government--which means the
party in power--for what he is pleased to
call its short comings and abuses; aspires
to rally the people as leader in new
policy, and, furthermore, is hcralded far
and wide as new light In the financial
armament; in fact, is already nominated
tor Congress by an enthusiastic bath
disciple HIS qualifications as teacher
and critic thus come legtimately within
the sphere of examination. We applied
to him the old and well established rule,
that only he who knows how to take care
of his own interests is qualified to guide
others, when the cry is raised that we are
flinging at mans misfortunes. We deny
the charge. We have as much sympathy
fol E. S. G.'s ''misfortunes" as has any
of his Jealous defenders, and his embar-
easements should not have been alluded
to in any manner in these columns, but
that his too enthusiastic admirers, not
content with letting his articles rest on
their own merits, must blow the trumpet
before him as the Sir Oracle of finance,
and the Ajax by whom parties and poll
cies were to be shattered like potshcrds. -
We thought then as We do now, that it
was proper to suggest, in the most deli
cate manner possible, that for this heavy
work his training and experience were
not the very best.
The But tin gets in IA left-hand clip at
E. S. G., one of our Winthrop cores