The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-10-02
THE HARPER BROTHERS. ORGAN.

The Times in It's Sunday Issue printed a
editorial touching school books" the In
genuity Of which Ia only surpassed by its dis
honesty. In fact, we have seldom read
praftier or more plausible defense of an ut
terly bad and corrupt case. The politics an,
morals Of ollr able contemporary are all fash
Toned upon the universal. If not the origina
depravity Of mankind and IL sports q scrib
bier worthy In his ingenuity and skill Of sucl
Journalism. Indeed, the position of the Time
on the school book question has been SO in
genlously put In It's Sunday article that w
almost feel reluctant to tear away the mask
and expose the rottenness such elegance o
diction and such fascinating sophistry covers
from the public eye.
This school book question, however, is one
q OF great interest to the public, and we cannot
epnscientiously permit the interest of the
Harper Brothers, who for years have been the
most malignant and interchangeable enemies Of
our people, TO be defended, protected and ad.
vanced under the ingenious guse of a
defense Of the interest Of the people and
public education. We feel constrained, there.
fore, to disrobe the Times and expose the
rottenness which 1t has SO elegantly and skill
fully endeavored to conceal.
The Times opened It's fight In the interest
Of the Harper Brothers In the most sneaking
manners 1t printed simply reportorial arti-
Gle In It's city column making or rather insi,-
t0ti,tg, q number of extremely damaging
charges against the State Board Of Education
and the Superintendent OF Public Education.
II 1t believed those insinuations just 1t
tbn If natua ,,o
10 comment upon and denounce thenr edito-
rally; II IL did not believe them it should
never have admitted them even into its city
columns The editor of public journal is
responsible for the truth or falsehood, always
Of damaging charges, and he cannot shirk
that responsibility by evading editorial dc
nunciation, or by attempting to throw the
blame upon O reporter or other subordinate
Thus, the Times at the outset was guilty Of an
attempt to damage the State Board and Su-
petfntendent Of Education by sneasing in
situations through Its reportorial columns, or
1t endeavored to evade the grave editorial re-
Hp0nsbility Of denouncing tho corruption of
those officials.
We saw the pitiful game the Times was en-
deavoring to play on the instant, forced
1t Into an editorial defense of its slanderous
report, and then showed that each and every
specific charge it had made was false, in
terested and without foundation. The whole
State now knows how completely was routed
by the DEMOCRAT, horse, foot and dragons;
how It's caumnious charges were disproved:
how It's true character as tho organ of the
enemies Of this State was exposed; how,
finally, IL gulped down its defeat, and fol
few days uttered not word The public
further know that. after that silence of day
or two, It recovered it's audaeity and renewed
the attnek upon the school officials through
its repertoriai columns, making insinuations
ID relation TO the adoption Of Dimitry's
History OF Louisiana, II possible more dam
aging than its original ones Again the
DEMOultT exposed it's falseness and mean
ness. showing that all It's charges and
insinuations were utterly baseless, that the
State Board In the adoption of that work for
our schools had acted properly, and in the
highest and noblest interests of the State.
Discounted In this line OF attack, the
Times Sunday morning sneaked out of its new
position In relation to the history of Louis
lana, affirmed with sublime impudence and
cheek, TINT 1t never made any insinuations
OF improper conduct against tho authorities
because Of its selection, and then topped back |
to It's old original and already refuted
and slanderous charges against the State
Board Of Education and Mr.. Llsher. |
How Is an enemy like this to DO put dowa2
How is an antagonist TO be met who dis |
epmfted and exposed on one falsehood |
devises a new one defeated in that, frames |
still new one: exposed again, jumps back |
to the original story and reiterates ii with I'M
blushing impudence and check We confess |
that this agility of the Times astounds |
and almost dsconcerts us. We scarcely know |
where to look for its next change, for when |
its invention is exhausted IL summons |
to It's AID an old falsehood out OF |
which we have formerly knocked the breath
''------The times have been
That when the brains were out the man would
And then an end -"
Not SO, however, with the Times charges.
But perhaps they have 80 little brains in
them that the sledge hammer ticks we give
them affects them no more than TO knock
them out of sight for the time being, and then
they rally and come back again as lively and
fierce as at first
Some days since we exposed the charge of
bhe Times that the action OF the school board
in selecting the Mctiuffey readers was final.
But, whipped out in oil its new charges it re-
burns to the original one, to which we refer
now, not so much to refute 1t, as to say that
The original action Of the board, not only was
not final. but that the desire of majority,
4 not all of the members, was In the first
nlace tn adopt the Watson readers, and the
provisional adoption of the McGuffey readers
was made In compliance with Mr.. Lusher's
siah- Subsequently, acting under full and am
pie authority Of the board the Superintendent !