Daily Kennebec journal., 1877-04-26

yearning for Mr.. Ingersoll. Then, three peneten
tiaries were hungry for Col. Munro. Then, Col
Munro was himself acquitted. Then, the whole
dstilling business Of Peora is declared to be hon
est.
"Ten little blsckbirds perching on pine
One flew away and then there were nine"
and so on till was left only
zone little blackhird no bigger than penny
Bang went gun and then there wasn't any;
Asamst of fact this Reduction Descending
might have been carried still farther into detail
There was no Col. Munro in the case. The name
of Col. Ingersols client was Mum. He was in
dcted twice in Milwaukee, twice in ST. Louis,
and twice in Chicago. lie was tried in Chicago
aud acquitted. lie demanded q trial in ST. Louis,
and the cases were dismissed. The Dstrict-At-
terney at Milwaukee reported that there was no
evidence duplicating Mr.. Mum, and these cases
were dismissed. Such were the grounds Cd which
the "leading Bristow editor" and The Nation
took sweet council together to thrust Col. Inger-
soil into prison and make his feet fast in the
stocks
In The Nation of July Q, two weeks after its
Imprisonment of Mr.. Ingersoll, it for the first
time recognizes and regrets its slip In con
founding Col. Ingersoll, who nominated Mr..
thi. recognition and regret being apparently that
the "slip" has been ''copied by some papers in q
way that may prove injurious to Col. lngersol.
Naughty papers, Putting lawyer into State
IrsOu fnetchu OF tuftl nc Is utlcuulHS-tnt
thief himself being an honest msn-is only n
"slip' to be regretted. II is the copying by evil
minded persons that may prove injurious to MIR.
Ingersol-who by the way is no longer Bob
Ingersol, but in full regmentals "Col. lngersoll.
viii The Nation be so good as to inform the non
professional reformer in what manner the state
ment that distinguished public man is jail bird
can be copied not to be Injurious TO the pub
lie man /; There is pretty large circle 10 whom
the slight formulation "From The Nation''
would be good Is q warranty deed against IN
Jury, but outside of that circle there is q large
understanding public to whom any printed
statement carries weight, and who, once having
heard that man was a thief, Will ind a prison
odor forever clinging to his name.
This tardy recognition OF It's "shp-tw weeks
after it occurred, two weeks after its false charge
had gone out to the ends of the earth, two weeks
in the very beginning OF an important and eager
campaign-and The Nations wish that 1t could
more effectuslly make amends for any pain OF an
noysuce it may have caused him. are utterly
insufficient to make amends for the offence. No
one knows better than The Nation that the re-
traction Of false report is no atenement for It's
dissemination. Nor can Tue Nation plead in nit
igstion of damages that this is all it could do
Its recognition Of its slip and ITS regret and
apology do not appear till a week after it was put
in possession OF the facts Its remonstrant
correction appears June %; its apology not till
July 6. And all the grace even of that lame and
late apology is destroyed when one knows that
before its appearance Col. lngersoll himself, big
and burly, with that voice which had always i'm
pressed itself upon The Nation as being different
from that of ordinary human beings, and such as
mo school but that of American politics could
have produced"-Col. Ingersoll had presented
himself in the flesh NJ the Office of The Nation
"You were not going to do so foolish thing as
to bring lawsuitf queried a friend. Law.
suit" reverberated the Great Voice, cheerily
Lawsuit; On, no!
GAIL HAMILTON.
April 18th, 1877.