Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-04-18
To tie Editor of Uee Tribune

and matters connected with it, which
transpired on The Sd inst, and it is
| quite likely that a large proportion,
both of friends ana enemies, will
feel that the least said would have
| been the soonest mendeu. But, as
| purpose this communication to he
sort of valedictory farewell, not
only to the denizens of the city as a
| whole, but rs good bye to all as
pirations Of a public or private nv
ture, and believing, as ! have been
forced to believe, that the time has
come, as well from necessity as from
choice, to balance the books, pass
receipts, and step down and out into
more retired sphere of action, l
| have, on reflection, concluded that it
would not be out OF place to give u
parting demonstration of my posi-
ton in regard to things in general,
and some things in particular, or, to
be more specific, ! will say that |
have concluded to trespass, probably
for the last time, on the kind for
bearancc of some and the i'll temper
of others. And yet am not quite
sure but | should have given this
election affair the entire go-by, and
| considered it only in the light Of Il
| popular maelstrom, Into which was
drawn and driven the good, the bad,
| the very bad, and the Indifferent,
had not facts, incidently developed,
made it appear to me impcratlveIy
| important that the vile and malicious
SANDER that was being bruited about
| the city and the country should be
stamped rs an infamous ialsehood.
And what adds still more to the
brutality of the out-and-out false
| hood. was the readiness with which
it was seized and acted upon by per-
sons who make wonderful preten-
tions to religious charity and chris
ton perfection, to excuse themselves
from doing what, under ordinary
circumstances, they would avoid as
they would the touch OF lepcr, and.
shun as they would an expose to
| small poX infection And again, the
authority upon which the caIumny
was based, being so rediculousiy
| unreliable as we'll as incredible when
compared with, my antecedents, that
it would seem almost Impossible tor
| any person, unless biased into a
bigot or innately creduiuus, to prcdi-
cate even supposltion, mach less q
fact on so dinlnutive a thing, and
the thing itself so demoralized by
the most degenerate "rot gut" But
then there must always be some cN-
cuse, be it ever so tlimsy, for the
disposition of an acG that needs n
lie for its support aud discrimination
for its justification. This saloon
spewing specimen of humanity was
good enough authority to asperse
the character of a neighbor who
had never done them wrong or cast
an improper reflection upoh their
conduct or characters. But nt the
same time had there been a reversal
of situation, had these very persons
themselves become tho subjects Of
whisky scandal and rowdy remarks,
then, indeed, there might have been
anticipated an awful nouthing OF
.'doggery," depravity, and hideous
howl OF "slum" scurrility.
| There is quite difference in their
estimation in the rendition Of words.
If it was, ,"come out here, O'Flanagan.
with your smut and your pitch the
thing of course would be all right !:
but if it was "O'ttmogaa, come out
! here yo,t uWaiaoue btachieg, yon
| b5aczyuard, Jlathershatc,' then Il terri
bic caterwauling rumpus might be
reasonably expected from these NOR
alizing reformers.
Did these pinks of double refined
perfection. verify believe that / had
visited the various saloons, or any
one of them, for the purpose Of
courting che favor Of the propiie-
tors and their numerous blowers
and strikers! Did they believe that
| Lwould at my time Of life, and after
thirty years residence in village and
city, and during that period Of time
| had been kept on at least respect
able grade Of behavior, dcnean my
self to the level of the vile crowd
who gave assurances Of its t,uthful-
ness! Or did they suppose that |
had become SO perfectly void of self
respect, and SO stupidity Indifferent
to character as to head with saloon
sLi.aaiisn, or bssews tba hsos oom.