Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1878-05-30
the young lady's character, but to help his

: cy is an unmarried business man OF Il
town, but as he unlike the other dogs
the manager. has done his barking und,
the hay. we shall not say anything tn
will center the attention ofthe people upo
him. but leave him in the quiet possessio
,, of ian easy conscience and an unsuliied rel
utation."
The question naturally arises why one
the persons who has made himself so o
ficious in this matter should take so mnc
interest in it. He is new importatio
from the East. and had the honor of but
few days acquaintance with the parties
vet lie has been the hero of the whole pc
Torrance, and carried the paper arount
showing it to those who had known us fo
We IRIS and who had such 4 splendid Oppol
tunity to 60 back on us, and to their cred
be il said that nine out of ten of them die
Notwithstanding the fact that many @
them had known us from ten to twelv
years, and who could not help KNOWN;
that we were neither an idiot nor destitut
of every sense of decency and respect TO
ourself and others. And even supposin:
we were. does any person think for on
moment that Mr.. Davies would be the will
ing tool for purpose SO foul and inta
nous.
We have been ccnsured by some person:
for signing the paper, even under the out
rageous circumstances of personal harm
with which we were Enthusiastically threat
ened. But such persons are liable to be
too hasty in their Judgment; for no man
can possibly know what he would or would
not do in an emergency through which he
has never been called to pass.
Again, we knew that by the willful and
wicked misrepresentation of others, those
he believed to be his best and trucst friends.
the brother of this young lady had been
induced to believe that we had villainously
outraged all sense of manhood, and had
resorted to the method referred to to vility
his sister, out of revenge tor an injury to
our feelings, and placing ourself in his
place. viewing the matter as he did. we
knew that we would have had the satist;lc
ton demanded or else have rcsortcd to the
most violent means at our command.
Conscious of our entire innocence in the
matter, we knew and felt even then that
the right would finally triumph; that dis
cretion, at least under those circumstances,
was the better part Of valOr, and that if We
could possibly escape with life and limb we
could thereafter vindicate our honor and
with weapons more formidable
md effective than knives or pistols.
One thing about this difficulty, which has
been for our benefit. it has told us just eX-
lctly how many friends we have in town.
md how many OF them have confidence in
Is and are willing to stand by lis. 1t has
lsO imbued us with the inflexible purpose
# living such lite in the future. as in the
,ast. that our enemies cannot help respect
ng us, even though they may never enter
ain one particle of friendship for lis or
ur principles.
Our shortcomings for years past have al
o been brought to light. and we have
earned that our greatest mistake has been
l the following: In our younger days we
'ere always taught that an editor should be
onest, independent. and fearless in the ex-
ression of his opinion and in deciding
hat should or should not appear in his
aper; and when an article was presented
, him with the request that it be publish
|, the question he should ask was not
neither it will meet with the appreciation
everybody, but whether it is an article
merit or of sufficient public interest to
little it to place in the paper. but we
arm that by following this advice instead
keeping pace with the advancement
the age in which we live, we have made
le most egregious blunders of our lives,
y from what people say nowadays
, should be the very opposite to what we
ere always tolt. he should be. Now he
ust write his opinions. his local items,
s comments on the affairs of the day.
I'd exhibit them around and consult the
'ivate opinion of everybody that is likely
be at all interested in them, and if there
the least danger Of their giving offense
should suppress them. In other words.
, must smother every sense of manhood
I'd honor he possesses and be a toady to J
even his enemies and those he {
lows to deserve the strongest ccndemna- J
On.
That the poem which appeared in the
0URIER last week, and at which the chiy- i
nc gentlemen (:)-thOse three selfap-
yin nf ol
I'VE taken such offense, did not, and could y
It possibly have the remotest reference to :.
G universally respected young lady whose ;,
me and reputation has been so falsely :.
ID wickcdly associated with it; we submit :.
following facts for the careful consider :.
ion OF every unprecedented person in this :,
First: The present editor of the AvANT =
)URIER has been well and favorably ac- I
tainted with the young lady in question .
at least nine years.. during which time, ),
d up to the present hour, not an unpleas- r
word, look or action has ever passed \
tween us-nothing has ever transpirei
ring our entire acquaintance, especially =,
'ring the past few months, in the least ;,
gree calculated to mar our respect and
endship for each other. And to-day, J.,
understanding the false reports which :,
We been SO ingeniously invented and in
striously circulated by meddlesome 6
rsons in the community. to our in :,
y, and in order to give coloring and
to a false and distorted inten- u
n and meaning of the poem, the parties \,
'st interested have not the slightest reas-
to doubt the faithfulness and integrity p
each other. d
second: That the poem did not, and ff
lld not possibly have any reference to d,
young lady III question, much less to "
y event stated to have recently trans
ed. we need but call attention to the fact o.
It the poem has been in contemplation
l in course of preparation by the author. cl
;. Davies, for several months past. as is h,
re fully attested by Mr. Davies, himself. h:
well as by the statements of three hiDhly h,