Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1878-10-03


of some one else, and then At
tempts to Justify the Act.
The Registerer, of last week, is out in
bombasticaI article, of more than a col
umn in length, in which the editor in
dulges in feeble and remarkably sickly |
personal TRADE against the editors of the |
HERALD, which he terms a defence of the |
character of Mr.. Smith, the Democratic |
candidate for Sheriff. The Register states:
Justice, honor and manhood demands |
that we defend the character of Mr.. Smith,
our candidate for Sheriff, against the false
charges preferred by Mr.. Millikan.''
Again the editor says:
'"The article in the HERALD of last week
surpasses in malignity, vindictiveness
and downright misrepresentation, any
thing we have ever read"
And again the Register says:
''The charges are such, were they true,
as to brand OswelI Smith and his little
| family with infamy."
Let US see what these criminal charges
made by the HERALD against Mr.. Smith
are, and to show what they are, we quote
the statement from the Register, which
we acknowledge to be correct. 1t says:
E'The first charge is, he has purchased
! property on Fayette street for 81, 900
and had it conveyed to his wife, and that
| it stands in her name upon the Recorders
books; then he purchased two lots. these
he also put in her name; next residence
from Mr.. Cool White, which is in his own
name; and last, he has purchased house
and lot in Circleville. These are the
charges preferred. Now if it be true he
did make these purchases and put the
property on Fayette Street and the two
| IN, E,f1
business is it, provided he is notin debt. p"
The question now is, are these state
ments true? And, if we quote from the
Register little lower down in the column,
to prove the truth of the above statement
of Smiths purchases, we hope the editor
whose vitals yearn so excruciatingly over
f what he denOunces as falsehoods, will not
} accuse us Of adding fuel to his fury. A lit
= tie lower down in the column, the editor,
with an air of triumph, which is an un-
!. Intentional admission of the truth OF
what we have said in relation to the pur-
chase of property, and which he SO bitter
ly denounces as false, says:
(, ''Now for the truth of the charges. Mr.
i, Smith did purchase a property on Fay
ette street, in this place, for So 600; three
thousand of which he paid, the balance
z of which he owes. This property wal
not purchased at Sherit7s sale, nor BY
. previous arrangement with third party
as intimated, but from man who was
bona .fde buyer at the time of the Sheriff
- sale, and who had never exchanged word
/ with Mr.. Smith upon the subject prior t.
? the sale by the Sheriff. For the Coo
White property he paid $500, for the tw
n vacant lots 1927 and, as to the propert,
= in Circleville, he has never bought any
IN y
it will be seen that Mr.. Smith has Pait
$3,727 instead of $4,000, as charged b.
the HerGLd.''
Then, according to the Registers owl
Is admission, the Sheriff did purchase tn
At property we said he had purchased; and
,e according to the Registers statement in
Y. paragraph we publish above, and her
n repeat: ''The charges are such, were the
a true, as to brand OswelI Smith and hi
b. little family with infamy."
= And yet, the editor admits, so far s
b. the property in this county is concerned
that Smith did buy it and took the deco
as we stated, in his wife's name, and
is MES the purchase of a house and lot
Ist Cireleville; but the facts are, that he d
nc buy house and lot in Circleville.
'e- this fact the Register may not be advise
We In our article, over which the Regist
IS; has gone into such bitter lamentations, "
lot did not charge Mr.. Smith with criminal
n ty, on account of his having purchase
g real estate with his own money; that ]
he has as good a right to do as any otht
OF man.. We did not charge him with pa
ng ing SIC, 900 for real estate with a salal
of $4,000, or; in fact, with having pa
- any money at all, but we did make ii
statement that he had bought the Blu
10 property for $4,000.
- The charges we made were: that t
ri Sheriff of our county, who was impee
J., nious when he came into the Sheriff's
- fee (and this was no crime), who W
oil handling large sums of money in his
nd fetal capacity, belonging to others, W
~, buying large amounts of real estate a
n. taking the deeds therefore in the name
od his wife. That is the point we make, a
that point is acknowledged to be true,
the paragraph above quoted, and the or
inn defense the Register makes for this stran
ash business procedure is, t'that its nObod
nee business" We admit that it might not
t is anybody's business, under different C
Mr.. cumstances; but, in consideration of [
cts, fact that he is public officer, handli
as large sums OF the peoples money, and
was quired to give bonds in a large conside
ty; zion for the honest and faithful discha
an of his official duty, his relations to
inst public in financial way are chang
on and a business transac ctiOn of this char
at ter is justly regarded by the public a
and suspicious circumstance. There must
,wn a reason at. the bottom of it, and
is natural to suspect that fraudulent
.e: tentionss when the pinch comes, are
- reasons for transactions of this kind;
ays neither the Register nor Smith, nor
ilth friends, can satisfactorily explain or al
'he ogize for a transaction which the Reqi
" itself acknowledges. to be crime t
'ne will brand its author with infamy.
'ieo Suppose the gentlemen who are on
sen Smiths official bond should put the t
soiu deeds to their, property in the name
the their wives-and they have just as M
10 right to do SO as Mr.. Smith-what wo
iouC be thought of such transaction? Wo
iere not the County Commissioners be call
lore upon Mr.. Smith to furnish new bou
re- men.
We have certainly fallen upon
-. times, if, when public officer is fol-
aa'e .au' guilty of crookedness in his private
.o: ayS official duties, the public press mus
NJ NJ muzzled, to keep it from making kno
hon ~ to. the public the official crookednes
ood M public officials; or, if it has the hone
-aHs and the nerve to do it, must be denounc
.tty traduced and abused for exposing fra
,'ly; :y,; and cOrruptions.
WI So far as the personal attacks unon