The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1879-02-12

4
! South.
Il-777
! Where the Character of Hon. z. W
Ewing is known, no ridieule nor iRsinu-
/ ations whatever can damage it. He is a
gentleman of well known integrity of
character, with faults and weaknesses
| perhaps like all other mortals, but far
above meanness or rascality of any kind.
| We did not approve of his resolution
cutting down the per diem of the for
mer clerk, who was required by law to
| open the present Senate, but we do not
think it afforded sufficient ground for
the assault made upon his character by
Mr.. Helms. We are sure that gentle
man, though perhaps having some
ground for personal pique, will recon
slider his personal reflection upon the
| character of the honorable Senator, who
stands above reproach. Mr.. Ewing
personal vindicatiOn is excluded by the
message, though its publication is not
necessary here where he is so we'll
known. -PtlaskE Citizen.
Such fairness and delicacy of appre-
citation as the Citizen displays makes the
whole press kin. We thank it for the
courteous and gentlemanly tone it refers
to the subject, and take occasion to say
a few words more for its clearer percep-
ton of the matter between Mr.. Ewing
and ourself 1t was Mr. Ewing who
made the assault, and from spiteful, ma
licious, and unchristian promptings en-
tirely so far as his incentives have been
| disclosed. Even if the retrenchment
he suggested in our per diem had been
an item worthy the attention o. the Sen
ate, as lawyer and member of bar
as noted for its legal learning and intel
| ligence as that of Pulaski, we cannot be-
lieve that Mr.. Ewing was ignorant Of the
| fact that the body of which he was a
member was without legal power to in
| terfere with or lessen the amount we
claimed IF he knew his motion to be
unparliamentary and illegal, as a moral,
christian gentleman he ought not, il the
face of the virtuous little Sunday school
children and the church, to have at.
tempted the preparation Of q disreputa-
bic and dishonest act by introducing it
at So heavy a cost to the tax payers Of
LllG DldtG II nc WAS ~ ti'Di NtlL ~ tho IL
legality of his motion, he soiled his
professional reputation as a learned ju-
rist and brought a shadow upon the bo-
som of the church and the jubilance Of
the Sunday school children in aspiring
to and procIaiming before the people a
fitness and capacity for legislative states
manship that are not warranted by the
intelligence he developed. 1t is not
fair to attribute Mr.. Ewing's action in
the matter to ignorance. Mr.. Ewing
would himself instantly scout that word
as totally inapplicable in any form or
style to himself. We can excuse it only
as malicious deviltry Mr. Ewing simply
wanted to display to us, before our final
departure, the high privileges he enjoy
ed as a Senator-the greatest of which
at that time to him was the mOrtifica-
ton and embarrassment he could sub
ject us to by having our name banded
about in the Senate, under the pTeteXt
Of retrenchment, where we could have
no show or reply. This was not christian
nor Sunday school-like, though Mr.. Ew
ing may sustain the character of a chris
tian at home. 1t is for not carrying it
with him into the Senate we complain.
We confess we felt at the time a slight
irritation of our uneXceptionably amia-
bic feelings We thought retrencher
of Mr.. Ewing's fame as a pattern of all
the christian virtues, who would flatter
US first, and then attempt to filch the
sum of two dollars from us without the
shadow of law for it was setting a ques-
tionabIe example of consistency and
morals when he used dead head railroad
tickets and drew pay from the State for
the same. Mr.. Ewing denies that
he used the dead head tickets to any
considerable extent. Without caring
enough for us to know that the Comp
t!oller has his receipt for 1929 05 for
expenses for self, and that officers of
the leading railway lines in the State
them with dead head transportation.
Another and more satisfactory explana-
ton to the people is in order from Mr..
Ewing. His associates, it is true, certi
fly him out of 800 of expenses for
SELF" but this leaves 1892 O5, and al
though
He can scatter or change these figures at viii,
The scent of that mileage will hang round them
still.
Mr.. Ewing's aspiring craftsmanship will
hardly stretch, in the course of our life
time, beyond the limits of his present dis
trict We hate this. However, on Sec
Ond thought, in view Of the remarkable
luck that has attended the judicious ana
copperings of Mr.. Ewing's
only living prototype, the Honorable
John H. Savage, in nursing similar
gigantic reforms before the people, to-
gether with our own earnest efforts, with
out hope of reward, in his behalf, it
may not be safe to say that his name and
fame as a retrencher may not stretch |
to the crack of doom. At any rate, it !
is possible when Mr. Ewing card appears
in the Citizen we shall ask for so much |
space to reply to it, through that wildly |
read paper, as may be necessary, or
the cost enable us to occupy.
Only a few papers in the State seem to /
favor the abolition of the Bureau of I'm /
migration, Agriculture, Statistics and /
Mines. All agree that the Bureau should |
be retained, and that measures should be |
adopted to make it more useful than /
heretofore. -Rn0rUslIe Tribune.
Did you never honestly think, |
a.