New-York tribune., 1880-02-07
" UHo ISL. Wo0DRCFFlo

On January 4 TIE TRIBUNE printed letter
upder the heading An Emlgmnt to the
"South.n and signed Il. Woodruff, san An
"tonio. Texas in which the writer described
the utter failure of his earnest efforts to OBJ
tain a home and n respectable living in that
State. We had no knowledge Of our cOrre-
spondent EXCEPT that which he himself iur-
ntshcd but the letter was apparently written
Nv AN honest man, who was neither afraid nor
ashamed to Sign 1t with his name and address,
and il told in clear and vigorous English the
story of ten years Of outrageous persecution.
Such letter was worth reading, and we
nrinted it. A curious confirmation Of our
Judgment has recently come to us in an
article in The San AntoniO Express, which
attempts to discrcdlt the letter and its
author. This article asks: Who is l.. Wood
ruff l7 and then proceeds to satisfy the in
ourv. The result OF the investigation is in-
tcrcsting and valuable.
In his letter to TIE TRIBUNE, Mr. Woodruff
said that when he reached Tcxas be was
"wholly destitute Of money That Is true
lac WAS so destitute that The San Antonio Lr-
pyess SAYS that he had "to make his bed with
:. the beasts1; so destitute that he slept in
"fhe hay-loftr 50 destitute thnt his clothes
wore always soiled and shabby; indeed, "A
"ro, of less style - never lived IN Caldwell
"Countyr Mr. Woodruff wrote that, although
utterly without pecuniary resources, he felt
himself possessed Of that kind Of cap
"ital that elsewhere is counted worth
" more than money" lie said: " l was skiItul
ga. q mechanic and builder, as well as ex-
" "nericnced in agriculture and stock-!aising."
Those statements are evidently true, for, ac
cordinr to The Erpress, Mr.. Woodruff so dis
craced himself I'm the eyes of Caldwell County
- T., assume "the business of mechanc.'
"Uo even wrote letters to the Smithsonian
" Institution about Texas weather, and also
g. ottempted the invention of an improved ba-
"rometer.
Mr.. Woodruff's letter convinced US that its
outbor was a man of quick intelligence and n
rcodv writer The ErpreSs confirms our esti
mate , for Mr.. Woodruff's ncighbors conceived
sucb a high opinion of his capacities that one
of them. who furnished that paper with some of
.bo above facts, says that for some time he was
"l,nown to be Il correspondent of The NEW
"Yopx TRIBUNE" We regret to inform our
oo,temporary that it is in error on this point.
T,,p TRIBUNE does not know that it ever had
n,o advantage OF Mr.. Woodruf's services ex-
cont in its issue of January 4, which published
hi. very interesting letter from San An.onio.
TuE TRIBUNE never prints disagreeable
trntbs without expecting to be revel by
those to whom those truths come home and
tbeir attacks always amount to just As little
~ this Illumination of The San Antonio En-
prcss. We have regarded it, our duty IN
the past to show the spirit of persecution
which animates parts of the South, driving
away the Northern capital and industry which
would build mp her waste places, educate her
| children, and establish on her deserted lands
new population Of intelligent and energetic
.,cu and women. The remedy is in the hands
,, these whom these statements of the plain
truth shame. We shall yield to no one the
pri,ilege of first recording II change in the
| spirit of the South.