The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1880-04-30
A TERRIBLE ENDING.


hands Of ]. NJ. Kalloch, the son Of
the present Mayor or San Francisco,
on Friday, The ed inst. lie was
shot down in cold blood, sent to his
long account unhousel'd unannolnted.
What shall we say of this dark trag-
edye What can We say but that 1t is
the legitimate outcome of system
of journalism which is no journalism;
OF a ruthless prostitution OF the power
of pen, ink, paper, press and brains,
TO rs pcrnicious an ambition as ever
remorselessly resolved to rise upon
the ruins of whatever stood in lis
way or threatened TO bar its pro-
gresse Tho old rule, "of the dead
say nothing unless you can speak
well,s . is good ono when in the
course of nature death covers with
his grey and CHASTITY shadow the face
of a private citizen who shalt be seen
on earth no more forever. How fer
duty 10 the living suggests silence
when typical representative of an
evil system perishes in the tolls
which he has woven for another, or
falls into the pit which he has digged
privily for his fellow man, is a ques-
tion which we ltaye for the casuist
to discuss and for others to decide.
Looking back upon the history of
the San Francisco Chronicle from its
Inception TO Tie present dark and
bloody day of its existence, who shall
say that the anguish felt by the wild
owed and aged mother who bends
above the dead body OF q son whose
iilial piety none may dispute, is deep
er or darker than that OF hearts which
have been raclled and brains that
have been set on fire hy the merclless
lashings of the pens which, shame to
the craft of writers, have ever been
ready TO 90 the bidding OF their dead
master, and remorselessly lift the
veil from the shameful record Of so
cial lapses, because OF which the
world would have been better had
they been left to the oblivion in
which shame should be buried out of
sight? We speak now of the inner
history of this journal, not that rec
ord Of triumph over physical obsta-
cles and political foes and, here and
there, a giant wrong, against which,
obedient TO the popular voice, or sub
seryient 10 n personal interest, il has
now and then lifted IFS hand TO
smite. or its inner history we speak;
of the long catalogue of "sensations"
in which the mystery Of the bridal
chamber, the sorrowfnl story OF a
domestic fcud, the dark chapter Of
an adulterous crime, the weak and
silly story of weak wonan's struggle
to achieve social distinction ut the
expense Of all that a sensible woman
should hold dear, have been sought
for, ferreted out, dressed in all the
meretricious tinsel with which the
pen of the half starving Bohemian
could deck them withal, and then
flung broadcast upon the page and to
the winds, to be chuckled and glOat-
ed over, and thrust before weeping
eyes and left to rankie in quivering
bosoms and in broken hearts. OF
that inner history which records
the unsullied reputation of worthy
men blackened with a diabolical in
genuity, and the honest man cowed
into silence and driven by the fear Of
the scorpion lash Of an envenomed
foe TO forego an honorable ambition
lest he too should be made a mark
Tor the slings and arrows of a self-con-
stituted rival whose sole criterion was
success. Who shall say that in this
reference to the inner history CT the
Chronicle we do more than hint at the
measures it has employed, the course
it has pursued, the record It has
made? What wonder is il that,
maddened by the persistence with
which it has followed, sIeuth like, ats
chosen track, hunted animal has at
last turned at bay and, daring all, has
siIeneed the leader of cIamorous
pack forever yelping at its heels. We
neither naoralize upon the result nor
justify it. The we'll poised man who
is innocent Of n SANDER will live it
down. Murder only doubles crime.
Never yet since Cain went forth a
wanderer with the brand upon his
brow, did it condone an offence or
wipe out stain. I1aIloch's conti-
nence is none the less suspected be-
cause his son has slain tie suspected
author Of fresh, or, more properly
revamped reflections upon this chaste
clergyman who first surrounds him.
self with a mob, where for the time
he is safe, and then denOunces an
aged woman as some time harlot.
In the acl of the son is reflected the
spirit Of the father. A professed
Ctt.;st;a,, Lo x,r;.tos ,r,Iov ot,o.o.oa