Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1880-08-21

THE FATE.

THE LESlN
:. THE sLANDERER'S FATE.
4 The republican organ in this city il
: totally devoid OF respect for truth. No
> long since We saw its editor reprovse
i. by MIR. Blackwell for a false publica
!, ton, when he replied, "Haven't 1 the
right to publish what l please in thin
paper?", entirely oblivious to the fact
that neither he or any otHef person ha!
the right TO publish things which are
not true, especially when such publica
ton asperses the character OF an indi
! vldual. 1t is bad to tell a lie 1t j;
q thousand times worse to print it,lidis'
seminating it broadcast in every direc'
ton, laying it before hundreds of read.
ers to do its insidious work. in many in.
stances where no denial. ven if vouch'
safed by the same press. can reach. But
what shall be said. OF the newspaper
which will, week alter week, month af-
ter month. and year alter year. manu-
facture out OF whole cloth,o false and
slanderous articles against gentlemen
Of good character and untarnished repu.
tatlon. merely because they are of an
Opposing political III party? A paper
which has no regard for the reputa-
ton of others. A paper which, ha-
bltually calling its political opponents
by an opprobrlous epithet which is. in
itself, an impugnment OF their honesty,
finds fault with those opponents as rude
when they den0unce it asa liar for
falsely accusing them. A paper which
has the meanness to manufacture ma
hgnant and libelous accusations, but has
not the manhood born of even a SUPER
fetal selt-respect which would suggest
to it the good policy OF retractiug a mis-
representation whenlexposed. 1t is the.
slanderer's tate to wingthea contempt of
all decent people. and NJ man can read
the two subjolned articles without de-
spising their author. they do not COM
stitute an isolated case, of,wrong, either,
but are only a part of a miserable, .pi-
ratical warfare which has been car ried
on by the same concern for years: "a
From the Lexington Register, August IL. ] z.
The court house ring and a fe,c others ,Uho
haue Becn faken fmto eoNfldenceif oS'tHe sake
Of policy, ARE 0ob6kissS ~ che Properfy'of
poor people "ndsr that nsonstroMs eviction
sltraOs, commonly called the back-tar iaiy.
One poor mans honse and lot was given to one
of these gentlemen for the trlding sum of twelve
dollars. There is hush money somewhere. The
property Of poor men is being quietly seized and
q curtain drawn down to conceal the TACT. Words
fail to convey to the minds of the people the
monstrous outrage being perpetrated upon the
laboring CLASSES in this state. In every county
there is q ring of capitalists and politicians who
are robbing the poor people of all their posses
siens, and BECAUSE these miserable hypocrites'
are democrats Of wealth and able to purchase
influence. the leaders of this party and the news.
papers stand back and see the poor man driven
from under his own ROOT and his property taken
for back taxes by the voraciou5 cormorants who
hang about the court house like coyotes around
q dying budale. waiting like them to sap the life
blood Of their victim before the CARCASS is cold.
The back-tax law of this state is undeniably the
most nfamou law ever enacted, and even the
Sultan ofTurkey or the Khedive OF Egypt could
never conceive Of Il better plan to persecutc their
submissive.subjects and replenisii their exhaust
ed treasures. .aG.... mol ,!,9ay- g-
The county officers, though honest
and competent gentlemen. who attend
conscientiously and well to all their du-
ties, and who are repeatedly, Endorsed
by a large majority OF the people at the
polls are habitually spoken Of by the
Register as ''the courthouse ring"
The courthouse ring" therefore. ac-
cused as above OF an outrage on their
unfortunate constituents, denied the ac-
cusation in our last issue in very en-
phatic language. Instead Of making
its positive assertion good, here is what
that paper has to say this week. Read
1t, people OF Lafayette county. and
judge OF the character of the paper.
GFrom the Lexington Register, August 10
In our last issue We mentioned the TACT that
there NIGHT POSSIBLY he a ring in this city
engaged in the business of buying up lands sold
for back-taxes. and We stated that it was our
belief that certain men whs hang around the
courthouse We're taking the advantages offered
by this nefariOus law to rob the poor people OF
their property. But we did not intimate that AL
the officers of the county were implicated in the
speculation, yet every one of these gentlemen
submitted TO be interviewed by the editor of the
Intelligencer, and all of them used such Ian
guage toward us personally that instead OF clear
ing themselves of the charge, they left the in-
| preston that by abuse they hope to conceal their
transactions. We do not know, nor did We say
that the officers were parties to the robbery, YET
they saw fit to make it appear that they We're the
I ones ut whom the attack was aimei. If they are
guilty or not guilty the assault they made upon
US personally, neither condemns or acquits
them, but they Gun rest assured that they have
\ not elevated themselves in the, eyes of the pub
lie. Capt. Conner says We are the ''bOss liar"
II his head contained as much brains US his
abdomen does bowels. he would not use such
language publicly until he was satisfied that he
had been injured. AS for the remarks oil Sheriff
Mountjoy, we can only say that we are not SUR
prised at his profanity. Mr.. Ireland should have
known that no reference was made to him., yet
he, too, comes boldly to the front, and denies
all knowledge OF the back tax swindle. air.
Steele says that he never reads the Register, but
| he knows better than that. He reads it as reg
ularly. we dare say. as any person in the coun-
ty. Col. Blackwell says that he knows of no
"ring'' in this county. We are not surprised at
this, for 1t is not likely he would be admitted to
such an organization, as he loves to talk too
well. and he would prove q troublesome MEM
Der. When we said that it was our opinion that
the back.tax law offered ringsters an opportun-
ity to rob the poor people OF the state of their
property. We spoke the sentiments of nine
tenths of the people, and We have nothing 10
apologize Ter and certainly nothing to relract.
1t may be possible that the whole matter will be
exposed at some time in the future, and then
what We have said will prove 10 be true.
In one issue, 1.-THE courthouse ring and
a few others who have been taken into
confidence for the sake of policy, ARE
gobbling up the property of poor pee
ple." and in the next, FIN our last issue
we mentioned the fact that there might
possibly be a ring in this city engaged
in the business OF buying up the lands
sold for back taxes" sc. o. tempera !
o, mores! ., shame, where is thy
blush?
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