The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-09-22

IL is answer was eS / know him
to be u blackmailer and Office broker
He Is well known to all the heads of
departments, because he is always
bounding them for appointments,
basing his demand upon the pretense
that he is editing II soldiers paper.
Washington City is full of such cr"a.
lures as Bissell and Hall, who seek to-
traffic in the honOred name of the
soldier and to swindle him when they
can. When / was secretary of the
treasury | learned the character of
Hall, and refused to have anything to
do with him. Hence his anger ut me.
His scurrilous editorials are not. how.
ever. wholly inspired by malice.
am credibly informed that the promise
Of Il clerkship for his wife in one of
the departments is Il part of the con-
sidcration for them. will say further
that know by whom they are liz
spired, and by whose hand they are
distributed over this State, with re.
quests for publication. j have 70
voted more time to Bissell and ii Ill
than they are worth. Int they are an
known to the people of Minnesota and
i wish to present as accurate Il pnr-
trait of them as possible. am we'll
Informed who is behind them in
these attacks upon myself, and ut
some other time i may have some
thing more to say about their hackers.
Their co cOnspiratOrs in Monte.
video know that they have no, the
standing to injure any one by their
libels. and hence the plan of this
campaign has been to secure the pub
LEGATION of scurril Ous articles in Wash.
ingtOn City and then parade them m
their own columns as expressions of
Washington sentiment. No respecia-
Bile editor having been found vino
w0ald undertake such work, they
have been compelled to accept the
aid of Bissell and Hall.
1.-The third member of this quarirt
of libelers is an obscene little sheet
said to be published in WinOna. |
have never read "a copy of it, but am
informed that there is such paper.
It's name would not be recognized
outside of Winona, even if l could
remember it. Upon Investigation. l
learn that it is edited by a character.
less fellow who was recently import
ed into the State and hired to traduce
me. Not having brains enough to do
his masters work satisfactorily. one
c. II. SlOcum, who recently served
out his sentence III the Winona cOuu-
ty Jail for a crime committed while
postmaster at Blue Earth City. was
associated with him. I'his was Il
happy thought for the paper. for the
convict postmaster, fresh from the
retirement of his cell. is said to have
added piquancy as well as respecta-
bility to the concern. And the odOr
of the jail is in no way offensive to
his associates or employees. 1t was
hard on SlOcum, however, to be de-
graded from cOmpaniOnship with the
sneak thieves of the prison to that of
Bissell, Hall, Castle & Co.
1.-The fourth member of the libel
quartet is the st. Paul Dispatch. |
will not spend any time in sketching
its editor except to say that where
ever his paper is read the propriety
of placing Castles portrait along side
of Bissell, Hall, Slocum & Co. will be
at once recognized. For his insane
vaporings l have no feeling but con-
tempt, and so far as can learn the
people of Minnesota entertain the
same feeling. l should not consider
him worth noticing but for his c0nnec.
ton with the conspiracy of libelera,
and the picture would not he com.
plete without him.
"These four worthless publish and
republish in various forms the silly
and malicious falsehOods cOncOcted
by each other, and exclaim, Behold
the expressions of public sentiment! =
why don't Window answer our
charges? My only reply to one
and all of them is, when charges shall
come from a respectable source am
ready to answer, but to those black.
mailers. office brokers, libelers and
cOnvicts I have no reply to make.
The people OF this State have known
me for quarter of ii century, and to
them confidently refer my traducers
They are just in their judgments. and
there is no class of criminals whom
they deSpise more intensely than the
cowardly libeler. This may suffice
for the present. At some future time
1 may sketch few other portraits fol
public inspection"
at has teen reported by some OF
your opponents that you are immense.
ly wealthy. Have you anything to
say on the subject g.
~ have only this to say, that good
deal more than 90 per cent. of what
they assert about my property is
sheer fabrication and malicious false.
hood, repeated for political purposes.
l challenge them to point out one
tenth of the amount of property they
say own, and, if they will do So, !
promise them liberal compensation
for their trouble. l should feel eX.
ceedingly obliged to them for the
proof of my great wealth. They
either know where the property is, or
they do not speak the truth. l have
made Il moderate competence through
honorable and legitimate investments
well known to many of the people of
this State. In a country developing
as ours is, / do not think it is neces
sary for man to claim he is a pauper
in order to prove his honesty, and he
who does 80 pays very poor cOmpli.
ment to his own intelligence. l had
enough financial sagacity to save the
government over $12 ,000, 900 per an.
mum during my short administration
of the treasury department, and l
hope 1 have enough to honestly make
competence for my family. shall
certainly try to do so. The state
ments to which you refer are all of a
general character. If any respectable
man or newspaper will specify where.
in have ever made a dollar other
wise than legitimately and honorably,
l am ready to answer him."
"Have you any objection to stating
your position on the sawdust ques.
ton g.
Mot the least. The bill on that
subject was referred to the commit.
tee on commerce, of which l am not
member, and rs no report has been
made 1t has never been before the
senate for consideration and / have
never seen it. The persons who pro-
fess to have visited Washington to
promote the passage of the measure
never spoke to me on the subject. i
imagine some of them cared good
deal more to make political capital
out Of 1t than for the bill itself. ]
am Informed that the secretary of
war has been requested to report
whether the deposits of sawdust i'm.
pair navigation to such an extent as
to require congressional action, but
he has not yet reported. Few mel
have taken more interest in the i'm
provement of the Mississippi river
than myself, and when it shall be-
shown that from deposits of sawdust
or other cause, that great highway OF
commerce IS impaired, shall most
earnestly support any proper measure
to remove and prevent such obstruc
ton"