The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-04-25
DAMAGES.
County Treasurer Reid
and his Libel Suit.
He wants $4,000 from
J. B. Danforth.
The Article upon which Suit
Hinges.


plaintiff in the case of D. o. Reid,ex-county
treasurer of Moline, against j. b. Dan
forth, editor and proprietor OF SO called
newspaper Rock Islander, was filed in the
circuit clerks Office.
The document is voluminous as it covers
about thirty pages of legal cap closely
written. and has been carufully prepared
by W. a. Gest, Wilkison, Kenworthy &
Beardsley attorneys for Mr.. Reid
The plaintiff sues to recover $4,000 for
damages caused by the publication in the
weekly paper, of certain malicious ar
ticle accusing Reid of being defaulser,
and bad official generally. The publication
occurred on the first of January. 1881. and
at several times since that date.
THE DOCUMENT
sets forth that whereas the plaintiff Is
good, true honest, just and faithful citizen
of this state and county. and as such has
always conducted himself; and until the
committing Of the grievances by the de:
PENDANT Danferth, the said Reid was al
ways respected and esteemed by his neigh
bors. And whereas the plaintiff had never
been suspected to have been guilty of
| theft or robbery or any other crime. or
guilty of any crime, and the said Danforth
well knowing the premises. but greatly en-
joying the happy state and condition of
maliciously intending to injure the said
Reid and to bring him into public scandal,
infamy and disgrace, and to cause 1t to be
suspected and believed that Reid was
guilty of theft and robbery did on the
first day of January 1881, falsely, wicked
ly and maliciously compose and publish
in newspaper called .'TAe Rock Is
Eaader,'
A CERTAIN LIBEL
as follows:
If the people want theiying officials
looked after they must send supervisors
who are not afraid to do it. Let the peo-
pie think of these things when they choose
| supervisors next April and elect men who
are capable and who have no party reason
for shielding public robbers. The people
can prevent robberies of this sort by send
ing competent men, who are not republi
cans, to the county board. The county
officials are all republicans, and republican
supervisors are not to be trusted to expose
their own party Office holders. Thomas
and Reid and Harson should all be requir
ed to pay up, and Harson should resign as
Perkins has done. The republican party
will find it big load to carry so many de
| faulters. The county has been systemati
| cally robbed for % vears,-but the repub
lican managers have done their best to GOV
er it up.
DAY LIGHT
has been let in upon some of the robber-
les. There are more to come. The ring
is well entrenched and defiant. 1t held the
county offices and always managed to get
few representatives into the board of su
pervisors and at the head of different
committees when they could, or have here
tofore, succeeded in leading eff upon false
trail any member of the board who showed
| any improper inquisitiveness as to what
the county officers were doing. In the
present board of supervisors, one of the
ring members, an ex treasurer and. default
er-as it has been shown-was chairman
of the finance committee, and he expert
enced no difficulty in finding the accounts
OF the clerk, treasurer and sheriff severally
correct. That they found large defalca
ton in the county treasury, and two ex
treasurers. one of whom was the chair
man of the finance committee OF the board
of supervisors were defaulters.
| The records show that for many years
past, the court house has been citadel of
| thieves, entrenched around about and pro-
tected and defended by the partisan votes
of a party. the masses of which blindly fol-
low their leader without asking why or
wherefore.
| d. O. REID
escaped service by skipping over to Iowa
and the whole ring have escaped indictments
at this term Of court by ways that Are dark
and tricks that are vain; but there will be
other grand jurors and perhaps other de-
yelopments."
| The declaration contains ten coun Is and
enumerates all the special articles com
planned of, the majority of which have
been grouped together as noted above.
It concludes with a paragraph asking
damages to the amount of SIG, 600.