The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-04-29
ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH.

We had hoped That the further dis
c~usaion OF the question Of voting a sub
scription to the c., e. q. & G.. X. r..
would not DO marked by that temper
and bitterness and partisan spirit that
have heretofore distinguished the course
Of tho Press and Banner in this matter.
We had thought that that paper was
sincere in its utteranco good friends
and neighbors is it asking too much Of
you to let this matter drop p We had
indulgsd the hope that the straightfor-
ward, candid and conservative letter Of
General Hagood would have disarmed
the hostility and rancor of the Press
and Banner, and that it would have
been influenced thereby to cesse its ef-
forts to impede the progress Of enter
prise and advancement. We had hoped
thnt at least the letter would receive ro-
spsctful chnsideration-all of our hopes
have failed Of f~ruition. In its review
Of General Hagood's letter the Press
and Banner has surpassed itself in the
spitefulncss Of its u%ttcranccs. It has
garbled, perverted and misconstrued
that letter in u manner not at all to its
credit for fairness. 1t has pounced up
on the letter, and it does seem to US that
its sole purpose in it's criticism has been
to zee in how many particulars it could
find fault. The cagorness to criticise ad-
versely has led it to do General Hagood
great injustice, and has led it into
u%nfairness and perversion in its writing.
In the f~irst-place in printing the let
ter the Press and Banner has put GER
tain portions Of it upon which it con-
ceives that it can make a point in italics.
1t no where states that tho italics are it's
own, and not put there by General Ha-
good, bat leaves tho public &c draw the
inference that General Hsgood, himself
emphasized the parts Of the letter in
italics. Perfect fairness would have
dictated that the letter be printed just
~ it came from the hand of tho writer.
In another place, tho Press anil Ban
ner has quietly cut one of General Ha-
goods sentences in two, using the half
that could be distorted. to its use. and
leaving unpublished that part which it
did not want. 1t quotes Gcn.ral Ha-
good AZ saying "The friends of the Road
are prepared to guarantee nothing"
Whereas the sentence should read thus,
1.-THE friends Of the Road are prepared to
guarantees nothing but earnest effort to
success9" (itaiics ours.) Now if the
words "earncst efforts to success mean
nothing and are unimportant why did
the Fress and Tanner think i aeees-
: q omit. them Has any Journal
the riehtt 70 cut : ssnteItce IN two, max
q 2 eoispiets ssnteHcs OF halt Of II,
thereby STEERING the meaning These
words were important for that they
SHOW the candor and honesty Of the
friends OF tho road" as contra dis.in-
8a,shed from that spirit Of secrecy and
exciuslveness charged against them by
the fress n BGnner and the M.
alum.
10 another place the Press and Ban
"eT quotes: There now remains dse
and unpaid by the railway company
certain balances Of salary to"its off.
GERS" Here the Press and Bunner
stops and proceeds to expcnd its fund
OF sarcasm and ridicule upon that
statement. It seeks to mako it appear
that that sentence confirms tho fears it
. always had that there are heavy ar
seaTages OF salaries to be paid to the Of
icers OF the company, and yet the very
next sentence in the letter disposes of
his very assertion, and proves its utter
i~ncorrectness. 1t is almost a part of
the preceding sentence: 1t il certainly
90 intimately connected with it hat it
cannot be divorced from it, ~ the Press
"nd Banner has sought to do, without
entirely changing tho meaning of the