Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1886-11-20
YOUa COFFIN,
Am Ar 1IIE ULT

AM IL II
NOVEMBER 6, 1886
SIR:-I wish to inform YOU that you better
keep your dam mouth shut and not talK about
the hnlghts OF lauur so much rs you have been,
and about the irish. Their Is u certain crowd
OF you. their is you. Tut, Hamlet and YOUR
gOd dam spy that black leg ed son OF u bitch
lers while you de the dirt. il that would not be
the Case way do Nou always put him on as ofi-
Ger, why don't you lake and Old cluzen instead
of that bucher. We are watching all OF You
aGd take care the first chance We get we Will tx
Al vi your crowd, yuu can all count your
days II you donG iooH out and tell that Mink
TO Is to stay away from this town. and You
owens your gousc Is cooked the tifst night we
get Il chance aua Ham eIts too.
By order of the
Try and fad out who.
Tnis letter came tnrOugn IN mali. dated Lex
ingtun, No. November 10 1885. and addressed
TO tue lily MArsnai. exlngion, Mo"
Messrs. owen an II an EFT request US to say
that tney are GU the lookout, aud that when
tn p. rson VINO writes the letter undertakes 10
'iix'' tn,m, that he would Dettr be Very 1--we
ly about IL If he uOes not desire TO get into
trouble
SO much 70, ths' but there is another and Il
more serious ASPECT OF this Case Are the Mol
lie MIaguIre methods OF Pennsylvania to lie
transpianted 10 Missouri, and whenever an
Ollie y OF the lIw, or my other person tor that
matter, becomes obnoxious to II certain KIND of
people. ne they u be threatened with collins
and skulls AMI cross bones and promises OF
Death IN the dark
Ii would be uuiIst to attribute su;h a course
TO tEe bitter eft N mt In the knlghts Of LIbOr or
To ANY decent llishman; but here 1t lie; the letter
bear, upon 1t the impress OF coming from u
rlctoiIS Knight of Labor and Irisnman. 1t Is
5uCn crIG rs a. this IN the sacred name OF labor
that bring the Efforts of lis organization into
disrepuie ant even into contempt 1t IS tho
duty OF the knights pl Labor OF this vicinity TO
Investigate this matter; ascertain. II possible,
who is the author Ui the letter, and to repudiate
It's sentiments IL may ke said that 1t Is only
an anonymous letter and that ii is unworthy of
Notice; nut no one knows better than do The
members of the order whom We are addressing
the terrible use u which SUCH anonymous letters
nave been put in this country in the past.
Let us understand one another all around.
The sooner we do, the better Tor all parties.
Above all things, whatever wrongs are TO be
riEh'cd. this is II country OF law and order, In
which murder can never become popular As 4;
corrective nt supposed Ills.
A careful re-readiug of our comments
above given fails to reveal any. cause
for the harsh structures made upon
them by the Assembly. There Is not
an unkind word or %intimatiom in them
toward the knights OF Labor. We
should have said the same thing to tbs
Masonic order or United Workmcn, of
which orders we are a member, under
similar circumstances. We deny that
tOc asserted, iHttnafed or assumed that
the letter ,oaS Written By u Knight OF
Laj0T or IriShman.. How could we?
We do not know and have no means
even of guessing who wrote it. We
suppose that in this matter we are still
left the liberty OF our opinion, and
that political opponents, for political
purposes, are not to put words into our
mouth and ideas into Our head which
we do not entertain. What we did
say was this:-"H would be unjust 10
attribute such Il course to The better ele-
ment IN the knights Of LaGOr or to ana
decent HiShntan; but here it is; the
letter bears upon it the impress of com.
ing from a vicious Knight of Labor
and Irishman." What we intended to
convey was. that the letter judged from
its face as a genuine expression of
malice and proposed revenge could
bear that construction only. The com.
mittee in its address bears out the same
idea, when it says the letter is Il libel
against the knights of Labor. If il
did not bear the impress of coming
from Il knightOf IabOriu what would il
be Il libel upon that order? We did
not assert and do not now do so, that
the letter comes from a friend or foe OF
the knights of Labor; that it is GEM
inc or spurious. In any light that it is
looked upon ii is a rascally letter and
deserves denunciation as such.
Messrs. Collins, Vernon and Kelley
contciGn our advice as unsolicited, and
yet they pay it the highest honor they
could confer upon it by following
it In denonncimg the writer of the letter
and repudiating his sentiments. These
gentlemen have 4 very mistaken
idea of the duties of journalism if they
believe that a newspaper must wait
before it expresses its views upon pub
lie questions to lie invited 10 do so by
persons IN interest, and they mistake
the temper of public opinion If they
think that by abusive language they
can deter newspapers from illusions to
matters pertaining to their order.
Ii there Is any political malice in
this matter IT does not elnanate from
the lnteiIigencer. The letter was, un.
collected by Us, placed in orr hands fol-
publication by a republican, the mar
shal of this city, MIR. Jos. Z. Owen
He very plainly expresses his views
concerning it, elsewhere. He may be
all wrong regarding it, and it may be
a forgery perpetraled by some person
TO injurc the hn ghts of Labor, but i,