The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-04-08
THAT LABEL. SUITE.
Thought to be j. l.. Martin, baciicdby
the smith ring VS. free speech and
Independent newspapers
in Vermont.

Asbricfly announced in our last issue,
the Editor of this paper was arrested
last Thursday on Il charge of crimnall\
ibcling l.. Birncy Lamson, post-otiice
Inspector, of Ilinsdale, n. II. The
complaint charges that the SITTER insin-
uated that he took brides in the Danb!
affair, besides some grog; that ii called
him. or insinuated, that he was a mean
cowardly whelp &c. &c, through 10
pages. He claims damages to the a.
mount of Sc 900, rather modest for a
man signing himself, in this part-your-
hair-in-the-middle style.
Last January successful attempt
was made to place the post-otiice at So.
Londonderry in the hands of the Atkins
Smith alliance to beat Edmunds, using
for that purpose. an incompetent man
without standing or character i'll his
community. This the SITTER fought to
the best of its ability, not only because
of this utter incompctency but that ii
involved, as it believed, gross injus-
tice to the then incumbent. In this |
fight, j. L. Martin, Esq. Of Bratt!e-
boro, NJ. II. Goddard, Esq. Of Lnd- |
low and l.. Birncy Lamson were free
" criticised. That L. Birnry was IL |
bcled it is needless TO pass All opinion,
as the matter can now be settled by. the !
courts. That these criticisms were !
keenly felt by j. l.. Martin admits of
no doubt. He felt them i'll his bones |
for no one knew better than he the to-
tai incompetency and unworllnncss of |
Goddard, whom he first Recommended |
to Hiram Atkins for appointment, as
postmaster. lie also knew that the |
people of this town, where h. had but
recently resided, were perfectly aware
Of his knowledge in the premises. Of
course when he set this thing ag0ing
he had no expectation that j! Wouid 60
to the public. He expected - lay back |
in the dark and have the worH. for the
"big boss" 60 right along. But unfor-
tunatcly, for him, one of the parties in
interest had to much mouth and Hiram |
wrote. to many letters, so the SITTER got |
hold of it, uncovered his tracks and cX-
posed the whole plot and his connection
herewith. This was humiliating in the |
extreme. And was without remedy, |
the leading facts being undcniable. Al
though he felt the disgrace and the dam |
age to him, politically, he was obliged |
to look to other sources to crush the
SITTER, than bringing Sut IN his o'o0
name.
Again, in March 1881, about four
months after the establishment of this
paper it had its first editorial upon the
governor question, then being discuss
by all the State papers, and wherein
was foreshadowcd its position i'll refer
encc to the Smith ring. This at once
brought Mr.. Martin to interview its
editor. lie came with that suavc and
easy manner and style well known to
hundreds of our readers. 1t was anat-
ter that to him, personally, made no
difference. He, cared not whom the
SITTER supported for governor, but he
did hate to see it attack Gov. Smith,
because he (Smith) had done so much
for us. He then appealed to the editors
sense of gratitude by detailing wherein
Smith had tried to befricnd and assist
him. This, in less than three days, he
ascertained to be absolutely groundlesS
and false, and having only followed his |
honest convictions no dcviatiens were
made therefrom. Now a new pro-
gramme was entered upon. 1t was well |
known that the SITTER had 10 money
to back it; that it stood only upon its
merits and the labor of its proprietor,
both with the pen and at the case. So
it was given ont by the ring that it
would never see the end of its first year.
Mr. Martin said, as we are told, that he |
did not "wastc his powder on chip
munks," and all hands quietly lay back |
to see the poor thing die. But it didn't |
die "worth n cent Truth, Justice |
and The People 3cerc on It's si8c. 1t |
passed its first year, it passed rs second |
year and entered upon its bird year
with its advertising columns boycoited, |
as far as possible, by the r;ag. The |
post-office fight came up. Then surely |
it was going to die. It's course would |
loose it subscribers. But, strange as it
may seem to these gentlemen, ii again
struck the popular heart and ubserip-
tons poured in upon it, and lave con-
tinued so to do, unrenlitting up TO
this moment.
Now, this gentleman say in his
heart, something must be dou to sup
press this saucy sheet that da.e5 to bid |
defiance to Gov. Smith and his mini
Ons; that dares to tell the people of
his methods and caucus tixings, and
hold up to them honest men and hon
est political workings. So this Lam
son matter is seized upon. Here was
Hi opportunity lof Hiiu W til ann sup
press the SITTER, while he c)nld lay
back in the dark, as he thought. Aud
we believe, and that belief is STARED in
by scores of well informed men, that
In this suit Lamson is but feure-head'
and that it (the suiO should read j. L.
Martin, backed by the "ring," against
q free press. the object being to sup