Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-01-29
The Ashland Lumber King
Sweeps Away a Hundred
Mean Lies.
The Struggl of Rings to Ruin
Public Officers Whom
They Cannot Rule.
Newspaper Lies Paid For to
Create Enmity Towards
Colonel Villas.
A Bit of Inside History that
the People Should Read.


John III. knight appeared in the Mil
waukee Journal of Friday evening.
1t brushes away a swarm OF base
falsehcods about the postmaster gen
eral. most OF which were invented
and circulated at great expense by
ring of Internal scoundrels. Read the
story:
Col. John III. Knight, of Ashland,
spent the time between trains IN the
city recently. The colonel is a bust
ness man, lawyer, politician, and on
the top shelf of all OF these vocatlons
He is also the nearest and most init
mate friend Postmaster General Villas
has in the world. They were class
mates together twenty five years ago
at Albany, and for many years past
have been associated in business ven
lures, principally the lumber bust
ness. The colonel was enthusiastic
and volubie on the business outlook.
lie closed deal yesterday in Chicago
for pine stumpage to the amount OF
200, 000, 600 feet, and wants still more.
He is secre tary and treasurer OF the
Superior Lumber company. AS &c
politics, the colonel declared he knew
nothing. absolutely nothing. He did
not know that anybody wanted any
nomination. lie hoped they did not.
There were too many nominations,
too many elections and too much pol
tiles altogether.
TRIBUNE LIES.
But, when shown an article in the
Chicago Tribune attacking Col. Villas,
he frightened up and knew some
thing Il had not seen that, SAID
he: 81 don't read The Tribune, | told
Medill when he abused Gen. Grant so
that time, | never would read another
copy of his paper, and | never have.
But, reverting to the article, this is
lie, and the worst of it is, it is a paid
lie. Some OF the newspapers have
teemed for months with lies of this
kind respecting Postmaster General
Villas, and they are awful, whOpping
lies, too But he don't mind them,
and has never denied or affirmed them
by single utterance. | tell you,
Villas is regular Sam Tllden in his
political stoicIsr1. You see, all these
newspaper attacks On Villas, particu
larIy those of Washington CORES
pondents, are parts in the programme
of the most damnable conspiracy ever
discovered.
A CONSPIRACY TO RUIN A PUBLIC MAN
THAT HAS NO PARALLEL.
understand all about this matter,
and if you have time | will tell you
Villas, you know, refused to pay over
to .he Pacific Mail Steamship com
pany $400 600, which the last congress
left in his discretion to pay or not.
The Pacific Mail Steamship company
is one of an aggregation of inccrpora-
tions, consisting of the Central, Union
and Southern Pacific railroad com
pahies, the Western Union Telegraph
company and the Bell Telephone com
pany. These six corporations
are owned and controlled by sub
stantiaily the same persons, and
for years they have brought
their combined power to bear
upon congress for a subsidy to their
Pacific Mail Steamship company, and
failing to get it in that form, succeed
ed in getting $500, 900 appropriated
by tho last congress to be expended
for their benefit, under the discretion
of the postmaster general. That OIL
Ger refused to expend the money in
the manner these people desired, and
any one who will take the trouble To
read what the postmaster general has
to say upon the subject in his report,
If he has any sense Of fairness at all
will conclude that not only was he
right, but that he has made it so clear
that no congressman, who has the
least regard for his reputation, will
ever vote either subsidy
for that company or for
an appropriation designed for
the purpose which the agents of that
combination secured to be incorpor-
ated in the pOstotiice appropriation
act last year This combination also
owns the New York Tribune and 9th
err papers and have a CORPS of news
paper correspondents at Washington,
whom they pay for writing such lei
lcss and articles for newspapers as
they are directed to write by the com
binatiou. These Washington letters
are to be found almost daily in tae
New York Tribune, Cincinnati Ga
zette. Inter Ocean, and in one or more
newspapers in all the large cities of
the u. s. These people having found
that IT was getting unpopular TO de-
fend by ingeniously devised and false
statements III respect to the action of
the postmaster general in withholding
from them the 800, 000 have for some
mouths been employing their powers |
OF invention TO belittle him in the es-
tlmatiou OF the people, and if possible |
to drive him out of the cabinet, or
render his position so embarrassing as
to either make his life miserable or
yield to their corrupt demands. In
all this, let me tell you, they will ut
terly fail. These men do not. vet |
know the man they are dealing
with. Like the ancient Scotch clan,
he will blde his time, and will not be
rendered unhappy meantime by the
hcuclous appropriately with wkicn
these people are hemming him in.
KEEPS UP THE LIES.
Il noticed a Washington letter by
Washington correspondent who |
writes for several papers, (and much
of it is furnished him by the attorney
of the combination), in the Pioneer
Press some time ago, on the first page,
in which he had a tissue of false state
ments ingeniousiy put together 20
show how the postmaster general had
violated the law in refusing to let the
Pacific Mail company have this $780,
600, and on the inside, in one of
Wheelock's ablest editorials, he de-
Tended with great strength the action |
of the postmaster general, and closed |
it with a warning 10 the republican |
party against espousipg the cause of |
this Pacific Mail company in that |
matter. But the correspondent keeps |
up the clatter of his dirty work, and |
by the most monstrous falsehoods |
about The personal conduct of Col. |
Villas, seeks 10 belittle and iniure him |
in the estimation of his country
men.
THE THANKSGIVING LIE.
Not long since this correspondent
had lengthy letter in which he stat |
ed that Col. Villas refused to pay the |
clerks in his department the day be-
fore Thanksgiving. as WAS customary
and as was prachced by all the other
departments, and went on to say that