Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1888-09-04
a EAMlIY ORGAN.

A FAMILY ORGAN.
As we have stated before the commu
nifty at large ms no interest in the fac
tional and commercial reasons which are
made the basis for the present attack
upon Levy Court Commissioner Hick.
man. Every Evenings motive is only
inviting contcmpt and its course is hardly
a factor in the contest It lays much
stress in it's desperation upon the meth
DDS employed by the tax collectors for
years. for decade at least before Mr..
Hickman become a commissioner. Who
oan recall the number Of Every Evening
that condemned these methods in oil the
years that have gone by2 It never lifted
its voice ia defence Of the ballot until, as
II says, some Of these same peculiar
methods were used upon its own fac
tional followers More than this, it is
stiT fresh in the memory of everybody
who lived here then and especially is It
vivid in the minds Of those gentlemen
who were made the objects Of its bitter
attack that when delegation Of bust
ness men Of this city, a delegation Of the
foremost men Of the community, went be
fore the Levy Court and protested against
the partisan action Of that body. Every
Evening held them up 10 the ridicule of
IFS readers, charged them with imperti-
nence and bluntly told them that bust
ness men had no business in politics.
When Every Evenings friends were
reaping the benefits Of "a government by
assessors and collectors, il defended the
assessment laws and their execution.
When Every Evenings friends are made
to suffer because Of those laws, il dishon-
estly attempts to wreak it's spite on a
man who was certainly not directly
responsible for any Of the things that it
charges.
But our contemporary appears even in
a worse light when we recall all the Incl
dents Of last winters shameful proceed
ings at the City Hall. When the county
assessors, aided and abetted by Mayor
Rhoads's officers, deliberately and in
many cases violently refused 20 assess
thousands of clamoring citizens, what
did Every Evening do or sayY Search its
files and what viii you find? Its local
columns were filed with distorted and
dishonest reports Of the outrageous bust
ness, while in its editorial columns it
squirmed and wriggled and finally apollo
gized for the crimes.
Nor was this an. When the charge
was made by reputable citizens that the
assessors books contained the names Of
hundreds Of their partisans who under
this assessment law had no right to be
assessed. and an application was made to
the United States District Judge for
the appointment Of supervisors to seas
the books. who came TO the rescue Of the
rcoundrels and Of the infamous law which
they were executing in its true intent
and spirit2 Who came to the rescue Of
the robbers of the rights of the people
and defeated the people by mere tech
nicalityg Not Every Evening, but
Every Evenings owner and direc-
tor. If posterity wants 70 read the
history of the thousand and one polit-
ical crimes committed in Delaware dur
ing the last fifteen years, let it turn to
the files Of Every Evening All those
crimes are recorded there, recorded and
embellished with all the apologize
phrases known to the English language.
1t never said word against the villainies
perpetrated by assessors and collectors
until it suited its domestic. not it's public
interest to denounce ex-chief Of Police
Dougherty for the part that Mayor
Rhoadss officers took in the crime of
last winter. 1t is now repeating the same
cry when it suits its commercial, not its
public interest 60 do so.
The business men who were told a few
years ago by Every Evening that they
had no business in politics. are regarding
this contest from a purely business point
of view They know very well that the
assessors, and not the collectors and the
Levy Court, were responsible for the
grimes Of last winter They know too
that the owner and director Of Every
Evening was the first man to spring "a
the defense Of the assessors and theil
methods and that he did his best. EN-
ployed all the technical weapons at his
hand, to prevent an honest investigation
of the books Of the assessors. They
look at this question from the broas
ground Of the public good. They appre
ciate the fact that Mr.. Hickman
has been the only commissioner for man,
years who has been willing and able t.
get from the Levy Court such appropria
tions as wefe reeded by the city. The
appreciate that be has adequately repre-
scented Wilmington hundred IN the lev
Court lie obtained that to when th
hundred, paying one-half OF the tax c
AAa county, was entitled, and the bushes