New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-03-31

| from the mind Of Colonel John FELLOWS
the important news shall DO given accurately ana
concsciy, and the unImportant excluded Let a
toa page, and half Of that page placed under d the
supervision Of able and sincere Democratic odltor
able and sincere Republican editor With equal equal
ability and enforced honesty, both Sides ADDRESSING
the same audience, the results wond necessarily DO
determined by the weight Of truth.-(Isosster John
son In North American Review
This double party organ would be marked
Improvement upon so-called independent Jour
nalism which is nothing If not partisan But
if we know this public, it does not want sofia
page of politics every day in the week, even with
heavy black line drawn through the middle.
We are afraid Mr.. johnson himself would find
his ideal newspaper pretty hard to read Is
there anything to prevent his buying two news
papers of a morning-say The Sum and IHE
! TRIBuNr-which represent faithfully enough
Democratic and Republican princlplesT
Ono Of the correspondents suggests this ticket :
For President, Grover Cleveland, of New York;
for Vice President, Allen G.. Thurman, of Ohio
Well, if the Democrats make these nominations
they ought to adopt this platform: Resolved,
That we believe in the tail wagging the dog.
| The Board OF Aldermen have passed upon the
Mayors rapid-transit plan in that easy-going'
off-hand fashion which is characteristic OF thS
eminent body of statesmen. They pronounce IL
unconstitutional defective in detail and contrary
to the sound doctrine Of hOme-rule. After dong
this they probably felt that they had done good
davis work: and we presume that some Of them
went to their beds on Tuesday night with
the fixed belief that the whole thing was settled.
/ Well. is itp The Aldermen's action was taken
ostensibly in the interest of the people. Strange,
] .I.o 4ho donft
dsinterested action Of their alleged representatives
at the City Hall.
While General Sherman has disdained to reply
! to Senator Hampton's challenge respecting Tie
! burning of Columbia he allows The NOrth AmefF
can Review" to publish letter which he mas re-
| ccived from Captain Wood of the Regular Army,
: bearing directly upon the controversy. Inc
writer describes in detail the circumstances In
which the Union Army approached the city on
the cventful day of its capture and destruction
He WAS in one of the four Iowa regiments which
| headed the advance and was in the irst ooat-
load of volunteers who crossed the Congaree whlie
General Logan was laying pontoons. lie states
that the depot was burning when they caught
their first glimpse of the city and before Union
| ,old;ar had crossed the river When seventy
five men had been carried the Congaree by Hat
boats an advance made TO the State House
These were the first Union soldiers Oh inc eroun'
and they took possession of the Capitol TWO hours
before General Logan received the Mayors sur
render of the town. AS they hurried through the
streets in sxrmish line they passed long pile OF
hailed cotton, which had been set on fire in sew
eral places either by General Hampton's soldiers
mr. nv the residents themselves. high wind was
blowing at the time, and the flames rapidly com
municated with the town. Captain Wood denic;
most emphatically that the Union soldiers WERE
either responsible for the destruction OF the tow
or guilty of any acts OF vandalism "au'
HAMPTON" he remarks, " knows as surely as M
is q living man that his command set fire 10 thai
cotton and indirectly burned down the City o.
Columbia, and his reiterations of innocence con
vince me not only of his consciousness OF gulit
but also of personal motive, be that what Il
nav This is conclusive evidence from an eye
witness that the depot and the cotton were burn
ing before the Union soldiers entered the Town
and that the conditions were favorable for {
general confagratcn.