Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-09-13
DEMOCRATIC FALsEHOOD.

Some time ago the Democratic lead
ers gave out the information that thi,
was not to be campuign of slander anC
lndecency so far as they are concerned
but "a campaign of intellect" Know
ing the character and instincts of the
mouthpieces of the Democratic party we
did not place much confidence in the as
sertiOn, and, therefore, we are not great
ly disappointed to see that the stock of
Democratic campaign "inteilect" has
been exhausted and that the party lead
ers have fallen back upon their old time
resources of downright lying and villifi-
cation.
The charge having been made that
General Harrison had said in 1877 that
the railroad strikers ought to be shot
down, and that one dollar a day was
enough for them, the Indianapolis Jour
nal offered reward of $1,000 for proof
that General Harrison ever made either
of these statements. This big premium
for Democratic lying and perjury was
too much of temptation for the Bour-
bon ballOt-box suffers and thugs of In
dianapolis, and they have made an effort
to secure it and make political capital
| out of the endeaYOr if nothing else.
Deputy United States District Attorney
Bailey, of that city, an odious politician
of the baser sort, obtained or eoncocted
statements from dozen of the strikers
that they heard General Harrison make
one or both Of the remarks referred to.
These statements were embodied in an
article signed by one E. F. Gould, Sec
retary of X. of l.. Assembly, and pub
lished simultaneously in all the leading
Democratic papers of the East and parts
of the West, and Gould made demand
for the $1,000.
The statements of the strikers above
referred to bear internal evidences of an
Infamous conspiracy to concoct and cir
culate wicked and abominable lie. The
statements are contradictory, in large
part refuting themselves, and showing
carelessneSs on the part of the scoun-
drelS who compiled them. Some of them
are attributed to jail birds and law
breakers whose evidence would not be
received under oath in any court of JUS
the challenge of the Journal to make |
oath to their statements. Others are as
cribed to men who promptly and pub |
licly repudiated any such utterances, !
among them IsOm Hughes, who is GER
tilted to as citizen of good repute and |
standing. Bailey's document was no !
sooner published than some of the lead
ing wOrkingmen of Indianapolis, who |
were identified with the strike in 1877, |
hastened to declare that it was Infamous
ly false in every particular. Among
these are John 0. Hicks, general yard
master of the c., l., st. l.. & G.. railway; |
Joseph Averill, general yardmaSter of
the Vandalia line; Joseph Sanger, secre-
tary Yardmasters' Association; Alexan-
der K. McAlpine, Superintendent West
ern Car Company, formerly master me-
chanic of the Bee Line road; Augustus
d. Shaw, assistant yardmaster c., c., C.
u L. railway; David S. Crawford, yard
Vandalia line; John Wethers,
switchman Big Four road; and William
2. Mcbride, engineer c., st. l.. & p. rail
way; all of whom were members of the
strikers committee in 1877 and present
on the occasion when General Harrison
was alleged by the Democratic liars
hunted up by Bailey and Gould to have
made the remarks attributed to him.
Mcdonald, General Daniel
McCauley, and ex-Mayor Caven, all
Democrats, have asserted that General
Harrison made no remarks whatever at
the conferences with the strikers in any
way unfriendly to the wOrkingmen; and
Henry McPeet, chairman of the strikers
have just published af1ida-
Wits affirming the entire falsity of the
charges against General Harrison.
The purpose of Bailey and Gould was
not to get the money offered by the Jour-
aGt for proofs, although they undoubt-
edly held out that inducement to the fel-
ows who signed the statements Bal {
ey and Gould knew better than to ex-
1ect that the money would be surren-
Tered on lying statements that no one
Jared to swear to, and that were repudi-
tied by some of the parties named. Z
Their purpose wigs to cOncoct an elabOr-
Ite and infamous lie for Democratic c
oapers to publish for readers who would q
lot be likely to see its exposure. To
he shame of American journalism be it t
aid that scores of Democratic papers :
AVE published the lie, even after its full l
nd complete exposure, and made the o
alsehoOd the bosis of editorials in which
he falsehOod is repeated. A dirtier, t
more scandalous exhibition of partisan !,
nalignity was never witnessed. The =
Democratic editors who are guilty of it L
re not fit for decent society. They are Il
pack of shameless liars and morally n
uilty of the perjury from which fear of r,
he law alone restrains them. Their ex- g
ibition of malicious and unprincipled i,
cal in this case is significant proof of o
ne desperation of the Democratic cause. Q