The Portland daily press., 1894-12-08
THE EXPRESS AND THE CITY MAR
Shall.

|
THE EXPRESS AND THE CITY MAR
| Shall.
The Evening Express seems to have
begun a systematic pursuit OF City Mar
shall Tricky. What it's animus IS we
cannot say definitely. There have not
been, so far as we know, any orders is
| sued for the Marshal to call at the GUS
| tom house for consultation which be has
treated with contempt. Experience mas
shown that anything of that SORT IS sure
to be speedily followed by vlolehs
eruptio on of virtue in the Express office.
But nothing of this kind has, SO far az
we have been able to discover. occurred.
| 1t may be that this attack upon the
| Marshal is a piece-of strategy. that the
Express has learned that the Argus was
| about to begin crusade against MIN,
and is trying " to draw its ire" VI
course the pretence for this attack is
virtue. a desire to purify the city; but
of course, NOBODY with intelligence en-
ough to know when it is time to go to
bed. is deceived for a moment by that.
From the time that the Express began
it's raid on the sheriff's office, two days
after Candidate. Plummer had refused to
PROSTATE himself before the Great Man
at the custom house, to the present day
there has not been one particle OF virtue
or sincere desire to purify the admins
tration of the laws in the performances
of this organ of discarded political
leader. Spite, revenge, disappointment,
and disposition to ruin now that rul-
ing has become Impossible. will ac-
count for them all.
The present raid on the Marshal prob
ably has two-fold purpose-to besmirch
the Marshal and to. discre1it tine Mayor,
who is responsible for his appointments.
The character of the campaign against
him is thoroughly characteristic. The
procedure is one largely of insinuation
and innuendo. Once. and only once,
throughout the crusade which began the
day befors the convention to nominate
candidate.for sheriff, has definite
charge:been made against particular in
diyidual, and the humiliating experience
which followed that experiment has
effectually prevented further recourse
to anything except sneak tactics. Most
of the firing at the Marshal has been at
such long range that the shot have fallen
short, and sufficed merely to inspire
contempt for the timidity and inefficien-
CIV of the gunners. But last night the
battery Tor shall we say the stinkpot)
was brought into closer range.
1t is fresh in the public mind that
few days ago policeman by the name
of Norton voluntarily confessed that he
had been in the habit, for long time,
of receiving money from. rumsellers tor
protection. The Evening Express has
been contending tor six months past
that an officer of the law who would take
brides from rumsellers was the most
miserable creature on Gods foostool, and
has been yelling at the top of it's veice
for grand juries and legislative commit
tees to hunt them out.and commit them
to prison. Yet, no sooner is one caught
than it folds him in its arms and hugs
him to it's bosom and uses him to SLAM
der reputable citizens. Mr.. Norton. when
before the police investigating commit
tee. testified that he thought Marshal
Trickey changed his beat because he had
made a seizure at certain rumshop,
in which, according to the Express,
Republican politician had an interest
City Marshal Tricky testified that long
before this seizure he had, determined
upon this change and that the seizure
fa do will
Marshal Sterling says Mr.. Tricky
told him week at least before
the seizure that he had decided to
make the transfer, and Officer Frank,
who was placed on the beat, says
he was informed a week at least, and he
thinks more, before the seizure. that he
was to take Mr.. Norton's place. Here is
the testimony of three reputable men
on one side, and on the other an infer
ence of man..who had confessed. that he
had habitually been receiving brides,
and had thussconsigned himself, accord.
ing to the view which the Express held
all last summer and.fall, to category
which made him entirely unworthy of
belief. Now, which statement under these
circumstances would an honest man or
AN honest newspaper accept? That of
the three reputable men, or that of the
man who had confessed to taking
brides? Indeed, how could an honest
man or an honest newspaper come to any
other conclusion than that the change
of beats had no connection whatever
with the,(seizure. How could the Eve
ming Express which has been claiming
for months past that it was the only
virtuous and honest newspaper in this
vicinity, right in the face and eyes OF
these facts, assert, as it did last night,
that there was question of veracity
between the Marshal and the patrolman
unsettled? Leaving everything but this
testimony out of the case, how could
the Express, if inspired by any other pur-
pose than to besmirch the Marshal, init
mate even in the remotest fashion, that
there was a doubt where the truth lay?
The Express seems to have had sus-
i Il L