The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-21
POTATOES AND PREvARIcATIoN.

from annoyance.
POTATOES AND PREVARICATION.
The Salt Lake Tribune has come as
near to making an apology as could
be expected of the people who conduct
that organ of Islander and Yitupera-
ton. 1t says: "The Tribune owes an
apology to The Herald editor" which
is true. But it does not follow that
admission by paying the debt. Pay
ing dsbts is not customary with
some people, unless it be one of hate
and spite, in which case they not only
fully meet the principal but add
heavy compound interest. We could
particulalize on thar subject, but we
| forbear. We do not wish to carry on
a personal warfare; that would be too
Tribunish for The Herald.
The Tribune not only published a
purely private letter with the
name of the writer, but added to that
breach of good manneTs-to use no
harsher tern-the repeated statement
that the writer of the letter had Tied
as many times as there were lines in
the letter" AS matter of fact there
was not anything like a ''lie' in it.
If the writer was mistaken-fe GER
tainly was not as ITO the facts he had
in mind when replying to the question
asked Of him-the letter was but THE
expression of an opinion that the
questioner had made a. mistake. The
letter, which has now been published
in The Herald as we'll as the Tribune,
is proof positive of that.
The wrong done by the Tribune was
not merely in publishing a personal
communication not intended for any
body but the individual to whom it
WAS addressed but in maliciously and
/ Intentionally libelling the writer of it
and holding him UP to public reproba-
ton, when he had merely given his
opinion in private, in hurried but
friendly reply to a question which re-
quired immediate answer. That is the
gist of the Islander, and that receives
no apology.
The Herald does not desire ito keep
! UP this controversy, nor does it pro-
pose to be silent about it while the
! Tribune continues its abuse. "The
Herald" it says, printed a. letter
from Charles Crane to a friend and
has since referred to it a dozen times. -
Is it claimed now that the letter of the
chairman of the Republican committee
in reference to election matters, ad-
wishing the Republicans of Utah to
'tclaim everything" was a private let
ter? If so this Is the first time it has
been so regarded. Tt was a, campaign
document in the understanding of the
public, and was for the guidance of
the Republican parity in this territory.
But it was originally printed in an
other paper. 1t was copied in the To-
cal columns of The Herald as it was
in other papers. 1t was not intro
duced into the editorial columns OF
The Herald and the writer libelled
and abused for expressing an honest
opinion. 1t shaped the policy of the
local Republican party. and ''cIaim
everything has been the motto OF
THAT party in politics ever since.
! AS to the potato matter, The Herald
has given the facts and the figures
which have not been touched by the
Tribune, showing that the imports OF
POTATOES, no matter where from, dc
not form a business of Commercial
magnitude" but an insignificant fac
tor in the sum of agricultural pro-
ducts, Also that the price of the i'm
port, with the duty added, has been
so high that they could not affect the
agricultural interest of the West, nor
except in a. very itrifing degree, the
potato product of the country. And
that is the hub of the entire wheel oil
the argument, whether made in
Idaho, where it started, or in Utah
where TT was repeated. The story was
that through the Importation of pota-
toes from Scotland the price of the tu-
bers was made so low that farmers in
the West who raised them were being
ruined. The canard was traced to its
source and proved to be a falsehood
framed as a protectionfst argument
something very frequent as a Repub-
lican weapon during the campaign.
SO much for the letter, and so much
for the vaunted roorback about i'm.
porting Scottish potatoes to the wreck
ing of the agriculturists of the United
States. There is no necessary con,
necton between potatoes and prevari
cation, but if there is such a thing oul
neigihbor lover the way must have
been INDUCING in a steady potato die
for a great length Of time.