The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-17
THE DEPTH OF Low nErRAv1rY.

To what depths of petty meanness
the creatures who control the Salt
Lake Tribune will descend, when ami
mated with the spite which seems to
be large constituent in their COM
position, was partly exposed by a vile
attack upon The Herald ON Wednes-
day. The particulars are these:
A letter was recently received by
a gentleman connected with The Her.
aid asking for information in refer
ence to the alleged expectation of po-
tatoes from Scotland to America. The
writer Of the letter had stated that
this expectation was a fact and asked
for an immediate answer His re
quest was complied with. A private
letter sent to him gave simply the
opinion that he had been mistaken
except that perhaps few were i'm
ported for change of seed. During TIE
late campaign, reports were circulated
among the farmers that Scotland was
sending large quantities Of potatoes
into the United States and that was
running the potato Tnarlklt here. The
statement was traced UP and discover
ed to be false and was so published
at the time. 1t was that which the
writer alluded to in his letter of reply
The Herald had nothing to say on
the subject of the letter, which was
entirely a, private matter. Now comes
the Tribune and publishes this purely
private communication and charges
The Herald with deciding the matter
without information" accuses it of
being absolutely dishonest and of a
determination to lie out of facts" and
proceeds to draw differences in the al
legged falling off of such imports (as
p0t5toes) in 1892 and their great in
crease in 1898 and 1894" that Demo
cratic ascendency" has done great
damage to the country.
The Herald, as we have stated, had
nothing to say on this question. There
fore the statement that this paper "un-
dertook to decide the matter without
information is a direct falseho0d or to
'nse the language of the Tribune is a
dishonest attempt to lie out of the
facts" The facts are that thy Tribune
has published the contents of a pri-
vate letter and misconstrued it's pur-
port, as well as falsely charged the
responsibility for it upon The Herald.
Respectable people will form but a
very poor opinion Of the honor OF a
man who. on asking tine opinion of
another and receiving the courtesy of
a written reply, sends that private
communication to a public journal to
give opportunity to literary scavengers
to falsify it in their public print. But
what will be thought OF the creatures
who to gain, as they imagine, a petty
publish that private letter
with the name of the writer, and pro-
coed to call him vile names for his
private expression Of personal opin-
ion? A being who would do that
would open a letter addressed ito an
other. would betray sacred confidence,
would stoop TO grovelling meanness
and is lost to a sense of common de-
corum as well as to ordinary decency.
When the Tribune again finds occa-
sion to explode and scatter epithets
like Scrub" sneak" sorry ass" and
other sweet. expressions which it fire.
quently substitutes for arguments
when cornered, let the meanness ex-
hibited in it's publication of that pri-
vate letter suggest that no one deserves
those pet names SO much as itself, ac-
companied with the contempt. of every
man who has the feelings or training
OF a gentleman.