Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-09-03
ALTeELo.s ANSWER.


O.. Letter in Reply to Forman's
49, letter of CrItIcism-He Departs
rom hts UsuaI Custom IN FErInos TEt~
6sssltsnt Out into the sunIIehs that
nay Experience n New Sensation. and
Freeesds To skin Him.
,sPEINGFrELD, I'LL, Aug. 2s.-Gov.
AitReid last night gave 20 the press
S answer TO the open letter recently
pu1Lshed By Hon. w. s. Forman at
lcAlng his administration and charg-
ing MIN with converting state money
70 ms own use. Among other things
he says:
Sy attention has been called TO the
A4et That while was away from home
you emerged from the brush and made
some insinuations against me. and also
mace an attack upon two dead men.
pave made IL rule not to mott "a
attacks upon myself arising from
personal and political anirnosity.
ana have found that in time
the caluminators are buried in their
own slime. While your entire article
N made up of malicious, false and
sianderous trash that had been re-
peatedly published in partisan news
papers. and while all of IL that any Iiv-
ing man may know anything a bout has
py Them been branded false and mali
eious and does not call for any further
notice, 1t Is urged by prominent demo-
erats that as you are trying to pose
ocfore the people of this state, yoa
should be asked to step out of the
shadow into the sunlight and expert
ence new sensation.
Why did you write that letter at
this time? Everything in it was old,
ana you simply rehashed a SANDER.
Every insinuation and allegation you
made Is false, and IL you knew any
tnlng about the facts, then you knew
that you were making false insinua-
lions. If you knew nothing about the
facts, and simply allowed your politi-
cal disappointment to lead you into
this step, then you did thing that
was cowardly."
The governor continues to score
Fortnsn for bringing in the name of
John w Lanehart, recently deceased.
and compares his conduct to that Of
coyote! He details private CONVEX
sation between himself and orman
in his private Office IS months ago, in
which Forman had said he believed
Ramsay and others had prejudiced the
governor against him, and the gov
ernor had told him that he had no
confidence whatever in him. In leav-
ing Forman had said that if the & ov-
ernor would trust him once he would
change his opinion. A short time af-
forwards Mr.. Forman applied for a
place on the railroad and warehouse
commission or the southern peniten-
tiary board. The governor goes on to
Ghnxp that
down by neighbors in his town and
by conventions, and he was sore at the
administration because he thought it
was instrumental IN his discontinue.
He closes by saying if you want to
destroy the party, would it not be bet
ter to join the repu blicans rather than
to stab it while protesting to still love
it?
You claim that the friends of the
State administration helped to bring
about your discontinue. Whether
they did or not is immaterial.
Mankind learned long ago that |
there is no man so bitter and no man |
will stoop so low as the renegade. |
While l may regret very much to see |
a man of your ability act this role, |
yet it is not in my power to prevent it,
and if you are determined to move |
along that line l assure you you shall /
have an open field. You are at lib
erty to say and do what you like. by |
q law of natural selection you have /
drifted to where You belong, and if /
you do not get British gold for your
work suppose it will not be your
fault.
You say at the beginning of your
letter that you suppose it makes no
difference to me what you do in the
coming election in regard to my can
didacy. Here you are mistaken. If 1
cannot look with respect on the COM
mission by virtue of which / exercise
the functions of office, then do not
want to hold it, and if l cannot look
honest men in the face, then 1 do not
want to be governor of Illinois: and L
therefore repeat what have said on
number of previous occasions, that If
ny election depends ON your vote, ther
do not want it."