Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1898-12-30
A PLAIN STATEMENT.

After noticing the evident endeavor of
Albert Hopkins during the last few years
to get some one TO be foolish enough to en-
gage in a newspaper squabble with him and
having made many mental speculation on
the folly which would characterize that ac-
tion. find that must in justice to myself,
in measure answer publicly one of his
newspaper effusions. And to establish my
determination to have no controversy with
Hopkins will from the start leave him
entirely out of it and simply address myself
to the citizens of Canton. In the Sioux
Valley News of December 16 there appear
ed an article which would lead its reader to
believe that had given price upon the
obscene circular recently printed at the
Sioux Valley News office and circulated
throughout the mails. will state to the
public in as simple manner as possible
just how near came to quoting price
upon the work. About week before I re-
fused to print the nasty thing, l came into
my Office and an employe, Mr.. Main, said
Hopkins left some copy for job here
with two cuts, and said he had made dia-
gram of what he wanted" This is nothing
unusual for people to bring copy to my Office
and thought no more about it, simply filing
the bunch of copy in its regular order OF
work received, and expecting to work up
to it and do it as any other work When
the regular order of business brought it up
and l had taken the copy to mark it out for
the typesetter, I discovered what it was
and as soon as its writer came in, expect
ing to read proof of the stuff, l handed
the copy and cuts back to him and told him
| hat T - -
stances. never gave him price on the
work, and was right in not doing SO. 1
never did a dollars worth of work for this
man since have been in the printing bus
| ness, but l DID refuse, personally, as the
manager of my own business, to print the
dirty thing referred to when it came regu-
| larly into my Office. l never quoted this
man but one price on work and that was a
sealed bid on the Soldiers Home pamphlet
and knew at the time that it was in effect
simply - straw bid as / could not ex-
pect nor did care to take his work away
from his regular publisher. but as the mat
| ter was legitimate, had no valid reason
for not bidding and l made legitimate
bid " as matter of business" As regards
my being afraid of my competitors, l will
simply say that have in five years built up
business from nothing to one Of the recog-
nized commercial institutions of the county
and that entirely from my competition and
never during this building-up process have
l found the necessity present of buying pa
per or printing material or paying wages
with money earned by printing that which
| was obscene or indecent In the copy for
| this outrageous insult to every man and
woman in the United States was something
| that in my fourteen years experience in the
printing business never knew to happen
before. The writer had even written where
it would properly belong on the printed job
my well-known . 'Up-to-Date imprint.
Patrons of printing Offices never write i'm
prints for printers, and am convinced that
this was a trap set for me and my business,
and did not fall into it, nor could there
possibly have been any hope of its success.
Had l the time and desire to presume upon
the lberality of a competitor in business in
using much of the LEADERS space l could
use great deal of passably good language
in giving my reasons for not printing this
circular, but will simply say that refused
| to print it because to have printed it would
have been black blot upon my business
and social career that would forever be in
delible. l refused to print it because to
have done so would have been wrong as
measured by any gauge with which right
and wrong can be measured in this land.
And for looking at the matter in this light,
l have good reason to congratulate myself.
Yours Truly,
ASA FORREST, IT,