Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1898-02-25
LETTERS THAT KILLED.
Notable Instances In Political History
of Mistake. by Ready Writers.

of Mistakes by Ready Writers.
KILLED by u Letter is the signih
cant heading OF a Havana newspa'
per over an article telling Of ex-Min
lstcr do Lome's fall. This legeno
would be m appropriate epitaph Over
the political raves OF many public
men. The rivalry between Hamilton
the leader lie facto OF the Federalis'
party, and Adams, the leader de jurc,
incited Hamilton's letter during the
campaign nf $500. a%rrai:ning Adams,
which was one Of the causes Of the
rupture aud overthrow az that part,
and the triumph Of Jefferson and the
Democracy. IIamil.on's letters ut
lacking Burr were the cause Of the
duel in which Hamilton lost his life,
JeiTcrson's letter To his old neigh
Dor. Mazzei, i'll l79G. in which. 10y
pretty plain Implication, he traduced
Washington and other men whom the
American people honored, kept JEFF
fcnon denying and explaining for
many years, his historic letter to Van
Buren, on this subject having been
written shortly before his death and
twenty-eight years after the MaZzei
cpistle was penned. The preserva-
ton and publication of Jetrcrson's
~.Anas,- or diary, which is really a
sort OF letter to postcri;y, with its
spitefu; assaults on the memory Of
Hamilton and other eminent men,
showed an amazinc lack OF discern
ment eli ~Jcfrerson's part, and has
called out from all his editors Und hi
ographers excuses which accuse.
-Ncver write n letter. said Talley-
rand, and never burn one that you
receive" III Nicholas Biddle had
observed the first Tart of this in.
junction the fate o! the United States
Bank, over winch he presided, would
probably have been different. Jackson
would not have been able to perform
that second labor of Hercules il
staying the bank hydra and the po
litics Of the 30s would have lost Oh,
OF its most picturesque episodes. Al
interesting and usually level-hta dct
parsonage, BiddIe had what Juvena
called IAN incurable itch for writing,
and this led him and Ills institution t.
their doom, defeated Clay and tho
National Republican party i'll 1872
and, rs one Of the consequences al
the banks overthrow, brought ON the
panic uf 1897. The -lthea letter" pre-
cipitated the contest i'll 1880 between
Jackson and Calhoun which put Cal
houn out Of the line OF succession I,
Jackson III the Presidency, made Val
Buren, J%acKson's political heir, dwarf
ed Calhoun from a national To- II loca
figure and turned him TO the partisan
metaphysics ont Of which were cyolr
ed publication and that morbid an,
wire.druwn political philosophy II
defence Of slavery that brought al
the val which destroyed slavery.
There is a fine touch Of poetic iron
in the circumstance that Van BureI
the man who said he would rathe
walk forty miles TO tell n pcrsn
something than tn intrust his thought
to a letter, met his doom through In
medium Of letter. 1t was IA lette
however, which he was absulutcl
forced to write, and it was called on
III the spring OF 1914 by the neccssit
Of declaring himself on the burnin
issue OF Texas annexation. The lettG
III which he mildly and %tcntativcl
opposed annexation, defeated him fC
the nomination for the Presidency
few weeks later mud gave the Gand
dacy to The dark horse, Polk, an gu
spoken nnnexationist. Everybody re
members the wreck which lette
writing inflicted on Blainc's fortune
by defeat in the conventions Of Isl
and 1880 and at the polls in 1881. II,
fatal readiness with his pen brougl
an Had Of woes to Clay. Il am til
most unfortunate maj in America
history" exclaimed Clay after one {
his reverses to Henry \. Wise, Il 70
the nomination in the years when u
Wing "a be elected, and IN the ycar
when any Wing can WIN the cand
dacy goes to somebody else In I'll
year, however, in which his success
seemed certain, 1911, he was dcfcate
10y his campaign letters on the 'rcxa
question. -Wc are beaten" cXclaiT
cd Joshua Il. Giddines. to Cassius n
Clay. rs somebody put into his hand
"A paper containing II Of Clay's let
tcrs, just before both OF them mount
ed the stand Al Il Clay mass mectin,
ut winch they were to speak. lie wa
right. The letter. which maie a sur
render on the slavery question. son.
enough anti.slavcry Wings over [,
Birney the Liberty pariy's candidate
in the decisive state Of New York I,
give that STATE and the Presidency t
Polk. "Ihe chief qualification wh,c1
shall require II a Wing Prcsrdcntja
candidate hereafter said McrcditI
L. Gentry n few days after Clay's de
feat, "is that he shall be able {,
neither read nor write."-St. Loui
Globe Democrat.