The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-10-27
ASSASSIN METHODS.
Plttsburg Commercial Ga azette.

Pittsburg Commercial-Gazet
Character assassins are at work In
Pennsylvania in IL desperate eleventh.
| hour effort to promote the fortunes Of
| the Democratic party.
The object of the cowardly assault is
Lieutenant Colonel James e. Barnett,
| candidate for state treasurer. The at
tack upon him is not made by military
men, but by the stay-at-homes, the cop
perheads, the sympathizers with rebel
| lion. Not a word of testimony that is
worthy of Credence have they brought
| forward from military men as u basis OF
their charges. Not flaw exists in Col
onel Barnetts military record as known
| to his superiors. He served many years
in the National Guard, and rose step by
step in rank until he was second in COM
mand i'm his regiment. When the war
broke out he volunteered with the rest
and did his duty with them. lie showed
his patriotism, braved the perils of Luzon
swamps and Philippine fevers, Spanish
and rebel bullets, while the men who
now scon at his courage sulked at home
and from the safe distance of 10000 miles
| invented their theories Of how soldier
should fight.
o
Until Colonel Barnett became can
didate for Cfiice-yes, not even until
months after that event-nOt word was
breathed, not a suspicion raised, that he
was not among the bravest of the gal
liant Tenth and not a voice was raised
in the section of the state where he was
born and reared rejecting either on his
business ability or his social standing,
In all the scores of letters sent home by
| the Tenth boys in Manila and widely
| published in both the city and the rural
press, not a hint was dropped of any dis
| satisfaction He was hero until he
| IpnnCantp1 ~ tn 20
nous towards arose, and in anonymous
| letters to the newspapers began to tell
what anonymous members of the regi-
ment had to say of their lieutenant col
oneL
1t is highly probable that Colonel Bar
| nett incurred the dispeasure of some
| members of his command. He was a
| strict disciplinarian and the men whom
| he was Instrumental III furnishing for in
| fractions of military rules may have
some resentment. If the docket of the
| summary court officer were made public
| it would doubtless reveal the names Of
| any and all members of the Tenth who
| fancy they have a grievance. But who
| but a coward would rely upon such
| sources of information in an effort to
backen the character of an officer and
gentleman? The regiment does not ex-
| list and probably never did exist in which
| certain priVates could not be found ready
to find fault with the acts and orders
| Of their superiors.
The copperheads of the COS who would
| not fight on either side, yet assumed TO
| know how campaigns should be fought
| and won, were of the same class as these
| latter-day criminal ignOramuseS, who
stab in the dark. Grant was assailed for
cowardice; every military hero of mod
ern times has had the same experience.
Every soldier candidate since the Civil
war has been attacked by men who know
no more of military matters than they
know of common honesty and manly
| principles. There are many low-lived
scoundrels who are willing to destroy a
| reputation for political gain. But their
| tactics meet with no encouragement from
| honest men in either party, and there
| fore do rot succeed. The expectation
that they will be successful in this case
is an insult to the intelligence of Penn
| sylVanla.