Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1899-11-01
WHARToN'S ARGUMENT.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. l, 1899.
wHARToN's ARGUMENT.
There are number of populists and
democrats in Kandiyohi county who
are raising objections to the ridicu-
lous position into which the Tribune is
trying to force them. It must be hard
to have to swallow all the stuff Bro
Lawson and staff dish up each week
for their editcation and guidance in
the political battles OF the day. Be-
sides, George S. Garfield, one of the
most rAbid and unreasonable men in
the state, has a couple Of columns
each week that must all be swallowed.
A performer" must needs have q
stomach like q cows to take in all of
it. But, shaw! Lawson and his staff
have only been practicing. Just wait
till they get through with their "anti"
arguments (?) and commence on their
"refOrm'' affirmatiOns. Lawson and
his staff have ideas on government
that were not conceived in a day but
that required the nursing of centuries
to coax into life. The laws of Lycur-
gus and Scion in their day were as
but the lines of primer compared to
the doctrines and tenets of this mod
ern pedagogue and his staff. The way
they propose to handle the trusts, the
war, expansion, the tariff, the money,
the railroads. the telegraph, the tele-
the weather, will make republicans
shudder, democrats will weep for their
lost opportunity and populists will
stand in awe and wonder and marvel
that from such common clay such I'M
attested and undesirable theories of
government and finance should evolve.
Peck's comedy, "How l Put Down the
Rebellion" will not be in it for a
minute with "How to Run the Govern
ment" by Lawson and staff. We await
with trembling the coming OF the pro-
digous affair. In the meantime let us
seek repose that we may be the better
prepared for the fusilade.-Argus.
The bracing air of Wisconsin must
have had stimulating effect on Bro.
Wharton's brain, as he has mustered
up energy enough to go for the TRIB-
UNE in such fierce style. To be sure,
it did not stir up his reasoning powers,
probably for the same reason that a
baldheaded man can't be pulled by
the hair. He does not attempt to
answer a single argument. He only
tries to ridicule us because we have
formed some opinions on the questions
of the day.
Yes, Bro. Wharton, "Lawson and
Staff" do have ideas on the burning
questions of the day. If they did not
have such ideas they would feel
ashamed to try to run paper. We
consider it the duty of every citizen
to have definite ideas on every ques-
tion he will be called upon to help
decide with his vote. A person may
possibly run a little 7x9 boilerplate
newspaper without having any ideas,
but he can't be good citizen or run
a real newspaper without them.
We do not publish metropolitan
daily, but we consider it our privilege
and duty to work just as hard for the
success of our principles as the edit
ors of such papers do. We consider
it just as much the sacred duty of an
editor to speak out against iniquities
in national, state, and local politics
as it is for a minister to denOunce sin
in the private lives of his parislion-
ers.
The most pitiablc, abject, despicable
object imaginable is a newspaper man
who dares not call his soul his own;
who dares not express an opinion till
he has found out whether he might
lose subscriber by speaking out;
who has to run around to find the
opinion of the rich and powerful OF
his burgh before he dares to express
any idea that might stray into his
atrophied brain.
The mental calibre of the Argus
editor is laid bare when he says in
another article: "The TRIBUNE had
better go slow about it though as a
good many of the pops of Kandiyohi
county are not anti-expansionists. "
That is the argument of cowardly
trimmer, who tries to find out what
his subscribers want him to say and
then says it. Do you suppose that
the TRIBUNE is merely an echo? No,
sir, it is not, and will not be as long
as "Lawson and Staff" control it.
We shall speak the truth as we see it,
without fear or favor. And we hav e
confidence enough in the people OF
Kandiyohi county to believe that they
want just such a paper. But if we are
we shall 60 down with colors
flying. We may be beaten but we
can't be intimid ated.
Go ahead with your threats; you
can't scare US. Fire your cheap ridi-
cule at US because we dare bring for
ward our ideas on current questions.
You can't hurt us by such methods.
And if you have any spark of man
hood in your bosom come forward
and show by clear argument wherein
we are wrong. That is what the peo-
pie have a right to expect to see you
try ...
A MARSHALL EDITOR ALSO REQUIRES
.- AFTENTl0N