The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-08-07
YELLING "STOP THIEF"

Colonel Lannan must have been look
ing over his circulation figures again.
Nothing else could account for his viO-
lent outbreak yesterday in which he
pretty nearly exhausted his CONNER
cial Street vocabulary of epithets in
denunciation of The Herald.
Maybe he had heard how the battery
boys regarded his parsimonious failure
to have someone on hand to meet them
on their return and let their friends in
Utah know the news about them. Per-
haps he had been comparing the gen
eral news service of the two papers.
Whatever the cause, the colonel was
unusually ferocious. The Herald takes
pleasure in reproducing elsewhere this
article entire as about the best recon-
mendation it could furnish the people
of Utah and surrounding states.
Assuming a Virtuous air, the colonel
takes his pen in hand to say that The
Herald is utterly corrupt. cowardly,
vile. "a false friend, a sneaking enemy,
an excrescence from the beginning"
There are other descriptive phrases of
similar beauty and finish, but these
are the choice flowers Of the bouquet.
As The Herald has remarked before,
no self-respecting newspaper cares to
answer stuff of that kind. An increase
of over 500 subscribers in less than
ninety days is a sufficient indication
of the public opinion of The Herald.
1t also furnishes amply explanation of
the Tribune's indecent language when
it has occasion to refer to this paper.
One thing in the colonel's diatribe is
worth considering as particularly good
his talk of other peoples readiness
to accept brides and corruption funds.
Coming from a paper that has recently
traded its reputation and influence to
Mark Hanna-for a consideration
such a reference may be called singu-
larly felicitous. Having supported sill
yer since its foundation; having re-
pudiated Mckinley Immediately after
his nomination; having denounced the
conduct of the war. the financial leg
islation, the attitude of its party to-
ward trusts-the Tribune suddenly re-
verses all its record, rushes to the
defense of Mckinley, betrays its sup
porters and then expects the public to
believe it can be honest in anything,
Surely the colonel is losing the delicate
sense of humor for which he is so just
ly celebrated.
In the intermountain region men
know too much about life to be de-
ceived by the old stop thief" cry. The
Tribune need not think it can conceal
its base betrayal of principles dear to
all the west by any amount of de-
famation of The Herald. Its own de-
creasing subscription list should con-
vince it of that much, if the expressed
opinions of its former supporters does
not.
No It won't work, colonel. In street |
parlance, They're onto you" They |
know that your paper has degenerated !
into a personal organ, devoted solely |
to your politico-financial interests and |
the qualification of personal spites. |
They know that Mr.. Hanna's check !
book weighs heavier with you than the
welfare of silver, of protection from
trusts or any other public duty that |
confronts the people of the west They /
know that the privilege of disbursing
federal offices among your personal |
friends is dearer TO you than the guard
ianship of labor in the mines or in the
fields. They know that as between
public interests and your private prof
|