The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-09-16
ASSAULT ON EDITOR MERRITT.

IL Congressman Blackburn intends Il
travel over the state and attack ever.
editor who has published the news item
about his prospective marriage he viii
have his hands full and when he get.
through his pugilistic campaign he viii
have no time left TO devote to polite:
in his district. What a disgraceful af.
fair was hat at Asheville. An editor
N-aylaid by a congressman and party
of friends, one of them a United States
senator. and assaulted in the presence
OF ladies. The senator holds off all per-
sons who desire to prevent a breach OF
tie peace and another friend knocks
Gown and kicks while PROSTATE a man
N2o acts as peace maker. Is not this
d i.ne record for the honorable senator
and congressman Besides having dis
gTaced themselves in the eyes of all
decent people by a cowardly attack on
Mr.. Merritt, these honorable CD gem
tlemen have dragged a lady's name into
the affair in a way that must be most
humiliating to her.
The attack on Mr.. Merritt was das-
IL AOOho IIlA6Alg
like a conspiracy, and we hope the affair
will be thoroughly investigated and #
there was a conspiracy that the honor
able senator and congressman and the
valiant assistant who knocked down a
peace-maker and then kicked him will
be made to suffer the full penalty of the
law.
We cannot see that there was any
thing insulting in The Citizens refer
enc to Mr.. BIackburn's fiancee. 1t
certainly was no more SO than similar
illusions which have appeared in many
newspapers. Why the Blackburn mob
should have singled out The Asheville
Citizens editor as the one on whom to
take revenge is uneplainabIe except on
the supposition that the article referred
to was mad an excuse for an attack on
Mr.. Merritt. The Citizen has waged an
aggressive warfare on the republicans
of the west and has greatly angered
the Blackburn gang. They
knew it would not do to attack the edi-
tor for his political articles. That
would injure the party; SO they trump
up lllS CldISc u dl llSulI ~ d IduS
feeling that public sentiment would he
with them in resenting such an act on
the part of the editor and furnishing
him; but they over-did the thing. The
attack was so cowardly and vicious
and the alleged reason for it so fiimsy
that all unbiased minds are forced TO
the conclusion that these men were
nrriItx- Of Xha ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, conduct g
using a lady's lame and bringing it into
disagreeable nOtoriety as a shield to
protect themselves from public condem-
nation.
We wonder if Pritchard, Blackburn
and CONles are going the rounds of the
state for the purpose of attacking all
editors who copied the same article
that appeared in the Asheville paper.
If they do they should not contine their
1abors to the North Carolina editors.
They should not discriminate in such a
matter against those editors of papers
outside OF the state who published the
same article or ones similar to it. AS
we said above, if these gentlemen IN
dertake this they will have their hands
full and will have no time to devote to
political affairs. We think it would be
better for them to wait until after the
election. They will lave more time
the to devote to each editor n will
nave the modification and disappoint-
ment of defeat at the polls to add slim
ulant to their aggressiveness and vim
d~ictivcness against the men of the DEM
Ocratic press.
Pritchard and Blackburn should have
put off their assault OIL Mr.. Merritt un-
til the next day; then they would have
had President Roosevelt present to wit
ness the heroism of three republican
politicians attacking one man to a k
revenge for political scathing and cloak
ing their conduct under the pretense of
chastising a man for insulting a lady.
How edited the president would have
been to see his three big strapping
mountaineer friends pomeling one man
in the presence of a party of frightened
ladies, while his especial friend Pritch-
ard stood by declaring that no one
should interfere. How his sense of
honor and his admiration for manliness
and courage would have been fired at
the sight of Cowles kicking a PROSTATE
man whom he had knocked down for
attempting to stop the cowardly assault
of three men on one unarmed person.
They should by all means have waited
and given the president an opportunity
to witness an exhibition of the manly
ventures of the North Carolina repub-
lican politician.
GERMANY AND