The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-01-10

The Raleigh Christian Advocate calls at
tention in its last issue to the fact that,
"while so many 'defenses' have been made
lately there has been no defence of the
Methodist preacher of North Carolina,
with the exception of that contained in
the News and Observer
For weeks the columns of certain trust
and corporation-dominated organs have
ruug with denunciations of the News and
Observer because it denounced the incen-
diary utterances of Bassett and Massee,
This fact has been noted by the Raleigh
Advocate, to-wit: that the paper so Wig
orously assailed by the men who pro-
fessed such deep concern for the church,
is the only morning daily paper west of
Wilmington that came to the defence OF
the Methodist preachers Of North Caro-
lima" 1t is not remarkable that the News
ton the contemptuous and wicked SANDER,
particularly of the Methodist preachers of
| North Carolina, and also OF the whole
! Southern clergy. 1t has a record OF
standing by true men whenever assailed
and of holding up to criticism the freak
, utterances of the Bassetts and the Masses
which bring reproach and injury to
| the church and it's institutions. This pa
I per would be false to its convictions and
of re, Of
denounce the cowardly author of the false
letter from Durham in which the Dukes,
the Bassetts, and the majority of the
trustees were lauded to the skies while
, the minority trustees who VOICED THE
! CONVICTIONS OF NINE-TENTHS OF
THE PEOPLE OF NORTH CAROLINA
are held up to the New England readers
| as towards, puppets guilty of cruelty, and
| as standing in the way of progress and
freedom.
But what of the few papers and preach
ers that have been thrown into fits for
fear the News and Observer would ode
stroy' the churches? Not one of them
has defended the four hundred Methodist
preachers who are held up as base and cow
ardly knaves. According to their logic,
it is all right to defend Masseeism and
Bassettism and then demand to be elevat-
ed to position as defender of the faith"
and to be silent when loyal and true men
are traduced. For this paper, lit stands
for right and for men who are unjustly as
sailed. There was no warrant for the Dur
ham letter in the Boston Transcript except
in the imagination of heart alien, ignor-
ant and vicious.
! Dr. Ivey in the last issue of the Raleigh
Durham communication "arouses our in
dignation." In the course of a vigorous
reply and an eloquent defense of the Meth
odist preachers and the minority trustees,
especially assailed, DR.. Ivey says:
1--WE take this our first opportunity of
rebuking the cruel Misrepresentation of
the anonymous correspondent. Surely,
since we have defended the eighteen trus-
tees who voted for the retention of Dr.
Bassett, we cannot do less than defend
the seven who voted for his resignation.
They are men of such character as to rem
der them safe from any attack where
they are known. They make no preten-
sions to bravery, but they are not timid
and cowardly enough to refuse to sign
their names to any article they may write.
They make no pretensions to being overly
3 h,rf al oh
to caricature good men in land where no
defence can be made
/ But while the News and Observer
seems to have been the only morning
daily to defend the Methodist preachers
from the SANDER, there have been
some to approve, condone or pass without
criticism the Durham communication.
Those papers, which have claimed to be
specially set apart to defend the honor of
the church, when Massee and Bassett
were criticised for utterances having no
connection with the creed or policy of the
church to which they belonged, are so
of all the preachers as to show that their
former pretended zeal for 1.-The honor of
the church. was a stealing of the livery
of heaven in which to serve the devil. Only
one paper in North Carolina, however, has
come openly to the defense of the Durham
correspondent of the Boston Transcript. 1t
is the Winston Republican. Every week a
vicious Republican partisan writes three
or four columns in that paper assailing
everything and everybody except revenue
doodles and other Republicans. This
week 1T prints the Transcript article and
gives it it's approval. From the words Of
commentator, We quote:
THE value of this article lies in the
tact that the writer gives voice to opin-
ions that wpro ciloptIxy IL