The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-06-15
Spirit of the Press.
An Outrageous Persecution
Presbyterian Standard

Presbyterian SlanudTC.
The Standard recently called atten-
ton to the effort of the saloon papers
to discredit the beneficent results OF
prohibition. Since that date the CHAR
lotte Observer has gone so far as to
publish an interview with a drummer
who is so Disguised with our Sunday
laws here and the Punishment of the
saloons, as to propheSy the speedy
erection of grave stones for the dead
city. of course the anonymous drum
mer classified himself in his remarks
as did the paper publishing a Islander
of it's own city. He evidently belongs
to the class of travelling men who
bring reproach by their dissolute lives
upon an honorable profession. They
prefer 'wide-oDen" town to a good
business center, and saloons and
gambling dens and such are prere-
quisite to what is called "a good
town" There is natural affinity be-
tween these institutions and his kind.
OF course he lied. Charlotte was
never SO prosperous or SO peaceable as
today The effort to run down this
city will only react upon its slanderers
Business men of all parties and fac
tons resent this piece of malicious
mischief.
Not content with this exhibition of
spite against a city i'm which the OBJ
server has totally lost its leadership,
the Observer has begun a malicious
and outrageous course of persecution
of the city administration that IT
twice tried in vain TO defeat 1t has
charged it with wastefulness, extrava
gance, incompetency and covertly with
graft. The editor of The Standard
gave a whole day to the investigation
of these charges and the answers of
the officials to them. Their answer
was absolutely conclusive, and abso-
lutely proved by the facts. After the
publication of the answer. there was
nothing left for the Observer to do
but to make the poor reparation of an
apology to officials and the public. No
honorable newspaper would have at
tempted anything else, and, i'm saying
that, The Standard is only echoing the
deliberate Judgment of fair-minded
men, formerly counted friends of the
Observer. That the Observer should
have so far degenerated from its
former. position a fair-minded pa
per is a melancholy example indeed
And the charges of the Observer
have only succeeded in bringing out
the facts that the last saloon admins
tration the city had been mulcted to
the extent of some $3.50 900 in a single
deal. A mayor and an alderman put
their own price on water-works sys-
TEN which they sold to the city. that
is. TO themselves. And the Observer
applauded
The Observer confessed its own in
competency in handling the matter of
the city's finances by admitting that
it had gotten its figures from an un-
named individual who made the
trifiing mistake of $31 900 in one item.
In fact, the Observer is incompetent
to do any such work. And we say to
it again that while people are pro-
verbally patient with its infirmity. the
assaults on the character of good and
true men must stop, in the name of
common decency. Such men have a
ready retort that is all that would be
needed as an exclamation of the OBJ
servers erratic course. 1t is a monu-
| ment to their patience that they have
not come out and said why the OBJ
server is no longer to be seriously
| considered in regard to it's statements.
| But the Observer must not be allowed
| to run amuck continuously. And
| plain speaking may be duty, just as
| silence has been a charity.