Year: 1877

V

 We must be excused from discus sing the finance question, or any other question, with men who i'm pugn the honesty of our motives or the integrity of our purpose. This will explain to some of our repudia- tion contemporaries why their arti- cles have not been noticed. When ever paper asserts that the Ga zette is working in the interest of bondnolders and against the interests of the people. or that the Gazette IS owned or controlled by bondholders, it asserts an untruth, and is unwor- thy of notice. We are glad to say that only two or three of the repu- diation papers have, without the slightest foundation, seen proper to lmpugn our motives. They will now understand the reasons for our silence.-Gazette.

 With tinge of sorrow mingled with sprinkle of surprise we read the above short editorial taken from the lead,ug democratic paper of the State. We are sorry that the Ga zette will allow it's equanimity of temper and it's fraternal relations with other democratic journals of the State to be so easily thrown out of equipoisc; and we are surprised that paper having it's able manage ment will attempt to fortify itself behind such weak bastlon. We are sorry to lose the respect of the leading democratic paper of the State to such an exten that it con siders it condescension to take further notice ofARGUMENTs adduced by us in the discussion of public measures. But if we cannot retain the respect and good opinion of that paper and at the same time hold fast to our undoubted right and preroga- tive of differing with it on any ques- tion which we may see proper to discuss-why, then we will just have to try to get along as best we may without it's respect and good opinion. If we have to chime in with cotemporary and echo him in all his views in order to retain his respect, we simply are sorry that our views of the prerogatives of fair and honorable journalism won't allow us to do any such thing. We must be allowed to exercise our own judgment in deciding, from careful perusal of the grounds taken by a paper in the discussion of our State finances, whether it's work will lnure to the interest of the bondholders or conduce to the welfare and better interests of the people of Arkansas. From careful study of our bonded indebtedness and a close perusal of the Gazettt's articles it IS our con- viction that the course of that paper IS in favor of the bondholders and prejudicial to the very best interests of the people of Arkansas. If for arriving at this conclusion we are to forfeit the respect of that paper, all right. And if in endeavoring to resist and thwart the plans and schemes for the settlement of our financial difficulties which that pa per favors, we provoke it's ire, we cannot help it. We have noticed for a long time that that paper cannot brook the least independence on the part of country journals. It fiatters with the most patronizing air those papers which follow in the wake of it's thought and argument. It has tired by an exhibition of wrath and the application of not very compli- mentary epithets to keep the inde- pendent thought of country editors in subjection. Failing in that it now cuts them scornfully off from the list of papers which are worthy of its notice.

 The Gazette does itself great in- justice in the above extract and in pursuing such course. Under the propritorship of its present owners and the editorial management of the present occupant of the tripod it has greatly improved, although it can not be said that it is yet up to that standard of excellence as a NEWS paper which the principal journal of the State should exhibit, or where it can afford to look down with scorn upon country journals, and snub contemporaries who stand as well with their constituency as do some