Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1905 — NOT A PERSONAL MATTER. [ARTICLE]

NOT A PERSONAL MATTER.

The Democrat man always pays his way, and he usually pays the price demanded once but if there is anything a true American detests it is being “held up.” The writer paid his way to and from St. Joseph’s college without a word, paid the price demanded, although the bussman himself said that the price used to be—when there were two busses here—2s cents for the round trip—and we personally know this to be so—whioh is surely a very reasonable price unless there is but one passenger, when 50 cents is not unreasonable. The fact is, there are several 2x4 people in Rensselaer so mighty selfish themselves that when The Democrat makes a kick in behalf of the public—which has not been the practice of other papers here—they consider it a purely personal matter—they can’t understand it any other way from their narrow way of reasoning. We may have a wrong conception of what a newwspaper ought to be or do, but we think that it should, for one thing, seek to protect the people, and to expose and abate grafts upon the public, and advocate measures for the public good. If we thought otherwise, and were running a paper purely for our own personal ends and profit, we would probably be publishing a republican paper, and might even be seeking to oust “Olarkey” as head of the raoing

pool business in Rensselaer. We are well satisfied with the results, however, of our way of thinking in this matter, and if the time ever comes when must either betray our patrons —the public—or sell them out, or else quit business, we’ll quit. The writer was told by a friend when he came to Rensselaer what he must do to succeed here. We told that gentleman that if success depended upon so doing and running a paper of that kind, we would getout of town, but when we left we would walk. Well, we haven’t walked out yet, and while we have made enemies of some of the grafters and leeches who were feasting upon the blood of the public, we have made sufficient friends to render our efforts fairly remunerative. So much so, in fact, that we intend to stay right here and expose every leech and grafter we run across in the future, the same as we have done in the past. And The Democrat, gentlemen, is not for sale at any price, neither are its principles.