People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1894 — Iroquois Ditch. [ARTICLE]

Iroquois Ditch.

Mr. Editor:—My St. Patrick’s day essay convinced the editor of the Republican of his error on the ditch question. In five columns he swings a half circle and endorses my views. So that peace and harmony prevails in the valley of the Iroquois. But as it was a farmer who punctured the frothy bubbles of his sophistries his narrow mind would not permit a candid acknowledgment that he was beat. So he got wrothy and thereupon accused a fellow townsman of helping the farmer in his argument. It does not become us literary fellows to try to prejudice the rights of any one who may be assessed prior to the final judgment of the court in the fairness and justice of making the improvement. As to the personal allusions in said article I had better say something for fear the author may “be wise in his own conceit.” He seems to think that it takes less brains to run a farm than it does to edit a newspaper. In this country all kinds of honest work stand on an exact equality. Every one hath a right to think, speak, write and print and there is no deep and wide mental gulf between a far-, mer and an editor I am of course willing to admit that the editor of a newspaper could be as wise and sensible as a farmer but I do not admit they r all are. I can give a pointer or two on running a newspaper. It is nauseous to most, readers to be compelled to have floated in their faces all the provate petty spites, personal hates and cranky notions of an editor and I would leave them all out of my paper if I was an editor. I can not see but Mr. Starr, Mr. Thompson and Bostwick referred to in said article have as much sense and are as good citizens as the verbose and pompous owner of the Republican.

I do not want to be turned out of the Milk Church nor quit farming but when I do start a newspaper it will reflect a progressive public spirit as to men and measures and not any narrow selfish, private notions of my own. I thought I had as good a right to be anonymous as the other “literary fellow” but as such a course offends the self sufficient editor of the Republican, I will subscribe myself on all fools’ day, simply,

Jas. W. COWDEN.