Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1900 — Who Changed the Gifford Letter. [ARTICLE]

Who Changed the Gifford Letter.

*On Thursday, July 12th, the Daily Republican published a letter from B. J. Gifford, written to Jared Benjamin, of our town, in reference tb the Gifford railroad prospects. The Rensselaer Journal of the same date published the the letter, also. In both papers two important qualifying words were left out. The letter with the words left out, also appeared in the Semi-Weekly Republican of July 13th, which went to press, as usual, on the evening of the 12th. We had riotHoticed the omission of the words, until Friday morning, bffiievfng until then that we had published the letter just as it was written. WA made a full and plain correction of the omission in the daily of the 13th and in the semi-weekly of the 17th, which was printed and circulated on the evening of the 16 th. In spite of this correction in our daily of July 13th, Mr. Babcock, editor of the Jasper County Democrat, made a malicious and lying attack on us in his issue of July 14th, and repeated and aggravated, the offense in his isshe of the 21st.' In both issues he charged the, editor of the Republican with [ having erased the two words in Mr. ■ Gifford’s letter, and it is a significant fact that although the Jour- • nal as above stated, published the . letter with the words omitted, and has never corrected the error, yet Babcock has made no reference to the Journal’s publication, at all, Now Babcock knew perfectly well that he was publishing a falsehood, when he charged us with changing the letter, but he thought he could do it safely, relying upon our great reluctance to notice the malicious blackguard in our paper. We make an exception of that rule in this case, and give the facts regarding the letter, just exactly as they are. On the morning of July 12th Uncle Jared Benjamin, an always public spirited citizen, handed us the Gifford letter, with the request that we read it aloud to several men who were standing about. This we did, and then,- at Mr. Benjamin’s request, took the letter to our printing office and placed it on the ‘’copy hook” to be put in type by our printers. The letter then was just as Mr. Gifford wrote it. A few minutes later but before the letter had been put in type, and in our absence from the office, Mr. Benjamin called at the office and took the letter, saying to our printers that the Journal wished to make a copy, for their use, that day. An hour or so later Mr. Benjamin brought the letter back, and we again sent it into the press room and this time without looking it over, and not knowing that the two words had been erased. Neither did we notice the omission when we read the proof, and did not know of it, until Mr Dick Grow called our attention to the omission, the next day, he having heard the letter read. We then got the letter and found that the two words had been crossed out, by a pencil, while Mr. Benjamin had it at the Journal office. As to. the person who actually crossed dut the words, no one needs to do more than ask Mr. Benjamin, himself. He stated, publicly, last Tuesday, in the hearing of several persons, that when Mr. Clark, editor of the Journal, read the letter over, he remarked} in effect that those two words, “if practicable” were not in keeping with the rest of the letter, and he, Benjamin then crossed them out, and the Journal then published the letter with the two words omitted. . R. H. Robinson, dentist.