“He asked for a writ of habeas corpus, and his client has been turned loose on the community!
“We may say, that while it may be that no jury would have convicted this man Peets, who admits that he was once an enemy of his country, and while the testimony was strongly conflicting, the opinion is strong in this community that the honorable Justice of the Peace rendered a perfectly just decision.
“The opinions of this journal have always been impartial, and, under the circumstances it is far be it from us to express one, but not to mention any names, there is a certain fresh young lawyer in this town who has a tendency to be a smarty, and a cute Aleck, and to butt in on things that do not concern him.
“It may be to his interest to lay a little lower. A word to the wise is sufficient.
“In addition to this, there is a certain alien resident in this county, of military pretensions, who lives by the sobbing waters of a certain river—and again we do not mention names—who had better not be caught wearing false whiskers when he visits this town.”
“And now,” said the Colonel, with a patronizing wave of his hand after he had given me a still later copy of the paper, “I desiah you to look at this account of the sequel of this distressing affaiah.”
On the editorial page I read:
“A PUBLIC OUTRAGE!!!
“It is far from the desire of this journal to discuss the personal interests or affairs of its editor and proprietor. The Index, as the public well knows, has ever been the fearless advocate of fair play for every citizen, and for every human being, however humble, before the law. Its motives have always been above reproach. Notwithstanding the fact that it is the county’s greatest newspaper—unselfishly devoted to the public interest—it never blows its own horn. It rarely mentions itself in its own columns. It scorns to publish matter in its own interest, but the time has come when its clarion voice must be raised to such a pitch that it may be heard throughout the length and breadth of the county, so that the public conscience may be awakened, and forever make impossible a repetition of such an outrage as occurred in front of the post office on last Saturday afternoon.
“As is well known by all, the editor of this paper, who is also its proprietor, was publicly attacked by Col. Peets, the scoundrel and erstwhile prisoner at the bar of justice, who figured so prominently and so exclusively in the affair of the robbery of the safe in the county treasurer’s office some weeks ago.