The Saline County Journal

The 'Chicago rat,' after the scoring we gave him in answer to his attack upon the city council, backed square down, last week, from the position he had taken and commenced assailing the Senior of this paper. He knew he was acting unfairly and unjustly toward the honest and respectable men who are now in charge of the city government, and consequently was more than willing to beat a hasty retreat. Now as for his attacks upon us, we can certainly stand them. We have become accustomed to the tirades of abuse which have been hurled at us through the columns of the Herald by the beats and frauds who have from time to time been in charge of its columns. In fact we rather like it. It never hurts us, and acts like the boomerang upon the manipulators of such missiles. With reference to the charge made by the 'rat' that we have been trying to collect more from the county than we were justly entitled to: He published last week the bill which we made out against the county for printing for the past three months. Now we did make a mistake in one item, which was rectified just as soon as we discovered it. We are entitled under our contract to pay for publishing final notices. At the time we made out our bill we thought of the custom we had pursued a few years ago, when we charged the county full rates on all kinds of advertising. Hence we put in a claim for that 'ten commissioners struck that from the bill, as being a line head of final notice' the 'rat' speaks of. The part of the advertising which was free under our contract. The bill for publishing the taxes on land and city lots of the final notice was promptly allowed, as well as the whole of the balance of the bill. That charge which was disallowed was $6.00. We make this explanation that the tax-payers may not be misled by the 'rat's' representations. Like all dishonest men who never do an honest act or breathe an honest breath, the 'rat' will never give us the credit of having made a mistake, as any other person is liable to do. But all others will. With reference to the balance of our bill which he publishes, we are glad he has done so. All printers will sustain us in saying that we have done fairly and squarely by the county. We want the tax-payers to go to the court house and examine our work as compared with similar work done by the Herald last year. They will find that ours is 100 per cent. better. Also in looking over the bills of the Herald they will find that that paper charged the county much more for printing (sometimes twice as much) as it would a private individual! And some of this work and swearing to bills was done by the 'rat.' As one of the commissioners has said, the county never before had such good and cheap work done for her as is being done now. It is very easy for such a fellow as this Stacey to put our charges in one column and make a corresponding one filled with items to suit himself. He knows full well that no one will take him up and ask him to do the work at what he calls the cost price. That's a boy trick. Nobody but a very small boy or a 'rat' would undertake it. The 'rat' has had the effrontery to tell about town that he made the commissioners, in allowing our bill for printing, reduce it $25. The commissioners regard him as small potatoes, and run the county without paying any attention to him. The commissioners reduced our bill just $6.00, and didn't consult the immortal Stacey at any stage in the proceedings.