Clay," as Douglas hypocritically called him at the Bancroft House, could not go unmutilated.
We have taken the pains to go over the reports of the speeches carefully and note the material alterations—saying nothing of long passages, where the Times' Reporter appeared to aim only at the sense, without giving the language—and find that the number One Hundred and Eighty!
We believe that an action for libel would hold against these villians, and they richly deserve the prosecution.
[Chicago Times, October 12, 1858]
GARBLING SPEECHES.—THE OLD CHARGE
We do not mean, by this remark, to cast any imputation of unfairness on Mr. Hitt, the reporter for the Press and Tribune; such imputation would be unjust, as we have reason to believe. Our controversy is not with the reporter at all; for even if he should maltreat Senator Douglas' speeches, he would do so under instructions; he being the employee of our neighbor, he could not relieve the editors of the odium of the fact. But such are the facts; we give them, not because we feel very deeply on this point, but to put the public right with regard to them. We can prove their proof by Mr. Hitt himself, if he will go upon the stand under oath. Even, however, after Senator Douglas' speeches are marred—by striking out words, here and there, by mangling sentences to hide their meaning, by mis-punctuations, etc. etc.—and after re-writing and polishing the speeches of Lincoln, those of Douglas so much excelled those of his opponent, in all respects, that we cannot find it in our hearts to complain much. Poor Lincoln requires some such advantage—though it be mean—in his contest with the irresistible advocate of liberal principles—the acknowledged champion of living principles in Illinois.
[The Daily Whig, Quincy, Ill., October 16, 1858]
Douglas carries around with him a reporter by the name of Sheridan whose business it is to garble the speeches of Mr. Lincoln, and amend and elaborate those of Douglas, for the Times. As almost everybody present on Wednesday could hear Mr. Lincoln distinctly, and not a hundred in the crowd could understand Douglas, we are curious to see the report that this fellow Sheridan will give of the speeches. Our word for it, he will serve his master to the best of his ability, and lie about the whole proceedings.
