The Reverend's Vendetta
A former school superintendent threatens the local newspaper with a libel suit over accusations of mental instability and corruption.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Maxwell Phillips writes to The Herald from Salina, Kansas, and wants this paper to publicly apologize for remarks made about him in the issue of Dec. 3, in which it stated that he was deficient mentally and morally and there was little doubt of his insanity. In case The Herald refuses his request, the reverend gentleman threatens proceedings for libel. Phillips was the superintendent of schools at the reservation, and until he was incontinently bounced by Agent Lynch, demoralization reigned supreme. It is charged that Phillips appropriated things from the agency without authority or right; that he wrote letters to the department with the intention of deceiving, and that he was a nuisance generally. That Agent Lynch believed the man was crazy is evidenced by the fact that he wrote the department to that effect, and that the dismissal was the proper thing to do under the circumstances is shown by the approval expressed by the special agent who recently visited the reservation and investigated the circumstances. If the Rev. Phillips wants a more complete apology from The Herald, this paper has some telling affidavits which it will publish without extra charge.
“If the Rev. Phillips wants a more complete apology from The Herald, this paper has some telling affidavits which it will publish without extra charge.”
Public figures threatening libel suits over unflattering press coverage remains a common tactic to intimidate local investigative reporting. This 1892 dispute highlights the often contentious and personal nature of historical frontier journalism.
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