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Our Correspondents

About This Item

  • Title: Our Correspondents
  • Date: 26 October 1858
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.00866
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 26 October 1858: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Kaylen Michaelis Samantha Gilmore Brandi Faulkner Stefan Schöberlein Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "Our Correspondents." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 17 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.00866.xml (TEI)
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OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

Just before election we are always inundated with correspondence. There is scarcely a single candidate who has not some friend among our readers, who sends us a letter glorifying his particular favorite. We have already said our say about the respective nominees, and if we are inclined to give them puffs gratis, can do so editorially. But letters written by outsiders in praise of particular candidates, are advertisements, and must be prepaid as such. With this understanding, we are perfectly willing to be flooded with correspondence.

To-day we have a letter which we are sorry to be obliged to defer until to-morrow, asking Mr. Maclay several awkward questions about his unfulfilled pledges and broken promises of his. We shall print it in time for Mr. M. to reply from the stand in Turner’s Hall to morrow, if so disposed.

Next we have a note from a member of the Tax-payers Association, alleging that Mr. Chauncey A. Lay is endeavoring to go to the Assembly on false pretenses, by representing himself as the candidate of the association, while in reality they have nothing to do with him, but prefer one of the other candidates.

Then we have a note inquiring what axe George Law has to grind, that Dr. F. Tuthill is so anxious to go to the Legislature. The Doctor has been puffing George’s ferry ad nauseam in his “items department” of the N.Y. Times.1

Also we have an account of the formation of a Democratic Club last Saturday evening at the Shakspere Hotel—President John Cooney; Vice Presidents, L.C. Newman, E.C. Cadley; Treasurer, T.F. Metz; Secretaries, G.R. Lindsey and J.F. Walton. The club is organised on the principle of the Union, National, and other clubs of New York city.

We trust our correspondents will not misunderstand us. We shall be glad to insert letters containing political or any other information; but mere eulogy of candidates is not such interesting matter that we can afford to fill the paper with it at our own expense.

Notes:

1. The New-York Times was a leading daily newspaper, then published by Republican Henry Jarvis Raymond (1820–1869) but aiming for a neutral tone of reporting. Whitman contributed a number of writings to the paper. For more information, see also Walter Graffin, "New York Times," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998) and Susan Belasco, The New-York Times. [back]

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