IHE BEE-KEEPERS REVIEW^ 



299 



the eulogy you unintentionally bestowed 

 upon me. Do you want me, when endeavor- 

 ing to replace error with important truth, to 

 adopt that sort of indescribable, chamelon- 

 colored thing, *' prudence," which has been 

 so much used in our literature as a substitute 

 for principle, and which is so nearly allied 

 to hypocrisy that it is ever merging into it ? 

 I have seen so much of this, that I am simply 

 disgusted with it. If I am to be censured 

 for calling attention to, and commenting 

 upon weaknesses in our bee literature, weak- 

 nesses of which each reader can examine and 

 decide for himself, what does a man deserve 

 who, without positive evidence, publishes 

 me to the world as a criminal ? Whether I 

 had adulterated honey or not, was it any- 

 thing less than both foolish and wrong to 

 attack a well known honey producer with 

 such a libelous charge before he possessed 

 any evidence with which he dared to bring 

 the matter to an issue ? 



I do not hate any of my Bro. publishers or 

 bee-keepers, because the worst have some 

 apparent good in them ; but I feel sure I see, 

 cropping out, moral and mental weaknesses 

 which I do hate. I do not hate a man be- 

 cause he has the measles, but I hate the 

 measles because it has the man. 



If there ever was a time when our bee lit- 

 erature fearfully needed the sharpest of 

 " criticism," it is now when so little of real 

 worth is found in some of the oldest jour- 

 nals, and the ever increasing space is being 

 filled with irreleveiit, side issues. It seems 

 strange that you haven't before found out 

 that a vast number of bee-keepers are get- 

 ting awfully sick of the twaddle found in the 

 columns of some of the journals. Better 

 that we had the ludepuudent, out-spoken, 

 sarcastic times when father Laugstroth was 

 being robbed, than a siszzle-sozzle, wisha- 

 washa, mutual admiration society, that is 

 casting back shadows over the future pros- 

 perity of honey producers. 



Your belief that the inception of the 

 Quarterly was to furnish an outlet for my 

 pent up feelings, is not true, if you mean 

 fealings of personal injuries alone. I feel 

 that the whole bee-keeping fraternity is be- 

 ing deceived and wronged. My feelings may 

 be wrought up to a point of usefulness and 

 reform over the glaring errors and hypocrit- 

 ical falsehoods being foisted upon no small 

 portion of our honest honey producers. Did 

 you ever stop to think how a glaring false- 

 hood, alone, will agitate a lover of truth;? 



It may be well for me to tell you now and 

 here, that I am not spending much time 

 in loving or endeavoring to " love my ene- 

 mies ;" it is not natural. I am not return- 

 ing good for evil, I haven't met any person 

 who is, and the few who have claimed it, I 

 believe to be hypocrites, for I notice they 

 are hardly able to treat their friends and 

 benefactors decently. Is it possible that 

 those enemies— lovers— spend their entire 

 slock of love upon those who despitefully 

 use them, leaving nothing but hatred, re- 

 venge or neglect, for their friends ? If such 

 deportment is Christian, then Christianity 

 is a failure, for no one practices it, and not 

 a government on earth is builded or acts 

 upon that principle. All nations and all 

 people return good for good and justice for 

 evil. If we return good for evil, what shall 

 we return for good ? What have we left in 

 stock to return for justice, virtue, benevo- 

 lence, kindness, honesty and morality ? I 

 can forgive, but I cannot pay a royalty on 

 downright meanness. Let us tell the truth, 

 writing and talking as we act. Let us be 

 honest, whether we are pious or not. 



You speak of the helping hand of the 

 mute journals. Those periodicals unwitting- 

 ly extended that hand to the Quarterly, when 

 they ignored ray latest efifort in bee liter- 

 ature. Incivility always carries the element 

 of failure. with it. 



No. Bro. H. you do not understand me, or 

 you wouldn't have said, "alack the day when 

 one bee-keeper cannot safely speak the hon- 

 est praises of a deserving Bro." That is all 

 right ; good and just ; but it is this silly stuff, 

 that aims at nothing and looks for nothing 

 except the success of the Lttle ring, that 

 needs somebody of bravery enough to hold 

 it up to view, until it sneaks away and hides 

 its head for shame. I had thought you had 

 seen these things and had refrained from at- 

 tacking them, fearing loss of patronage, as 

 you infer I will receive. By your editorial 

 it seems such is not the case. If you do see 

 them and fear to attack them, for fear of 

 losing the support which enables you to 

 clothe and feed the ones you love and who 

 love you, I do not blame you for keeping 

 still. I will say as another has wisely said, 

 " keep still and I will speak your thoughts 

 for you ; they cannot hurt me if they want 

 to." Alack the day, in free America when a 

 man cannot speak his honest sentiment 

 without fea ing the inquisition of gastric 

 starvation. 



