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LOCAL AFFAIRS.]Thk Inaugural of the Mayor.—D. W. Ivil-bourne, our Mayor, has issued a nice littleyellow covered book of twenty pages, wherein ho speaks to the good people of Keokukin quite a fatherly spirit. Mr. Kilbourno isevidently not much accustomed to committinghis thoughts to paper; his inaugural is broken up in short sentences, with an occasional sophmorip fling, as the last paragraph onpage 14, and of this we might say ad sidera: lt;ad nausciam, yet this is sufferable “at such iI Ia time as this.” *Mr. Kilbourne has a most wonderful proclivity for the use of the pronoun “I,” anduses this word no less than forty-jive timesin the eleven pages and a half which containhis address proper. On the first page willbe seen the interesting pronoun eight times,(C1as follows, ‘I trust,’ lt;fcc., ‘I should be recre- 1ant,’ ?., ‘I should fail,’ c., ‘I cannot butfail,5 ,c., ‘I have resided,’ c., ‘I have a personal knowledge,’ e., ‘1 with others encountered difficulties.’iIn his prologue he promises “to indicatethe policy that shall govern him in the dis-charge of his official duties,” but forgets tospeak of this till he arrives on the 6th page,where he tells us that he “appreciates howmuch is expected at his hands,” and compliments himself in slipping into place withoutmaking any pledges to any body, or to anyinterests. He then says that he will not violate any “existing contracts for city improvements.” and is in favor of improvementsgenerally, having an eye on the dimes. Herecommends a special tax to meet exigencies, and is hugely in favor of railroads.The liquor law receives his approbation, andthen he quotes the fourth commandment infavor of keeping the Sabbath holy, and sofar as this speech relates to morals, we sayamen, and are ready to execute a diploma tothe author, certifying to his orthodoxy andgood raising on this point. Ilis Honor nexttells how far it is to Fort Desmoines, andthat travelers in Illinois are frightened at the“uncultivated wastes” in that State. Henext shows how many States have been madeout of the north-west Territory, and that thelands were once owned by the Indians.He is then amazed at the “apathy” of thepeople in not cutting a canal around the rapids, and says he would be the ‘proudest kind’if it was finished. Then he fifthly and lastlytells of our connection with the east bv rail-wtoad, and says that the Hancock boys knowit as well as we do. If Mr. Kilbourne hadhavo been elected Governor of the State, instead of Mayor of this City, part of his hundred dollar address might have been sufferable, as to the snbject matter, however shortit may have fallen in matter and substance.Authors, like parents, arc very apt to beblindly partial to their first born; no matterhow deformed, or unseemly to others, it mustbe sccd, and partial frieuds will admire whenthey must often turn away to conceal theirsmiles.Upon the whole, if this $10d had been expended in digging a well at the corner ofMain and Ihird streets, the city would havebeen much more benefitted than to expend itin yellow covered pamphlets, to gratify aauthor. Nor can we see what application or fitness is to be found in this addressfo the real policy of the city; nor can anyone seo where his Honor “indicates” the policy he is going to pursue. As to the railroads,one thousand pages can be found now, inKeokuk, in different papers discussing in themost able manner the policy and necessity ofrailroads.But so it is. Thousands will never learnthat silence often passes for wisdom, and inordinate vanity frequently pulls off the covering, which otherwise would have concealed great weakness—might have passed for wisdom.
Newspaper Details
Keokuk Morning Glory
Keokuk, Iowa, US
Sat, May 12, 1855
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Don B.
USA 25 Jun 2023
Other Publications Near Keokuk, Iowa
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