Page:History of the newspapers of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.djvu/117

 THE WESTERN STAR. 93 finance I had always regarded the legal tender act as one of injustice to the creditor class. That act necessitated the resumption act, one of equal injustice to the debtor class. Changes in certain industrial conditions at home, and in the standard of value abroad, had caused an in- creasing disparity in value between gold and silver, and people were beginning to divide into the friends of gold and those of silver; the latter proposing to repeal the error of the Legal Tender Act in a different form. Parties were not then divided upon the question as they were afterward, but during my connection with the 'Star,' whether right or wrong, it never advocated the coinage of silver except for fractional currency." The foreman of the mechanical department by whom the first edition of the "Commoner" was issued, was William Warner of Rochester, Pa., a skilfuU and in- telligent young man, who was assisted by M. J. White, J. Lemmon, Joseph Hemphill and John W. Fry, and upon the retirement of Mr. Lemmon, Joseph Loar of Greens- burg, took his place. After Mr. Warner, the foreman- ship was filled by Samuel K. Alexander, who had filled this position previously on the paper. Others who served in the mechanical department from time to time were David McConnel, Joseph Diven, Harry Patton, Jesse Ramsey, Samuel McClurg, Alex. TaUon, Miss Mary McGregor, Miss Ramsey. Soon after the first number of the paper appeared, an old gentleman named Beatty of Washington, Pa., moved by love of Democratic principles, an unwillingness to be idle, and also by the hope of restoring his worldly fortimes, applied for the position of solicitor of sub- scriptions and advertisements, and -although nearly eighty years old, so industrious, courteous and trust- worthy was he, that he did more in that line than any of the yotmger men who at different times ventured on the same work.