Page:History of the newspapers of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.djvu/73

 THE WESTERN ARGUS. 55 "Argus," some of the most important events in the his- tory of the Republic took place. He was in the midst of the threatened nullification movement, headed by John C. Calhoon, and was strong and fearless in his opposition to it. The United States bank, question and the panic of 1837 engrossed his attention and kept busy his pen, and the war with Mexico was the most exciting of all the events of the period. On all these questions Mr. Henry was with his party, and he left no opportunity pass to score severely the Democratic papers and their sup- porters. Among the earliest of William Henry's editorials were those on internal improvements. He was persistent and imtiring in his efforts to influence public sentiment for a canal through the Beaver Valley, and he was watch- ful of every act of the Legislature on the subject. He wrote an able editorial on President Jackson's veto of the internal improvement bill, and was a firm and con- sistent supporter of the American System of Protection. When the Legislature made an appropriation for the Beaver Division of the Pennsylvania Canal in April 1831, he wrote jubilant editorials. Li the issue of the paper of April 22 of that year, John Dickey, superintendent of the Beaver Division, invited sealed proposals for con- structing the canal from the mouth of the Beaver river to New Castle. In local political controversies the "Argus" had much to do with the Logan brothers, James and Andrew, who conducted the Beaver "Eepublican." He seems to have become disgusted with Andrew Logan's meliiods and in a caustic editorial May 27, says that he shall endeavor hereafter to avoid all controversy with him, "as we can- not stoop to his level; but if circumstances demand it of us, we shall not be backwards in exposing in our plainest language his base fabrications and calimmies." He was particularly severe on Andrew Logan in his attempts to