Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1832-01-24
TUESDAY, JANUARY "a. 1882.
COMMUNICATIONS.

81 have ever witnessed here, tnat Tue eACNemen'
in town. n the character Of a letter written IN
reply to the very important communication OF
Mr. Doddridge to the Mayor, and that the pro-
ceedings of a numerous meeting OF the citizens OF
Alexandria consequent upon the publication Of
the Mayors letter to you, were founded entirely
upon a msconceptiun Of its import; and that the
said reply did not import or. pretend to be any
thing more than an expression Of the private OPT
Mon of the FIVE individuals who signed it; and
that il never was intended, IN any eUsnt, to pre-
vent the People from passing their judgment IN a
fair, free, and open manner, upon the questions
proposed; take the liberty of sending you CO.
by Of it for publication. 1t does not seem to me
that word Of comment is necessary, to justify
the harshest epithet which has been applied TO It,
call the attention Of the People to some words
Of the letter, which beg you to italicise; and
ask them calmly to determine if the whole letter
does not demonstrate, beyond rational doubt,
that the Committee intended generously to save
the Sorereign People the trouble of forming or
expressing any opinion or wish upon the subject.
send also for republication the printed ac-
count of the proceedings OF the friends OF Retro
cession. as they appeared in the Herald OF the
18th of March, 1924, and the Memorial drawn
I'D by the Committee in the said proceedings ma
med for that purpose, circulated BY the Ward
Committees therein named, and which was sign
ed by a larger number Of the inhabitants than
counter memorial set fosth by the authorities as
then constituted.
think it will be readily admitted, By the can
dor Of the gentleman who presided at the meet
inc in 1894, that the Memorial for Retrocession
had the majority of signers; and that it may be
safely asserted. that the signing Of these Memori-
ais is the only thing for the last thirteen years at
LEAST which has had the smallest semblance of a
trial OF numbers, or an expression Of the People,
upon the question OF Retrocession. H.
Copy of the Reply cf the Committee of Fire to
The Hon Philip Doddridge's Letter.
ALEXANDRIA. 10th Jan. 1882
Dear Sir-Yeur letter, addressed 10 the May
or, has been laid before US. appointed by the au-
tho,iri Of the Town a Committee to attend to
such subjects as may be brought before Congress
in which Alexandria Is interested.
You state that :. the Committee of the District
desire to know. in some certain ,cay. the opinion
of the PEOPLE of this COUNTY OH the follow
ing propositions:
LIST. A retrocession TO Virginia;
Cd. Delegate on the floor of Congress; or
Sd Local Legislature.
With regard to the first, 80 far as we know the
opinion of the people. they are opposed to Retro
cessiun. We have had opportunities to hear
THEM express their opinion on this point, and
we feel ourselves justified in stating that THEY
ARE OPPOSED TO SUCH A MEASURE.
This subject has more than once been before
Congress, and on one occasion the people
dill express their opposition to the measure. We
would refer YOU to Report prepared and pre-
sented to the House of Representatives BY Mr.
Pc ers. then the Chairman OF the Committee of
the District. on the Sd March. 1880, No. 269,
and page IA OF the pamphlet form.
In this Report you will find the several at
tempts which have been made to retrocede por-
ton of the District. The first attempt was in
III" year 1905. at which time people of this town
demonstrated against it. By reference to the
proc ceilings of that time, you will see the pro-
ceedings Of Alexandria.
AS to the secon.. pr0pOsitiOn-that of Dele
ga. the floor of the House-to this we state,
most confisniiy, that The PEOPLE are oppo-
sed. We would here respectfully remark, that
tfdNihS a "Ouiu not Teilete Congress-
from any trouble; and we should on the ground
Of exercising the right of voting. be no better of
than we now are In the Senate we could have
no Senator, and the Delegate in the House could
be no more than person TO give information of
our wishes, which Is now done BY memorials-so
that we should have no more than the shadow of
Representative, without the benefit of his vote
This privilege would be only Legislative grant.
which might be Withdrawn at any time Congress
might see tit, and therefore. in principle. as de.
pendent upon the will Of Congress as we now
are.
Independent of these objections, there are
others which we consider as sufficient to satisfy
US. we are better of without Delegate on the
floor Of the House.
The third proposition is one that THE PEG
PIE OF this place are more opposed to than either
of the others. Independent OF its utter inexpe
diency, We think that Congress cannot const,tu.
tiouaIly create Local Legislature for the Dis
tricts In 1895 the proposition for Local Legis-
lature was presented to Congress by the Joint
Committee of both Houses The people h.ino