Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1839-12-05
Mr. Barton's Address.
~ TIE PEOPLE or THE FIFTEENTH CON.
~GRESSi0NAl DISJRjcT.

IFAN W WV ntfEtu1e1 ms
ron consulting, 20 assign the causes, which 4, /.
hoped viii be satisfactory, i,npelling me 10 This
course. imperative ss The +. asons are. be as.nrea
tney have no connection with any discovery, made
ousiog the scrutiny Of The polls. adverse to INV iu,,
ana riehital claim. The opinion publicly espre.-
sea 70 you, some months ago, thar / had a MAORI.
~ % the legal votes, ranging from SO to 70, was
y - al weakened by the scrutiny 80 far as pro.
crossed. That | am fairly entitled 10 take INV se.,
as your Representative, under the lsws and con.,,.
tuition OF Virginia, | have no more doub, than ~
any conceivable thing, depending upon human tssti.
mohy ana susceptible Of the clearest demonstrstion.
mat no cnsrge of vague and idle surml.e may ).
started, l present, In detail, the gain which 4 mar.
.at investigation IN some of The Counties, and near.
y 'ai'in others. would exhibit, 40 that gentlemen.
- 'neir respective Counties, may scan The polls, 10
connection with the statement, and Judge for them.
selves. A gain is insisted upon Of e5 Ia F,cdey.
tex, 10 IN Hampshire, 4 in Clarke. 4 IN i, Hers.n
ard 10 IN Beikeicy--making an aggregate az "a
when could not be affected, either way, more ,ban
- IN Morgan. Some Of my best informed friend.
uaef", who have examined the lists with care. ma.
sure me tha, a full scrutiny In that County would
give me an accession Of 3 OF 10 votes, hut az ID the
tas result there ! do rot speak with the same 10.
a's'se insurance which enters Into the estimate else.
where "uh The exception Of Morgan, there has
not been one moment within the lass three month.
when ! should have been unwilling 10 have stsked
me whole issue upon my gaining in any ono. d, all
81 inc remaining Counties, and 10 regard 20 Fred.
eriek' where upon the face of tho POLLS there wa. ,
majority against me Of 10, il 10 Known Ia n few rsn.
uehen, thst proposed to my competition, month,
ego, 70 confine the whole issue TO that one County
ana y ! had not a legal majority in Il, / would ~
once abandon the contest. These reta;ls wo,,ld nj
be adverted 10. as they may npp.ar ;nvid;or. -
some, though not published with any view Of theit
oe'ng 80 received. was il not to meet anrcasrors
statements which are circulated By n few busv indi.
v'duais, that | had lost ground in the contes,-mv
competitor had gained upon me, some represent.
ing the gain at so or so votes, and IN ,ho,, I'M, i
nsa been :" driven from the field" It IL no, a.,
- y mol So! My own firm convictions have been
noncs,iy stated. and II Is believed that not one IN.
sentgenf and disiatereacd or moderate man Of any
parry has come to sny conclusion opposed to the
ruth, that ! have a majority Of the legal votes of
the District. 49,"
Immediately after the late election, a variety Of
circumstances coming to the KNOWLEDGE of nv
friends and myself, induced tho suspicion tina, ali
was not fair, and that | had a legal majority. /
was urged to contest, and determined to do So
before ] fully decided. however, and when il was
'noosht merely ptobable that my competitor would
obtain the return IN consequence ofs minority MS :,
. N ms favor appearing on the facc osihe polls, y pro-
position was made TO take the election over, OF 10
leave tne decision Of the whole contest TO ., ultra
ton. Now, observe, these proposals. were ,aeIed
before the Sberifs had made their ret,rp. and
when, from certain frauds known TO exist. Il wss
somewhat doubtful TO whom the certificate would
pc gwen itgiven 10 mr, my honor, good faith.
ana All would have been committed and lfthc de-
c'sion was adverse, ! should have resigned and en-.
gagged 10 another canvass. III acrcptrd by Mr.. III.
cas-, precisely the same course might and would
haye been adopted by him. There was no imnro.
pretty N the offer made, or difficulty unprecedented
u acceded TO. So In regard to the other alternative
--an hibitration; no man can doubt that q body Of
our mutual riends--honorable gentlemen n Il nre-
somed-would give a fnirer decision, in such a mat
yer. than a party tribunal in Congress-, whether
wings OF Administration men. And here, too, |
gave MN an advantage almost equal TO the certif-
cate Of return, for If bad obtained the certificate.
and tho ~ bitrsment been that ! was entitled a. Il,
l was ehectually placed hors de combat-,hrcwn
OUT from the Held OF competition. | would have
been bound immediately to resign. and though /
could not have transferred the certificate of re,urn
TO him, he would assume the attitude OF conroslan,
with the decisive advantage Of hsving no costes,ee,
or. If he preferred running again, a clear track
would have been left him so far az was concerned.
i he obtained the return, which he subsequently,
did, and the decision Of the referees had been "a
vorable to him, this would have ended the whole
matter, and saved W both useles, expense, and the
District much excitement. feel bound 10 say tbst
these propositions, IN writing, did not reach Mr.
Lucas until his return from the meeting OF tho She.
riffs In Mofgan-ofc course when be received NV lei.
ter he had the certificate OF return. He therefore
declined my proposals, AZ he bad o right to do, ard
as J believe most men would bave done, for 80 con
st'inied Is human nature that few men are willing
speedily to surrender the embrace Of virgin honors
As to editorial TINT Mr.. Lucas could no,
accept these offers, becauge be would thereby be
nfgoesatsng away the rights Of the people--fLat
his constituency had the first claim upon him-ifi IL.
in the FIRST place, q begging OF the question, and, in
the second, all baiderdash and fummery. have
not given q history ofthis transaction with sny view.
of casting censure upon Nh. Lucas, or 10 excite
painful feelings in any quarter, but simply 10 put
myseIf right before the country, by showing al /
wanted was fair play in the prosecution Of a jusl
claim.
Driven, then. TO the last rssost, a contested cleo.
ton, the preliminary steps taken were all regular.
Proper notices were interchsngcd between US. but
upon the service fthe second lisi OF votes given 10
me In Frederick, and objscted 10 as being illegal,
the truth flashed al once upon my miEd thai I wa.
70 DC embarrassed BY every possible shift ard expe-
dieni. l will not mince matters when ] say | aus
pccied and suspect a concerted scheme on the part
OF a fen of Mr.. Lucas friends, Of which | have the
best reason 10 know that gentleman was ignorant
and consequently innocent, 10 magnify the lists, exc
out time, and throw me into the session &c Congress
with The contes, still pending. These different lists
OF votes Ia Frederick given 10 me, and objected 10,
numbered about 270-nearly half the entire vote /
obtained in the CouHty. Among them were many
who have been large laudholders for near twenty
years. Eighteen persons were named on the list
who had not voted at all-men in effgy-not 70 he
found in the flesh and blood and form uf humanity.
either upon the mountain top or tie valleys below,
or, II found as actual men, not found In the charac-
Ter OF voters. A highly respectable gentleman was
objected to as having voted twice for me, once Il
Clarke and once in Frederick, when, in roir.e 81
fact. he did not attend the polls at all in ether
County. The object of this was apparent. Ii was
to offset he od:um attaching to The frs.sd Of one n.
dividual (%mis,ske, be calls III WHO actually did
vote for Mr.. Lucas twice, and so proven to have