Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1846-02-05
TO THE VOTERS OF THE 18TH
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

III The YOlERS Of f1E4 II II
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Felloav- Citizens Since reached Staunton,
| have been informed that some of my oppo-
nents are briskly engaged in circulating re-
port, (not only here, but in the other counties
of the District, that | have abandoned the
Democratic Party. The evidence relied upon
to sustain this report is, that. in the Senatorial
contest last fall, between Mr.. MooRE and Mr.
| BAYLOR, | supported the former. While
they are particular to state this fact, they are
equally as careful to suppress all the other
| facts connected with that election. Those
facts, this communication is intended to supply,
and unless am greatly deceived, will con-
vince any man whose mind is not blinded by
| prejudice, that have done nothing more than
any other man would do under like circumstan-
J ces.
What are those facts? On the 9Th day Of
! October, l045, it was publicly proclaimed, in
an Editorial article published in the augusta
WILL BE NO DEMOCRATIC CANDI-
DATE FOR THE SENATE The an
nunciaton was made in the most confident
! terms, as the article itself shows. Let one
| and all read it, and see whether any man here,
| or elsewhere, HdQ the slightest reason 10 eA-
| pect candidate after that!
Or we feel CONFIDENT, from what
| we have heard from our country friends, that
! there will be NO DEMOCRATIC CAN
DIDATE for the SENATE There appears
to be desire to let the all decency,' fight
among themselves for the office. We would
say TO our correspondent Of last week, that Mr..
HEIsKELL is in the West at present, and
therefore cannot reply to the call made upon
him.'-Dem., Oct. II. IS45.
There is the whole article, (the capitals and
italics being my own) Could an annunciation
be more explicit, more decided, and less liable
to be misunderstood There was to be no can
didate,-it was then fully understood that no
man Of the Democratic party was to be in the
field, the desire of the whole Democracy
here was TO let the all decency' fight among
themselves for the Office
Thus stood matters until the 9th dag of No
uember following, when Mr.. Baylor's circular
made its appearance. And how did he regard
the contest? Did he consider it a political con-
test, in which every voter was to stand by lis
party, under pain of being unchurched Not
he! He was solicited by large number of
his fellow citizens of BOTH PARTIES. =
All! and how does it happen that the Whigs
who solicited MIR. Baylor to become cand;-
date, have not been claimed by him as Demo
crats2 Surely if am 'JThg.' because OPP
posed him, they ought to be considered Demo
Gratis because they sustained him! But hear
him again:
'And as matters of far greater Importance,
| than those merely POLITICAL, are to come
under the consideration of your next Legsla-
ture, an Inclined to beliere, that so far as
NATIONAL POLITICS ARE CON
! CERNED, The. free and Independent Uoters Of
the District WILL DISCARD SUCH
| CONSIDERATIONS, AND GIVE THEIR
VOTES WITHOUT REGARD TO THE
BIAS OF PAR1IZAN FEELING
| That's the way Mr.. Jacob Baylor talked
when he was candidate to represent Whig
| Senatorial District! National politics. We're
to be discarded, and votes were to be given
without reference 'to the bias Of partisan feel
! ingr That was the rule he wished the Wigs
to follow-but if a Democrat adopted his re-
commendation. he forthwith read him out of
/ the Democratic church, and very charitably
handed him over to political perdi;ion. Is such
conduct fair, or manly? Ough it to be expect
ed from hin?
/ But of all the men in this District, Mr. Bay-
lor is the gerry last man who should open his
mouth about my voting for S. Med Moore
| for the Senate, as the fact | am about to state
| fully shows. Be it therefore known to all the
! faithful Democracy ofAugusta, and the friends
of NJ. Baylor in particular, that he, the said
jacob, did on the 22ad day Of April, in strict
party contest for Congress, in which the afore-
said S. Med. Moore was the WING candi
date, and Robert Craig was the DEMO
| CRATIC candidate, vote fer the former over
the latter. His vote is the o. 3lst uote re-
corded at the Court House. Mr.. Baylor ought
to recolIect the old adage-'Men who
live in glass houses should not throw stones'
But again, suppose there are three or four
Democrats in the field, and the Wings should
attempt to take advantage of our division by
| running man! Would the Democrats think
that the Wings were acting fairly2 My
word for it, they would denounce such conduct
throughout the whole Distrct-and no man
would denounce it more violently than Mr..
Baylor. If such would be our opinion now,
of this act, what opinion would they entertain
Of US for the attempt to play such game last
falll
This much have thought proper to say in
defence of my conduct, and | leave it with
you to decide whether | acted improperly or
whether am obnoxious TO the charge of de-
serlion of my principles.
This article would have appeared in the
Democrat if the paper for this week had not
been issued. The Editor ofthe Democrat and
the other papers in the District are requested
to give it place.
Your fellow citizen,
JOHN LETCHER.
Staunton, Jan. 26th, 1916.
nE,socpATTr NETTING