The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-10-18

To THE Enron CT rHR Noarorx BEAcox
Dear Sir-A long communicaaton .npeared h
your paper Of the l4sh Scptembss bearing dafe ,Ao
5lst August and purporting to sire q sccounf 81
me proceediogs Of the late White sulphur Convex.
ton. The writer under the factious sirnsture 81
3 am Pstch has worked mp very eisborste c.ri
ceiure OF the proceedinRs Of that Convention snd
OF some OF the persons who took part n Il He ~
snnss.en s.. among other things, to Eiss me CON.
OF which would not complain II he had represent
ed correctly what said and did But II tha o,.s,
inssnce 70 which he has attempted to repeat what
my remarks, thatI think Il due 30 myseli 10 uske
the proper correction. And lest It should be thousbf
!. arm rather late in doing so. ought to mention
tnas yesterday the first time ever saw or had
30 opPs,sany ofseeing the communication jour
!iessys Of me-eHe charged the southsiders Win
Voluntarily abse4ting themselves from the Conyer.
ton, when they had never been invited and In the
ace 700 OF letter written by the President Of the
Seh!rai Road announcing the object ofthe Conven.
works. = -f~' ssAA'
do not consider myself a. having made .nv
cnaTge at all against the Southsiders % a BODY
ala not go to the Convention with any such pur.
pose. nor do believe that my language was Justly
liable to such an Interpretation. Ihave never cher
ished any feeling OF hostility to Norfolk or Peters
Durg, or TO what IL commonly known as the South
side line of improvement, extending by railWaI
from Norfolk through Petnsburg and Lynchhure
COuveQllOU.
however, as delegate from Richmond, consider.
ing that Convention an assemblage OF the friends
OF the Covington and Ohio Railroad, called for the
purpose OF promoting the construction and euccess
no other purpose, and prepared, of course, to rem
der my very humble aid, If necessary, in the Con
venaon, towards attaining that object. supposed
we nad all come there not to advocate or oppose
the Improvements of the Southside, but simply 70
promote as far as lay in po wer and not to aban
don or betray, the Central Improvement
Its not necessary to explain the manner in which
!, was induced. at the request of gentlemen from
the East and from the West, to take q more active
part in the proceedings othe Con vention than had
anticipated. 1t Is probable that if certain gentle
men had arrived ON the ground earlier, the part
which took would have been assigned to some
one more able and competent. Be that as it may,l
am not ashamed OF anything which did, and ann
conscious of no improper motive. 3@@
The remarks which / made were ia reply to
speech from Mr. McComas of Kanawha The Con.
vepton had adopted, with almost entire unanimity,
the resolutions of the committee of 81 which en-
braced what that committee supposed to be the
whole business of the Convention. Thereupon,
Mr. McCemas offered certain resolutions which
looked to a compromise between the friends OF the
Covington and Ohio Railroad and those of the
Southsde line, Of all exising differences between
them, and TO the proposed Convention be held at
Norfolk In November as the time and place for ef
fecting that compromise. He accompanied those
resolutions with speech in which 1he contended
that the Convention had not done enough that
something more should be done with view to con
ciliate the Southsde He complained also that from
the manner in which the Convention was called or
gotten up, the SouthsderS had felt themselves ex
cluded from the Convention and they were, there
fore, not represented in It. He complained, more
over, that the committee had not recommended the
call of an extra session Of the Legislature.
l replied to Mr.. McComas by showing why it was
thought imprudent and inexpedent for the friends
of the Covington aud Ohio Road to take upon them.
selves the odium of calling for extra session of
the Legislature. endeavored to show that the
resolutions of the committee and the Convention
had not gone further 10 their recommendations not
because we were hostile to the Southside or its
lines OF Improvement, but because we felt bound to
confne ourselves to the objects for which the Con
vention was called adverted to the catholic and
liberal spirit of our seventh resolution, as conclu
sive proof that we were not acuated by any spirit
OF hostility to the improvements of the Southside,
or OF any part OF the State aaEot
s,n,hsids had been excluded from the Conven-
40, hy terms in which it was called, referred
to the Kanawha resolutions and to the resolutions
of the other counties and corporation appointing
delegates to the Convention, to show that it was
universally understood to be Convention OF all
the friends of the Covingron and Ohio Railroad in
Virginia, whether from Southsde or Northside,
| East or West And said that since the terms OF
| the call were so comprehensive to embrace all
the friends OF the c. IL o. K. r., whether in the
| North or in the South if any persons felt them
| selves excluded from the Convento by the terms
of the call, it must be because they were conscious
| of being the enemies of the Improvement to pro-
/ mote the interests of which the Convention was
| assembled. did say that beloved that portion
of the friends of the Southsde line were hostile to
the construction of the Covington and Ohio R. r.,
and that believed that they had defeated appropTi-
ations by their active hostility last winter But
| | did not make that charge against the whole
| Southside. Sam Patch is l presume, among the
number of those against whom the charge might
have been made with truth; as think may be fair
| ly inferred from the spirit OF his letter.
| But Mr. Patch says charged that the S,uthsiders
voluntarily absented themselves fir, m the Conven-
ton, in the face of letter Of the President OF tbs
Central Road, announcing the object OF the Convet
tion to be the crushing QUIZ CT one OF our most Inn
portant works. know of no such letter; none s1ch
| was produced; nor do believe that any such was
| written. Some such charge was mado at the Con-
vention, upon vunaoy; but Col. Fontalne denied 1t
pebliciy He admitted that having heard that the
be at the Convention in force with sview to super
ssde the C,vinston and Ohio Railroad by the Chris
tiansburg and Greenbrier line he had written to
yeral persons to deprecate such movement. and to
invite aid in defeating IT. but he justified his course
the sorna Of .a m
vtng friends of the Cosington and Ohio Road to stay
awsy from it; very different also from saying that the
4 southsiis line. Whether Col Fontaine was opPos.
ed 70 having any sonnsxion between the Virgins sni
Road, @ know not; certainly, the Convention not
called TO defeat that connexion. nor did the mite
q ds d
not write Ii was not he who called the Convention,
and Ii remains get be shown that be kept the Peo-
| ple of the Southside away. presume y he had
told them not TO come, that would have been the
| most sffsctual way to bring them, for they would
have Justly resisted such dictation.
Sam Patch affects to consider the whole Conve Ne
tiou Of the friends of the Covington and Ohio Rail
| road freely assembled ct the White sulphur, 70 the
number OF several hundred persona from some 35 to
4 "a counties a. controlled by the Central Rsroad
Company and " johnson. Clifford 4 Co" - he
ehooses to call them, q the Instruments BY which
that company accomplished its purposes. Those
who really know anything fthe proeesdines of the
| Convention will smile a. 90 absurd chsfgS sna
those who know anything of my past course or OF
Mr. 6iford's, vita reference TO the internal IN. (
| proyements Of the State, mud also kney ices sne
charse that we the instlu msnts Of the Cen1nl
Railroad Company, cannot be true. ny Psst eine
snows that the only improvements 10 when nave
exhbiesd any peculiar Interest," has been the watef-
line from Richmond q might say Rom hosfoie) 20
4 The Ohio have not bees IN any way eonnecteo
With the Central Railroad except BY owning one
sh.Ie Of it, sfock and Mr Clifford hAs always exht-
| MOD lively Interest In the Improvements of the
Southsids. being stockhodsr in the kichmosd and
DanyiIls tsiiroeA Company, Of which he wee Tor
!. m.ry years Q Director end Wee President. ..hy
does Sam Ratsh select him - ~ objecs Of sthek -
FOR no o.hsr reassn appsrently bes 70 bnng oaum
uuon the White Sulphur Convention. ~ represent
ins Il g couIrollsd hy al "Eusishmsn"
Sam Pstch, perhaps. aaeo mesne 4 70 be understood
that I heiped TO prevent Mr. kskss report from BE-
inr printed BY the Convention. II he does. he Ii
1fons in thsf also, voted fer prin.ing IL. IS
-.cc,fx hav0 taxi Ua}no fhea6