Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1857-10-06
THE RICHMOND ENoUIRER,
TUESDAY, oCTonER6 - isI,
"a BENY OF sHARpEKsn
nv RITCHIE 4 DUNNAvAST.

| a. DCNNASANT..
TUESDAY, OCTOBER O. 1857.
"a BEFY OF sHARPEKS"
Under the above caption, The 'Whig" of yesterday
publishes the following editorial:
1--WE understand that the bevy of Locofoco sharp.
ers VINO noio once IN the Capitol of Virginia drew
their salaries from the Banks yesterday IN god. Or.
dna,iy VIZ VIZ, snouu nave no disposition to refer TO
fact ike th,s 10 spirit Of complaint. But it
to US that, in these times good citizen would aid
in enhancing and perpetuatng the financial enbar-
rasslnent' no matter TO how slight an extent with
which the community is now afflicted. Thus We 90
gold aud silver currency for law and worthless
ofhce'h0lders, aud rag money as Democrats call
bank bills, for the people! Such is Democratic po.
, icy.
"But we forgive the sharpers in the Capitol for e1.
hiOIting no concern for the enbarrassments and dis
tresses OF the people, for it is natural to them-they
only do after their kind
Thus every officer of the Commonwealth occupied
in the Capitol, from the Governor of the State to the
most subordinate functionary is denominated a
"sharper" and charged with an act unworthy of a
good ctizen"-wih enhancing and perpetuaiing
the financial embarrassment, with which the com.
munity is now afflicted"
The utter recklessuess of this attempt to wound
the feelings aud ipurs the reputation Of large mum.
ber of aborous and deserving Citizens will appear
from the following summary of facts, which have
taken the pains to procursby direct enquiry.
On request, We have obtained permission to publish
the following letter from Gov WISE written Thurs.
day, possibly at the very moment when the arti.
Gle in the "Whg" was penned
RICHMOND, Va, October lst, 1857.
To the Cashier Of the Farmers Bank, Richmond.
DEAR SiR:-Pleass collect and place to my credit
thl tUifh
for $3.50 might well wsh the amount was thou.
sand fold larger il my lawful due, that might, in
the multiplied proportion, manifest my confidence in
you all to protect the public credit and the private
interests of our people. l want small amount Of
funds that will pass current from here to Philadel.
phia-say S7j. Can get them at Bank, without in.
convenience Please answer at your earliest conve.
nieuce this evening. Yours. truly,
sgned) HENRY A. WISE.
We have received explanations fully as satsiacto-
ry with regard to the other officers 80 unusiy stig
matised by the "Wbig." Except in one instance, all
the chief oficers OF the Commonwealth the Heads of
Departments, Chiefs of Bureaus &c, have not only
rerained from drawing the salary due them IN gold,
but they have not withdrawn the amount at all from
, deposit in the banks-soms have not received
yet the warrants for their pay-and indeed aten.
ton has been particularly drawn TO one case, where
above this has been done except in instance, and
this exceptional instance is in the highest degree hon.
orabl. to the gentleman concerned. No. only did he
need the money TO supply immediate private necessi'
tiea, but 10 meet pressing pecuniary liability. The
editor of the "Whig" must entertain abnormal sent
ments on the score of morality if, after this explana
tion he holds it TO be the moral duty Of debtor to
be unjust to his creditor 10 order that he may be gene
q rous to the community"
In very few exceptional instances, clerks in two
of the Departments have also been Obliged TO meet
their pecuuiary necessities by drawing for specie to
the email amounts due them respectively. These
gentlemen, occupying subordinate positions, and Ia
boring hard for insufficient saiares could not afford
e to lend money to the community but they have
done their utmost TO relieve the financial embarrass
;; ment' of their needy creditors, who must have
been subjected to Inconvenience, not TO actual loss
by generous refusal of their creditors to withdraw
from the Banks the amount in specie OF the few hun
dreds of dollars to which they were justly entitled
!, That majority of ths clerks employed at The Capi.
FOL should be able TO leave the amounts due them un'
touched and on deposit, speaks highly in favor OF the
fugaity of men who having to provide for the support
). of themselves and their families, can dispense with the
| prompt payment Of the limited salary on which ihey
depend for subsistence. Thut such men should sub
NIT TO nconv enence, and perhaps to want rather Than
AID mo matter TO how slight an extent" the present
financial embarrsssments constitutes an example oi
generosity on their part, which more afluent citizens
3 cannot compete with, and which few men will iml
tate even when it is within their power. But this
generous course which has been adopted by most OF
the Gle, ks cannot be adduced to inculpae their lets
fortunate associates who have been obliged to act
with reference to the old proverb be just before you
> are generous"
Such au accurate statement as to the conduct of all
the gentlemen "who nold office in the Capitol OF Vlr'
/. piuia." We addace it as an extraordinary example
of good citizenship, aud OF generosity limited i'll
some instances only by the strict requirements of jus
r flee. And yet the editor Of the "Whg" ''under'
stands that these gentlemen, and all, have die
> played signal want Of "concern for the embrrase'
. men,s aud disresses of the people,"
G Independent of this, the "Whg" characterizes all
these functionares without exception, as "sharpers,
"lszy and worthless Office holders" Among persons
acquainted TO any extent. with the body OF men re-
ferred to- we feel confident that this abuse will only
serve to Disgust people with the reckessness OF such
assertion And we trust that all intelligent strangers
10 the gentlemen thus vifsd, will first recur to the
incorrect statement made by the "Whg," as to their
conduct, before credit can be given to the representa-
tions of the same journal as TO their character.
In conclusion we have TO euggest that the Editor
OF the "Whig" will do well, not only to correct the
misstaements which he has Disseminated, but also to
apologize to large number of meri'orious gentlemen
for the coarseness of abase with which he has un'
justly as,asd thern.