Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-03-25
For the Enquirer.
nmuArnRIAL CANVASS.

mi HnrfON. Lm1k
w. dow was u very Indictment one, SNOW
.r;nc succeeded q rain the day before, and
,%" Thermometer having fallen some % or so
'1e~rccs in n few hours on the night of the 18th.
Mr. Lctcher led off in a speech Of an hour,
characterized by great good sense and correct
political views. In the brief space of an hour,
it was impossible for the able speakcrt to discuss
any thing like all of the points at issue, between
himself and his opponent.
In the course Of his speech he took up inc
subject of distribution" which 1t seems Ills
| opponent favors; and gave his reasons lot oP.-
posing the scheme of distribution is prov.
dcd for in the bill of 1911. lie showed Una,
the provisions Of that bill were most ureli"i
\ and unjust. and favored the new States III the
expense of the old; that there was hot hiois
money in the treasury now than enough, anu
| that + the proceeds of the sales of the public
| lands were distributed, an equal amount wouid
have to be raised by duties on imports 10 maxi
I'M the deficiency; that a per ccntase wouid
! have to be paid for collecting and distributing:
| which. with the allowances to the Land states,
would have to be first deducted before dlStrlou'
ton would commence, thus considerably re-
| ducing the net amount to be distributed IN
! addition to this, the unequal operation OF tne
tariff was referred to, showing that |lrsinia
would be considerably the loser under such Il
| scheme of distribution rs was provided LOT III
the act of 1871. He also vinaicatcd the pro-
| priety of laying md raiorrm in preference TO
| specific duties, showing the unjust ana uncquai
operation of specific dutics-thc rate per ceht'
of tax increasing as the value OF the article
| decreascd-thus throwing a heavier burden oil
taxation on the poor and middlins classes tIiah
on the wealthy. In this connection nc review
ed some of the provisions of the tarlh OF io+2,
| for which Mr.. Goggin voted, and showed II to
be one of the most Objectionable revenue bills
ever passed by Congress, save, perhaps, the
"bill of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS tariff oil lSih.-'
| The passage of that bill b. the Wings in 1872,
in a great measure. aided in the defeat OF Hen
~ Clay, and in the election of Mr.. Polk IN
1874.
These were the main points argued by MIR.
Letcher in his brief hour; but, before closing,
he referred to the charge of being an ".Aboll-
ZIONIST 80 pertinaciously made against him.-
Although he, with several other gentlemen,
lSome of them Wigs requested DIR. Ruiiner
to publish the address he made in lSiI. yet he
did not endorse" the sentiments OF the pam
phlet: JtrouSe he. as well Us all the rest, refused
to contribute to the payment for its publica-
ton; but he stated that there was no sentiment
in it worse than some OF those contained in the
speech of Mr.. Summers in 1889, for whom Mr..
Goc-in and the whole Wing party voted in
1851. Those who voted for Mr.. Summers, with
his record. were not the proper persons to object
to him Gctclier) now. Moreover, he stated
that about three wears after the publication Of
the Ruilncr pamphlet he publicly announced a
change in his mind on the subject Of slavery,
so far as it effected the social and political con-
dition of the people among whom it existed,
while he was a candidate for the Reform Con-
v~eution-and that. in a District which bad Il
Wing majority of so. nc was elected by Il
majority of l,2aS votes over such men as
.Alcx'r II. IL. Stuart and Thomas j. Michic.-
That showed that the people among whom he
was born, and had always lived, and who were
POLITICAL, opposed to him. did not, for one
moment, distruSt his soundncSs on the slavery
question.
If this did not convince every man present.
''Whig," American" or Democrat, that the
cry of ".AbolitioniSt," now raised against Mr..
Letcher, is all for "Buncombc.' and is u hypo-
critical p~rctenSe to compass his defeat il pos
sible by foul means or fair, | am greatly mis-
taken. 4 good impression was made by Mr..
Lctcher, and | am vet to hear of the first De-
mocrat in this section who will not vote for
Mr.. Letcher.
In Mr.. Gosgin's reply, he avowcd himself in
favor of distribution and in favor of u protec-
tive tariff. He used the usual Wing argyll
mcntS in favor of each Of these measures
These arguments formed the staple OF his
speech. But he rcSortcd to a fund Of All cap
tond"m clap trap arguments" and %illnStra-
tons, to show why lie ought to be elected and
why Mr.. L.etcher ought not. He said he en-
pccted TO receive the votes of many Democrats
in the S,atc-cnough to secure his election and
Mr.. L.ctclcr's defeat.
Mr.. Goggin and his party unqueStionably re-
~ upon getting the votes of many Democrats
who they vainly imagine will vote for Mr..
Goggin because of their d~isapproval of Mr..
Lctcher's former views on slavery, though now
changed and recantcd. Mr.. Goggin said he
was nominated by wings" ".Amcricans" and
others opposed to the election of John Letcher.
Who the ''othcrs" were he did not condcscend
to inform us.
Upon questions of State policy, there
seems TO be but little, if any, differ
cncc between them, save and except that
Mr.. Lctchcr emphatically declared that
if elected, as he expected to be, and it should
unfortunately happen that the Federal Govern
ment should fall into the hands Of the enemies
of the South. and an attempt should be made
to march federal troops across this State, for
the purpose of interfering with the social in>ti-
buttons Of the South. he would do all in his
power to meet the enemy, force with force
Mr.. Goggin gave no such assurance.
The Democrats arc well pleased with their
candidate and we will give him our usual DEM
ocratic majority in Little Tennessee" I
think.
Of course, in the foregoing, ! do not pre-
tend to give anything like the precise language
used; but have cndeavored TO give the sub
stance of each speech in part, so far as | can
do so from memory.
Each of the gentlemen made what their re-
spcctivc friends considered ''happy hits" All
passed off pleasantly, and the candidates seem
to be on very friendly terms with each other
and Mr.. Goggin went SO far as to say that the
more he saw of John I.etcher the better he
liked him" and pleasantly added, tbut not in
4 toDr OF sincerity, as the writer thought. that
he expected to he elected: and what gave him
the most pain was. that he would have to de-
feat 80 good a fellow as his respected oppo-
ncnt." The country expects every Democrat
to do his duty. South West.
DEMOCRATIC MEETING IN PORTSMOUTH.
At an adjourned assembling OF the Democratic
parry, held March 18TH, l>5?. at the City Hall, John
:. White was called 10 the Chair, the President being
absent. and DR.. l.. 4. liilli>oly appointed Secretary.
Tic object Of the meeting was 10 receive the report
of the committee appointed TO present candidates Tor
the House of Delegates aud the Mayoralty Of the
" --- Al. ... - TI,.., 49,. Al