Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-01-25
Aitbmono Enquirer.
DY RITCHIE, DCNNAyANT, TYLER L WISE.
TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY rs.
WAS THIS ABUSE UTTERED,
In the Richmond Wing" Of yesterday, we
find the following communication
ROCKINGHAM CorNry, Jan. 18th, l>59.

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, JAN 18th, l>j".
Yesterday being Court day. avast concourSe of the
citizens Of Rockingham attracted 10 Harrison
burg by the fine weather and the desire 10 hear the
speeches of the several candidates for the vacant
slippers of ''honcs, John" The harmonious Do
mocracy yin htatr to the Wings aud Americans
who present that interesting occasion, which
,r,,> Il treat. and rich and rare The ball was
opcnvd hy II short speech from DR.. Anderson NJ.
Newman. of this county, in which he declared him
self candidate FOR Congress, and protested most
lively attachment t" the great leading principle. OF
the Democratic party" When the Doctor got
through. Mr. John r. Harris, another Rockingham
.>p!ran,, lcsurely preparing himself Ia assert
his Claims when Captain Hiram Martz >prang to the
stand and commenced y vehement harangue, 10y an
nounc;n that he had just arrived from Washington,
and had Il conspiracy t r-r,di! He said that the
opposition to the Democracy had issued orders TO
their cohorts III Virginia to oppose Conventions i'll
all the districts and 20 encourage IRE, fgAts, hoping
thereby TO distract and di-negratc the party; 'lt
was the of the course of the Opposition III
this district, and he feared tha, if this fec fight went
On the banner of the glorious Democracy Of the Old
Trn,h Legion would he t..ilcd III the dust and they
would present the nourniul spectacle OF parcel OF
p"werlc>s and contemplate factions. This work Of
isiydction, corruption 1"d dts'"t,yrGio" was com
mcnccd in this State by Henry y. Wise and the Rich
mond Enquirer" edited by Wi>c's son: that Wise,
who had been warmed int" political life by Hunter
and his friends, had commenced a dirty intrigue.
two Years ago. 10 ou>t the Hon Robert II. l. linn-
ter the ;lyoritc statesman of Virginia, from the l.
=. Scna:c, and had wagrd upon him fierce malig-
nat malicious and infamous war: that when they had
been gncininio>ly "ed i'll their attempts 10 >cduce
the Legislature, and >ternly rcbuked ty the people.
they had pr,t,Adi 10 acGuicsce i'll the popular dec
sion aud >nclkcd back into the ranks Of the party.
in which they soon rai>cd ano;hcr disturbance by
their efforts 10 put down honest John Letcher-the
fvori,c OF the Tenth Legion. Here the Captain was
interrupted Icy s. T. Walker. Esd, the editor OF the
Valley Democrat who wanted 10 know whether
the editors of the .Enquircr" not III favor Oi
conventions. YES said the undauntcd Captain.
''thcy are jHd a"a.:" but he had no confidence IN
Wise and his ,on-thcy were dI>organiser>; II an!
body deserved seat III Congrc>, on the score vi
pa,t services, a service of forty wears in the Demo
cratic ranks entitled the individual then and there
addressing the people, 10 that honor. lie was op-
posed to free fights, for they gave scope '"r the exer-
ci,r oi the in,rigccs al cIuc> and coinbliiationS
there WAS an odious clique OF politicians here who
disgraccd the Democratic party. aud lac c"uld. II he
chose. tell tale in relation To- their conduct, that
To1ld mai. ec,ry honcH mar "a M'H h"H" Hns" :
TE;> c,ii,Ic had fixed George +. Dcncalc ~ their
candidate. hrt when he WAS arrested, they had
fixed on Il .nan who WAS less Objectionable than
Dcncalc. he lthc speaker, va, no a.pran, but il
i.r could not get convention. he Mas III the rin2 n'
the farmers candidate. opposed 20 clil;IeS and con-
biin,ois and TO Wise, The enemy ii Hunter, and
the rycreant 10 Southern rights. When the veteran
delegate" concluded, Harris trc'! again for hear
ing but Walker had the start ot him this time. He
rrI,liri 10 Martz and carried the war int" Afrca-
lie, " woull Ike "a kn"w Mia; Hunter had done
20 make Ian IirYi,ii's .rr"orH, som. Wise, the
fcarc>, tribune OF the people had met and overcome
the host, of Sam. whilst Hunter WAS waiting 10 see
on which side Of the fence the clover WAS. lie,
,Waik~r.I would Ike to know what evidence Wise
had ever given o: im.idriiy 10 the south. Mar'z-
The TanImanv Letter" Walkcr-"Wcll. what is
there IN the Ta,nnany letter 70 which You object
Martl''l have mr, 20, tinir NOW. but Ill >ho" you
before the CANVASS i vver. = 'pr' YDad'f ~ TIE
M-imoni IFt':.
We are not disposed 10 assume the accuracy
OF the abovc report, taken from an opposition
paper. We are unwilling to believe, without
some further confirmation Of the statement, that
Captain Hiram Martz, employed the language
attributed to him. Ifhe did, he has evidently
been deceived by dishonest men. We know that
he could have made no such statement, with re-
gard to the enquirer or to Goy. Wise, as OF
his own knowledge. In any event, he shall not
Toe subjected to harShncs> through our columns.
lie is a very aged and niirln man. and hence
naturally irritable and i!npreSsible. Thus it
is, tha, he has been led to arragn the
Enquirer" on charge Of opposition to
Conventions, in ignorance of the fact that we
hare consistently and perSistently co-incided
with him. in urging the policy Of calling con-
ven;ionS in all cases to nominate legislative
officers.
If he has been induced through misinfor-
nation. to make the unustifiablc assault on
Gov. Wise. now attributed to him, the circum-
stance of his late visit to Washington, probably
furnishes the best explanation of the fact
SO far as Captain Martz is concerned, then,
we abstain from all utterance Of ccnsnre. We
owe it to his age and present position, not
less than to the plain and honest, though i'm
pulsivc character which he suStainS. to permit
him TO retire peaceabv from the political arena,
without an expression Of condemnation from
the press of his party.
But if Captain Martz has been nisled by
SANDERS uttered 10y other men, we have u word
to say to these individuals, whoever they may
be, or whatever their position
The assertion that Governor Wise ever in
trigued, or even sought by justifiabe means,
to supplant Mr. Hunter in the Senate, is asian
derous falschood, wilfuly, knowingly, mali
ciously coined by Gov Wiscs enemies, for the
sheer purposes Of political intrigue,
No less a parsonage than the President OF
the United States is fully coSnizant of facts
which are of themselves sufficient to nail this
falschood to the counter. No one can offer
more satisfactory evidence of the falsehood OF
,br statement than can the Hon. r. N. T..
Hunter And the Hon. John Lctchcr can tcs-
tifv directly to the same effect
ANY man who wants information on the sub
cc.. can doubtless obtain it on proper applica-
ton. from any or all of these three witnesses.
As for the ''Tamlnany letter" Gov. Wise
stands firm to every sentence which 1t contains
Mr.. Hunter condemns it, So be it, then. But
if Mr.. Hunters friends are, with his approval,
bent on making the questions involved IN the
Tunmanv letter the issue of success or deieat
to Gov. Wise. that issue can be easily tried
Let Mr.. Hunter once express willingness 10
discuss the matter, face to face with Gov. Wise,
on the Hastings. and we pledge our woro lot
il tina; the Governor will meet him anywhere
and everywhere throughout the State, where
ever and whenever meeting can be fiXed.
And if it is desired to follow up the contest
with the opposing efforts of second chop de-
batrrS Misses son" is ready to meet any re-
spectacle man among Hunters followers, on
precisely the same terms
The part which our noble friend, ). L.
Walker, Esq. is reported to have taken in the
debate at Rockingham, is exactly what we
would have expected from him. Himself u
candidate for office. and with every temptation
to court the support or avoid the resentment oil
men Of all parties and opinions. his independent