Arkansas true Democrat., 1859-05-11
To the People of the ,6tate

mine of the Ioth CT March last, with his ar rayof proof, IS before me, and gwonld have been answered earlier, but as my professional engagements required my attention at the Arkansas county circuit court, I was l5e pre- vented. l shall do so now, in a spirit. of frankness and candor, ferI have no conceal- mxnts to make arfd n6thiiigi t6 coyertpn 1irf6,n the hepeople----- =, =, ,-,--stl - =
 It is to me sd;lfeaeTddT d q fl TrSaEErsa. that the controversy between Mr. :DuvallandmyseH has assumed,eiitirely a I,ersonal lIsai; atacterN inasmuch as ourpfi9ate5 affairs are matters of no interest too the people, but for this Mr Duval is.alone responsible, and he Is ifTtc to be excused for giving this, o ,controoyersv that turn, since his publp'characte and especi- ally his position upon the per diem question is indetenslble, and for his course upon that subject he knows full well that he is now receiving Tn every portion of the State that condemnation by the people, which he so justly deserves.
 am at loss to discover how this per- sonal assault upon me; this retailing, by cer tifcates, ofpretended conversations of mine, Admitting them all to be true) can make Mir. Duval's position any better, or in any way. or in the least degree, justify or excuse his drawing eight or ten thousand dollars from the treasury, to be paid to members of the legislature for services which were never rendered the State If he should sue ceed however in making the people of the State believe that l am privately a scoun- drel, he knows, or being a lawyer ought to know, that that would not authorise him to do public stealing, were he so inclined. tsThis personal assault upon me is made to cover up, to hide from the public gaze, the epormity of this public outrage And Se hopes by directing the attention of the 0people to what he would have them believe, 1 had said or done in my private relations, that he can thereby divert the investigation, from the question really at issue between us. don't blame him. He ought to wish the issue was concealed. = He ought to catch at any pretext to divide the public censure, for surely the shame <Khich he is now, and will continue to re- ceive, is more than any one man can well bear
 It will be discovered, by those who will put themselves to the trouble to examine my first card, addressed to the people of the State upon this subject, that made plain statement of the facts connected with my resignation as they existed at the time. avoided any personal allusion to any one, and confined myself to mere statement of the reasons and motives which led me to the conclusion that my duty to the people and myself required that 1 should resign l had then, and have now nothing to do with the private affairs of others. And shall certainly not descend to become a re- taller of private conversations.
 Should 1, however, be induced to engage in that sort of business in the future, l will try and repeat the whole of conversations 1 attempt to retail, or, at least, to give to them the construction which rightfully be longs to them.
 There is one thing, however, 1 would like to learn of MT. Duval It will be seen that all of these certificates ofmy private conver- sations are dated whilst l was at Little Rock and he says his first card was pre- pared before he left that place. Why then Mir. Duval, were they not at that time made public, when the parties to those certificate, and you and 1 were all in Little Rock to- gether?
 Now, if the certificates had affected alone my public character, he would not bt so much to blame. But as they hay, reference alone to my private character } 1t seems to me it would have been more il accordance with propliety, and it would have presented, at least, the semblance O fairness, to have made his publication witt his certificates; when he, they and l, were al in Little Rock together.
 Then the matter at issue between us pri i, vately could have been settled; then men 1recollectiOns might have been refresh led ;- then they might have been induced to stat the whole of the conversations which they pretend now to retail; then the truth nigh have been arrived at without difficulty, anC the whole matter made plain. But this is Xhat Mr. Duval did not want; this he wanted to avoid; so that he might, per. chance, induce the people under a misap prehension of the truth of the matter tC censure me. He knew full well that, upor every vote which l gave upon the question OA tAltlils w dS NOilSlSOCIlt anu ilb hilCN too, that upon the final passage of the re solution which induced my resignation, tha I, occupying the speakers stand and hay ing no voice upon the floor of the House had asked the favor of some member tc call for the yeas and nays, that 1 might be able to record my vote against it.
 b reply Co Mr. DugaI, / say noac, so Ma a,offo,. eoo,,of Lo,ou5jo Lo Mat neger promised Co sign any nean's cer- tfc0te to induce him 10 gote for the recess and if Mr. Duval intended to assert the contrary to be true, l here pronounce il false. This is plain language, but it is the only remedy left me under existing circum- stances.
 But, to go further, and address myself to &he people of the State, l will give full statement of what | did say, and what may have led Messrs. Vaughan and Gray to state what they do in their certificates. 1 did say, and in this AIr. Dunn has stated my position correctly that the action of the legislature, by resolution or enactment, could not affect the rights of the members to their pay. l said as much in my first Ndlu dHI NuOlti liiC NpiloliIutiOH W Illtl SuS- tains that position, and in conversation with Messrs. Vaughan and Gray, in relation to the Senate's amendment to the House reso- lution, when Mr. Gray said it would take from him his per diem, and that he was not able to lose it, 1 told him that it could not have that operation if he was by law entitled to it. For, if he was entitled to it under the constitution and law, 1t was not in the power of the legislature to take it from him, and on the other hand, if he was not so entitled, the legislature could not give it to him. That is what l said then, and that is what 1 say now; and upon that ground it was that refused to obey the re- solution of the House, requiring me to sign the certificates of members during the re- lSss. That I was right in this position of constitutional law, do not suppose any one will controvert, not even MT. Duval himself
 1 am charged again with being eager for the recess, although l voted against 1t upon Levery occ~ion. l expressed myself in pri- vate conversation time and again, that con
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