The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-08-06

1
after election how they had voted. | be-
licvc al my white employees, with two or
three executions, who did not vote at all,
voted the Walker ticket, and oil my colored
The Wells ticket. Yet | would sooner have
had my arm torn from its socket than TO
have discharged one of the former because
he voted in different manner than dio
| myself. contend that no man has right
to dictate to another what church he shall
attend. or what ticket he shall vote, simply
because he employs him and buys the labor
necessary to the capitalist, and without
which his capital cannot be profitably en-
| ployed.
I look upon men occupying official posi-
lions in different light, and believe the
| marty to which you belong take the same
| view of the matter I do. Alta events, we
shall soon have an opportunity OF seeing
whether You do or not. | certainly do not
believe Wells men now in position will hold
their places with very secure tenure al
ter your party gets the power to GUST them,
and am strongly of the opinion that you
will be inclined to replace Wells men by
Walker men as soon as you have power to
do so. / should be most agreeahly sur
priscd to find you and your party practlcing5
| what you preach in the editorial to which l
| am replying, and allowing my friends now
| in Office to retain their positions. If you
should do so | should take great pleasure in
reciprocating such unlooked-for forbearance
| in any way in my power.
I do not consider il anybody's business
but my own to know why or for what l
visited Washington, but have in this case
no objection to the public being informed
lust what | went there for. My friend
Colonel J. 7. Brady, a good man, thorough
Republican, and trusted and respected
officer in the Norfolk Navy-Yard for several
years past, was very suddenly and unex-
pectcdly removed from his position and
another appointed. Feeling that injustice
had been done him, desired to have II re-
paired, and visited Washington for the pur-
pose of asking the Secretary of the Navy to
reTnstate him. ! also endeayored to pro-
cure the appointment of several other
friends, and to induce the Secretary to en-
large the force at, and TO send additional
work to, said yard. / believe all these OBJ
iccts to be for the good of the district !
havo been elected to represent, and
shall work untiringly to carry them
out. shall certainly try to
ret rs many good Republicans into the
yard as possibly can, and to do all in my
power to advance the interests OF my
friends. That / cndeavored to procure the
general discharge of Conservative employees
is false. I hope this yard may be the
means of increased prosperity to the section
around it, and that all the employees may
learn to love and respect the Government
which supports and protects them and if
not good Republicans now, they may be
before the next election. But | shall never,
there or elsewhere, ostracize or ask TO
have dismissed laboring man simply be-
cause he does not agree with me politically.
Hoping the party you represent may come
to be equally liberal,
am, very truly, yours,
JAMES II. PLATT, JR.
Mr.. PLATT is "cute Yankee" lie de-
MICS that he went to Washington TO have
WALKER men turned out Of the maynard
at Portsmouth, but admits that lie went for
the purpose of having WELLS men put into
It. He knows full we'll that if lie should
procure employment for the WELLS men he
would thereby deprive the WALKER men of
it. He did not endeavor to procurc the
general discharge" Of Conservative en-
ployes! Oh, no. He would no doubt be
willing to spare some of them.
Mr.. PLATT processes to be able to under
stand the difference between discharging an
employG because he voted the WALKER
ticket and turning out Of official positions
because of their known incOmpctcncy and
Radicalism the miserable carpct-baggcrS
and scalawags who have crawled into Office
because respectable men refused to take an
oath which they gladly swallowed. Yet,
Immediately after acknowledging that there
is such difference he ALPHABETICALLY pro-
fcsses not to be able to sec it; for he de-
clares that he would be agreeSbly surprised
10 find us and our party practicing what we
preach "in the editorial" to which he
referred. Surely he is not such fool
as to consider the mechanics employed
in the Portsmouth nayy-yard ofhce-hold-
crs. If not, he misrepresents our cdl-
torial; for there is not q word IN 1t IN
opposition to the removal Of public Off
GERS on account of their acts of hostility to
the party in power. He need not tiatter
himself that we intend to exercise SO much
charity. We are confident that his career
will be short one. If he ever serves III a
Congress, it will be the present one; ana
we advise him to do all he can to let his
would-be fellow-mcmbers know that the
recent election in this State was fair one,
and to have Virginia admitted to represen-.
tation in Congress. Otherwise, he will
never touch cent of that convenient and
comfortable salary of five thousand dollars.
As to the liberality of our party, the facts
speak for themselves. For instance, III this
city alone more than five thousand negroes
who are in the employ Of WALKER men
voted for WELLS, and yet have never been
even SO much as spoken to on the subject.
We call upon the Secretary of the Navy
to take notice of what Mr.. PLArT says in
the foregoing letter, and to act accordingly.
| Disturb not the WALKER men in the Ports
mouth navy-yard, under the penalty OF
being denounced by that carpet-bagger con-
gresham as unworthy to enjoy the bless
ings Of citizenship in any country" And
we trust that the Norfolk papers will let
PLATT's proscriptive friends in Portsmouth
aud Norfolk see what he thinks of them.