Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1876-10-05
THAT JOINT DISCUSSION.
Something Authoritlve.

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Correspondence Gallipolis Journal.
IRoNroN, O., Sept. 2S, 1876.
WM. NASH, ESQ,
CHAIRMAN REP. CEN. Con-,
GALLIpoLIs, O.,
DEAR SIR:-My attention has just
been called to the Gallipolis Bulletin,
containing the correspondence be-
tween your Committee and the Dem.
Cen. Com. relative to joint discus
sion between Col. Vance and myself,
upon the issues of the present politi
cal campaign.
Col. Vance has been in the several
counties of Hooking, Jackson, Scioto
and Lawrence, the same weeks that
L have respectively spent in those
counties, and has never intimated to
me, that he desired, or regarded it as
advisable, to hold joint discussions in
any one of said counties or elsewhere.
On the contrary, his meetings in
each of said counties have been ap-
pointed, so far as practicable, to fol-
low mine; so that he "might have
the last word" In jackson county
the Rep. Cen. Com. proposed one
Joint meeting at Keystone Furnace,
which was declined by the Dem. Cen.
Com. When the invitation was
made by the Dem. Cen. Com. of
your county, Col. Vance was in Scio-
to county, and could have applied to
me in person for a joint discussion in
Gallia county, or elsewhere, had he
really desired it.
Had the invitation been addressed
to me directly by Col. Vance, or any
one for him, 1 would certainly have
accepted it, if he would have agreed
to place himself fairly and squarely
on the platform of principles enunci-
ated by the National Democratic Con-
vention at st. Louis, in June last, in
Guiding the free trade and hard
money doctrines of that remarkable
instrument. Should he have declin-
ed this, a joint discussion would have
been useless; for while l should not
have hesitated to advocate the prin-
ciples of the Republican party, and
endeavored to show that the path of
national honor, prosperity and safety |
lay in that direction, he would have
directly antagonized his own party, |
by claiming to be the friend of pro
lection to american industry, lat |
least that is what he advocated |
among the furnaces of the District, |
and also of the soft money doctrine Of
Ex-Gov. Allen, which are at war with
the acknowledged principles of the
National Democracy. He could have
denounced the corruption of Repub-
lican officials. which l have no dispo-
sition to apologize for or excuse, for /
wish to see every dishonest man hun
ted down and punished to the full ex-
tent of the law, that the public ser
vice may be made as pure and hon
est as it is possible for it to be. And
l could in turn have called the atten-
ton of our auditors to the history of
the Democratic administrations, and
showed most conciusively from the
books of the Treasury Department,
that the average losses by reason of
corrupt officers, were much less un-
der Grants administration, than IN
der any other President from the
days of Washington. He could have
talked of reform, as all candidates are
accustomed to do, and made extrava-
CANT promises, but promises are
cheap things and more often forgot
ten than remembered; and reform
depends upon the character of the of
ficials. not upon the resolutions of
parties.
And coming down to personal mat
ters, he could have referred with
pride to his printing investigation;
while | could have called the atten-
ton of the people to the extraordi
nary character of the monopoly he
to create, in the person of
Franklin Rives-a contract, which a
well informed gentlemen told me Col.
Rives could afford to pay bonus of
$500, 100000 to the person who would
secure it for him.
Joint discussions are only valuable,
when party platforms and principles
are honestly advocated, not when per-
sonal matters enter into the same.
And the man who because he thinks
the sentiments of the people whose
votes he solicits, are not in accord
with the principles of his party, re-
pudiates the same, is like the log in
the river, which, having by some mis-
chance left the current, floats round
in the eddy, useless, purposeless, and
aimless. HI. S. NEAL.