New-York tribune., 1876-09-30
LETTERS FROM TIE PEOPLE.
NM. noDaE ANp GEN. NEwToN.

Mr.. DODGE AND GEN. NEWTON.
INJUSTICE or GEN. NKwToN's REPLY-MoTIvE OF
MIR. DoDGE--HoW TItz EXPLOSION COULD HAVE
BEEN POSTPONED.
70 the EdttOr Of The TrtbW"e
Sir; It seems TO me that Gen Newton, IN his letter
to the Hon. William +. Dodge so far forgot that be
was A public officer, engaged in public work, on
public highway filing the eye of the public, and ex-
citing public comment, a. to imagine that he was
private gentleman, engaged in q private improve
ment on his private promises, the invitations to
which were TO be treated with as much privacy as
if they were TO his own daughters wedding. lie
therefore lost the passivty cooness and good judg
ment for which he has been usually distinguished,
and flew into an excessive passion whom he iound
that one Of his public passes to the He'll Gate explo-
sion, by public boat in the Government employ,
was publicly responded TO by one of Newly orks first
citizens in respectful but emphatoappeal to change
the proposed demonstration from the Sabbath to.a
secular day.
Graduates of West Point think should remember
that they voluntarily entered the nations service,
and in all matters of public duty are the property OF
the nation so far as to be open to fair and honorable
criticism and respectful suggestions by any citizen or
body q citizens; and they should also remember.
that they are not wantOnly to don the ferOeity OF
their war characters In times Of peace for the pur-
nose of insulting citizens who are held in the highest
estimation
In the matter of the Hell Gate explosion, Gen.
Newton represented the scientific side of the work;
William K. Dodge the commercial and moral side
There wasno occasion for science to get up quar-
rel with commerce or religion. Mr. Dodge Is
representative man in this community, an index OF
its enterprise, its charity, its purity He wrote
respectful letter to another man temporarily repre-
senting tho labor and hope Of the community on
particular subject. And, by way of illustration, to
show that his opinion was not baseiess theory, but
had been practically applied on grand scale to a
great engineering enterprise he mentioned that the
feat Of changing the gauge of the tracks OF the
Houston and Texas Central Railroad, 500 miles
long had been done without infringing upon the
Sabbath. Such an instance should have made Gen,
Newton pause He ought to have carefully recon
sdered the subject instead of throwing mud at the
wise and venerable man who justly felt that his
opinion was called for by the Generals invitation to
be present
As to the necessity of tho firing on Sunday it may
be said that some of the cartridges had been in their
places several days-there Is no evidence reason
TO suppose that all of them would not have been just
as efficient after the lapse of another "a hOurs none
of them could be fired as long the circuit-c!oser
was not employed the tide the following Mon
day would have been within few inches OF lis
hight on Sunday the resistance of the hydraulic
column would have decreased but slightly; the
small comparative disturbance Occasioned by the
explosion has shown that this loss would not have
contributed an additional element of danger, and
there is now no reason for saying that the explosion
could not have been as successfully made on Mon
day.
Had it been postponed it would undoubtedly have
had benefceRt moral effect upon the whole coun-
try without detractng in the least from the great
,h iS cd n a
ti6c point of view. Gen. NewtOn's hasty, angry,
foolish letter seems to Inc to have sprung from the
idea that Mr. Dodge had been guilty of an unwar-
rantable personal impertinence He never was more
mistaken in bis life. 1 shall be very much shaken
In my estimate of the old solder if he does not get
bis eyes opep to his mistake and act accordingly
NeO-YOrk Sept 26, 1876.