National Republican., 1881-08-06
THE OTHER REFEREE.
HE THINKS MAYOR BEoKHAM RIGHT.
Mr.. Hraser, In Behak Of the WsshIsston Light In
fantrJ, Considers the Action OF the Umpire
Justinable, and that the Match
Should De Shot Over.
To the Editor ofTHE RxrupLrcAS {:

To the Editor ofTHE REPUBLICAN
SIR: In the interest of truth and fair
play for the advocacy Of which -FOUR journal holds
an enviable place before the community, ask TO
be heard through Its columns concerning mat.
tor somewhat personal TO myself as one Of the
referees In the recent military rife match at ely.
mont, which by the ill.advised course Of some
seems to have reused nothing but bad tenn.
per and controversy. Being compelled to
figure in print is exceedingly dlstasteful TO
me- as II Is to the Washington Light Infantry Corps,
which has never found itself obliged to court
newspaper notorlety as a means Of keeping before
the public, but on the contrary has let pass in
silence good deal Of Misrepresentation and abuse,
relying on the strong place It holds in the aflec
tions of its friends As marked reference has sew
eral times been made to me personally, deem 1t
no more than right to speak out
AS TO THE ATTITUDE OCCUPY,
about which there has never been any mystery.
The Washington Post has on several occasions
(whother purposely to misrepresent or not is not
for me to say made statements concerning this
match very wide Of the truth and 1t is in refer
ence to two Of these statements now ask to be
heard. In Its issue Of July co. after giving the let
ter OF Mr.. Manson, dated July "a, and Of Colonel
Moore to Umpire Beckham, notifying him he
would hold HIS team In readiness to shoot the
match over, 1t adds the following:
The referee for the Washington Light Infantry
iOTp5T l0lO whose Dunub, tOKetncr WIN MI MINI
son, the matter was put, has not yet sgnifed his
compliance with the umpire's unasked decision,
although Colonel Moore has expressed the readi-
ness OF his corps To take another crack at the cup
This statement was made without consulting me,
and the inference to be drawn from II is unfounded
in every particular. l know Of no rule that re.
quires any notification in this case to be sent me,
nor do know Of any rule that requires that l
should approve or condemn, either respectfully or
impertinently, the decision of the umpire. The
proper notification, in my opinion, was sent by
Umpire Beckham
TO THE PROPER PERSON.
namely, the commanding officer of our corps that
the match was off and must be shot over. This de-
cision Of the umpire was made under the following
rule, copy OF which was in the hands Of each
person participating in the match:
The referees shall be the commanding officers of
each company, or such member of their companies
MS they may designate in their stead, each com.
pany 10 be represented by but one person. In
case Of the failure of the referees to come to
unanimous conclusion upon any question SUBJ
mltted for determination the same shall be sub.
mitted to the umpire. whose decision shall be final
conclusive, and binding upon oil parties.
The referees had two lengthy meetings, and
could not arrive at a decision, required by this
rule-hence the umpres decision. which, accord.
ing to previous agreement, Is In honor binding
on all parties The following appeared in the Post
OF yesterday. "The referee of the Washington
Light Infantry is still In Official ignorance of any
action having been taken looking to any new
match"
THIS Is WHOLLY UNTRUE.
have seen the decision Of the umpire and also
the letter Of Colonel Moore in reply, and, as an
individual member Of the Light Infantry Corps Il
have no claim to speak in any other capacity
approve of both very heartily. Under the rule
above quoted the umpire, in the failure OF the
referees, was bound TO decide whether the Ma
tional Rife Association gave him any assistance
or not He has done so. The Light Infantry
Corps cheerfully accepts his decsion-they would
have been bound to do so no less had the decision
been otherwise. Our corps to a man believes in
the law. We abide by It. We are accordingly
ready to shoot again. Very respectfully,
CHARLES L. FRASER,
late referee of the w. L. l. Corps