National Republican., 1883-05-19
A MISSISSIPPI MUSS.
A Wordy War Between Gen. Chalmers ant
Memphis Editor
Full Text OF His First Eplstie-The Acct
satlons on Which the Attack Was BASED
A dispatch from Memphis, Tenn, to t

new 1ork Herdtd oil yesterday says
Memphis is excited over a prospective dudl
between Gen. James Il. Chalmers, ex.congres4
man from Mississippi, and Col NJ e. Galloway
editor of the dpDedL Both are called bghtinE
men, and affairs are now in such condition thqt
"a duel seems unavoidable. Chalmers in let!dr
to the AUalanche, claimed TO have written edi-
torias for the dppedi for thirty years. Galloway
in very personal editorial, declared that thiB
slatemen. was false In to-day's dvdldnche aIi-
peared dispatch from Chalmers, In which ne
denounced Galloway as II ialsihcr of the truth,
and announced his readiness to prove that he was
liar and literary, thief. Tho publication oi
this dispatch created u decided sensation, and
people are speculatng as to whether there will be
q duel. Chalmers has followed up his dispatch
with letter to the Apdidnelc in which he says he
is not dueling man, but that he win not IN this
AFFAIR, call iu the services of an Arbitration COM
mittee ian alluslon to the fact that Galloway has
always arbitrated matters cleve rly where he was
booked for FIRST place. Il Is ard to sec how a
sort 10 billlngssate as the safest weapon,
The first letter to the Aualdnche is US follows;
SARDis, Miss, May 12.--In tho appeal Of
tenth instant l see paraded with striking
head lines an interview in Washington with
Col. Manning, which j desire to notice
through your columns,
When became an independent candidate
for congress the senior editor Of the appeal
reminded me Of his obligations TO Gen. Hind
man and myself who, he said, ho had for
thirty years been in the habit of callingOn for
editorials when he needed them, and he vol
unteered the assurance to me that would
never see in tho columns Of his paper any
thing personally offensive to me. The reader
of the Appeal knows whether ho has been
true to this voluntary promise or not.
Tho last editorial assault Of the appeal on
me was founded on two false assumptions.
First that Postmaster General Gresham
had snubbed mo in an order declaring that
my recommendations should receive no moro
consideration in his department than that of
aprivato citizen. / have letter from Gen.
Gresham assuring me that this was not true.
The second was that had turned Mrs. Ma
bors, q struggling widow, out of the postotlco
at Holly Springs. This l denounced as false
ho ood on the stump last year.
But let us turn to the latest of these inter
views which Col. Manning seems SO fond Of
getting up.
1t will be remembered that in an interview
with the New Orleans Times reporter shortly
after the election Col. Manning said Chal.
ners planned we'll aud would have been
elected but for the votes cast for Chambliss,
n local politician of the greenback persuasion.
When shamed by the universal denunciation
of the infamous pretense that Chambliss had
received any votes, he declined to stand fur.
ther on the statements of the interview.
Again he pretended that dem ocratic voters
had been intimidatod in Marshall county by
United States deputy marshals at the polls.
But this pretence was knocked from under
him by the offer of the Oxford Fdlceq, dem.
ocratic paper, to send petticoats to the Mar.
shall county democrats, and still further by
the proof of the following telegram sent on
the day of the election by the chairman Of
the democratic district committee:
HOLLY sPnISGs, Miss, Nov. 7, lss2-To W. C.I
Deputy % %marshals took back seats. Ne eohadrntiy @
Important Il. NJ. WATSON.
When this pretonso was thus exposed hel
began TO talk about the enormous sums of the
Hubbell fund sent into the district. The
proof when taken showed only 81 $50 sent
while every ono knows the democrats spentl
largely more than this for him, and that the
state treasurer raised money for him from
state officials. He next claimed that VIM
bcrly, who he fears so much, was appointed
United States revenue officer on my ap-
plcation, and sent here to canvass iorl
me. The proof shows that Wimberly
was appointed on the accommodation
of Judge simrall. He next raised a.
howl about my employment to prosecute the
violators Of the election laws In the second
district, though ho knows l promised my
friends ON the stump TO prosecute the thieves
If their votes were stolen. And when he was
reminded that he had been employed to
prosecute the kuklux in Mississippi he said
III another interview with the New Orleans
Times that he was promised u fee of $4,000
but that he sympathized with the defendants
and really did nothing in the case, and there.
fore drew only $1,000 from the government
The difference between us is that no amount
of money could have hired me to prosecute
friends with whom l sympathized, nor would
j have drawn 'honey from the government
for doing nothing. But his statement in this
interview that no really did nothing in the
cases is fatty contradicted by his affidavit on
file in tho treasury department at Washing
ton, in which he swOro ho did service for the
United States in kuklux case TO the value
80 A n.1 ~ tl,at 10. 4
have.
The charge that that am drawing salary
from the government to prosecute my own
case is false was employed 10 prosecute
men who l believe were election corruption
lists, and stipulated Of my own accord that
would not charge exceeding 1000 This last
interview represents Col. Manning as speak
ing of Chalmers and his friends as corrup.
tionists. This is mere vaporing on his part,
because in my notice Of contest / charged
him and his fri ends with being election cor
Iuptionists, and i have proved it, They
knew on the ninth OF November that / was
defeated, because he did not get us many
votes as he expected in Union and Tippah, as
is shown in this telegram,which is in proof;
HOLLY SPRINGS Nov 0, lSS2--To |. b. BoorH
Sardls Miss Manning defeated. Returns from
Tippah and Union 800 less ED NJ WATSON.
After this conspiracy was formed to
change the result. Men were sent to Tippah
looking for good place to buy cotton, but
who, we prove, tried TO have the election
commissioners meet again and make new
count, and tho following kilograms were sent
10 fernando:
HOLLY SPRINGS, Nov. %, l6s2.-To A. 6. BUCHANAN
fernando, Miss: No official count reported from
any county except Marshull. Chalmers's alleged
majority here reduced by canvass TO AGO.
ED NJ, WATSON.
And on the same day, although Mannings
majority in De Soto had been counted at 1888,
the following telegram was sent;
HOLLY sPRINGs, Npy, Q, lSS2-To A. S. BUCHANAN,
Soto reaches 200 prospects good.
EDM. WATSON.
Tho iutimation was apparently clear enough
that they wanted the DO Soto majority in.
creased, but the conspirators wero not salts.
fled with this aud sent more specific instruc.
tion by letter
Col. Harris, who is counsel for Gen Chal.
mers in his contest, examined Fletcher Brown,
a prominent citizen aud democratic member
of tho legislature from Marshall county, |
which throws more and very strong light on |
this conspiracy
To understand this testimony fully il |
should be remembered that Mr. Myers, secre.
tary Of state, would not permit the public TO
See the returns from the second district until |
they were counted, but In an interview with |
the appeal he denied that the returns were
concealed to prevent the friends of Gen. |
Chalmers from seeing tho returns from Tate I
county, and having them amended within ton |