Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-01-23

Col E. Il Lowe, Of Fairfax, tells tas s:o-J OF lis
late Disas trous Conpaiga for the Legislature
he casts Serious Doubt OF the Legality Of
Thorn's Election, etc, ETC.
DRA1SEsy1LlE, Fairfax Co., Jan. 20, 1859.
To the editor of the Alexandria Gazette:
There has been 90 much anony nous Scrip
bling in the newspapers, end so much D!s'
representation Of facts connected with the
late special election in this county that p!
feel it my duty to state impaTtialiy and
frankly all the circumstances attending anSe
the nomination, the canvass, and the defeat
of our party in the contest OF the5 instant.
I never sought, as hes been charged IN some
quarters, the nomination.. Indeed, owing
to the nature Of ny present occupation AID
engagements, it was scarcely permitted that
| should accept the candidacy al all!
It is true that soon after il became known
that Mr.. Chichester would resign from the
seat TO which we bad e,ec'ed BIN, / foun:
| myself in receipt Of a number ofl-tie els from
prominent democrats OF our county suggest
| ing the use Of my name IN Ii Ing MS Va
| eancy. Idecinsd their offer. Subs equentlF,
az the result of a pressing visit 10 ne b.
certain personal and political friends, |
consented for purposes Of observation, con
sultatioD, ETC., TO be present ct the county
| seat on Decent Der court day. l went, and
conversation was there had with = number
of persons on the subject, and an emphatic
declaration was made by me Of my willing
ness TO assist botn in tns nomination and
election of any suitable representative dem
ocrat TO Gil this vacancy. There Was no
| coucealment of my dIsinclinalion 10 enter
into the least competition with any proper
aspirant for the place. Singular 10 say
| a with MI "a 4
sent 10 become the nominee and make The
| fight which all saw was impending. i few
DAYS thereafter the county committee was
called for Tue sday, the 29 q ii December u
select candidate, ami they. 10 the number
| of q quorum, came to the Court House, or
eauiz-d, bailUted, aud made the nomiDa-
| ton.
| No other person or persons save DR..
Simpson and myself were spoken vi al th!s
meeting, aud finally the Doctor lnnouncen
| that even if nominated be would decline.
| 1t was then and under the circumstances az
Just narrated that accepted the caudidacl
of the party. But four Or FIVE day wer.
| left me in which to canvas County Of
| largely more than thousand square mics,
| whose roads were almost imp tSeabic, :.nd
| whose democratic voters We're Iii Il stale d
well nigh stoid Indifference to What they
regarded as an uninpOrtaut aud barren AZ
fair The epu3lcan-reaij lster-proSiDi
| ton Mahoneite com binatiCn, iuteuGlng from
| the first TO spring Candidate OF their OWE
and carry, if possible, the eiec.iou by
prise, had nevertheless caused an iu.p,.s-
| sion to be made on m4uy u.su p1ctIug
| democrats that no effort whatever " III i 10
attempted TO defeat the ue:uocratic icni
pee Individually, however, | Was hot de
| hx,a nf l.ir FiIl
and prepared as well SIS l w&s able !vr bal
| tie The enemy's forces consisting - IL u4l
| Of the astute northern whites, the rraCj u-Ici
| Mahouetes and the misguided pegr.es were
| nearly all aware that d Candidate vas 10 te
| sprung. Arrangements 10 this end hai al
| been made q number OF days in advance OF
any public announcement OF The cahdldate,
and while many of our voters were Insist
| ing there was to be no candidate against NC
the name Of Jacob NJ. Thorn bad been 90
cfetly passed to their party henchInen. To
the above named coDgIomefation Of familiar
elements there had been added in AID If
| this special contest temperance UTganiZ.-
| ton of considerable power, Capable OF BEN.
readily welded and almost unanimously
brought to the polls.
| Thorn's card which was rot seen by any
of my friends until Friday, va. first .eah by
me on arriving ut the Court House late Sat
urday night, the 2 Of January. The cec
lion was then hui two days of VAS also
astonished to fud that one Peter Pullman,
q so called democrat living near 10 Aexau.
dra, had possessed himself Of ny address 10
the voters of The county, wherein lad ar
nounced my nomination and views OH Ger
tain of the leading questions Of tie day, ard
after robbing it OF its contents, word ~
word, had shanelessly signed his rame 10
the same, thereby deiruudiug me IS Far as
| he could out Of both the paper =" which had
| isHued and the nomination which bad been
given me by the authorized representatives
of the party.
/, of course, recognized ct once the prub
| ability of defeat, bu did not for a moment,
| relax my efuris or falter in my duty to the
| democracy of Fairfax. Day and night IA
| bored in TIC cause. Both the S4buuth and
| stormy day of Monday were spent il he
field. Hundreds Of voters, howrver, CouIr
not be reached or by any means warned Of
the danger. Somc would hot admit the
election in doubt, believing The opposition
| TO DO weak Others knDwiH.,'UF tie comet
would not arouse themselves o Tn. work Of
going to the polls. 4 few, scalt,rr:! am 1ngst
the villages OF the county, Including oue or
TWO of The more crtica! and rons.qucntiui
T.
fused" regret TO say to lend any help
whatever, 10 an Old co worker Of Their own
on many hard fought field Bnt !, is only
proper 10 add that this detection OF silk
stocking gentlemen was small in liz numer-
zeal force and considers big executed by The
number Of intelligent and Conservative 80.
groes, who openly, honestly and FIR the list
time in the history Of cur county contests,
stepped into the places of these desertcr-
from our ranks aud voted the dem ocra.ic
ticket. / thank them heartily. Lack OF
space forbids my say Ing more on this point |
As TO the legality of the election have
only to Say that in view Of the delay in the
transmission and reception CT the speakers
writ by the sheriff, aud the consequent bach:
of notification to hundreds OF voters, there |
is no question but the House Of Delegates
of Virginia. were it asked to do 81, would |
promptly set aside the return seating ny
competitor, as one that is utterly invalid |
and void. Where special elections To Gil |
vacancies were ordered by the Legislature