The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1888-05-03
WISE ON MALONE.
A Letter to the Republican voters Oh
Virginia.
RICHMOND, April a, 1855.
,,blieon Voters Of Virginia:

Virginia
RICHMOND, April n, 1855
To the Republican Voters Of t'rgmia:
I have purpogeIy abstained for oyer a
Fortnight from replying to publication
RECENTLY made by Genera. Malone.
Trusted to time to fortify me in resolve
not to be provoked By Inn into discus
sion of outside matters. or lntothe recrm-
nation which the unjust, unkind, and
contrived taunts Of his state.
ment so aggravatlngly provoke.
can assure the gentleman that the
many bitter, belittleiug, and almost con
temptuous things be SAID are all carefully
noted, and while each poisoned word in
vltes a retort IN kind, l will forbear to
some extent from that style of argument
for the double reason that it Is tot argu-
ment and that ! really do not feel IN any
spirit of recrlmination with General Ma
hone. | have been so long accustomed to
look upon him as my nearest friend that
it is difficult to realize the change which
his feelings have undergone. During the
past ten years we have had nothing bat
the most affectionale Intercourse. and l
can truly say that until the appearance of
his recently published statement L never
doubted the depth or strength of his at
tachment. But 1 have read and reread
the published statement referred to and
failed to discover, after most careful
scrutiny, one single expression to Indicate
lingering trace of the friendship L had
so long supposed to exist between us.
Never having sneered away a genuine
friendship because of an honest difference
of opinion-never having repudiated
friends disclaimer of any personal feeling
of rhn Nrn Gin ,IU ii
opinion on a matter of party policy-I con-
fess | was unprepared somewhat for the
way in which General Malone uncere-
moniously Invested himself Of all personal
kindness towards me and tossed my friend
ship in my face as he would worn gar
ment for which he had no further use.
Recalling the past, consulting my own
feeling towards him, and then taking up
his letter, am left not only to admire the
MIN blenesS of his attachments but to
study curiously certain peculiarities OF his
mental and emotional make up which,
confess. do not at PRESENT understand.
March Is, 1888, exercising right which
| supposed to be- enjoyed by every Repub-
lican and warned by a widespread discon-
tent in our party which General Malone
seems unwilling or unable to- see, | en-
deavored to. counsel certain changes as
pdl pldl lClHSuy I'LL UJduliCSb ulooCltolOb
and as tending to produce future harmony
If in the whole letter there was an unkind
or unparliamentary alluson to General
Mahome 1 have never heard it suggested.
1t is true that l proposed to cartail the
absolute power of our chairman, but my
proposal was addressed to the obnoxious
principle of placing so much power In the
hands of one man, rather than at any use
General Malone as chairman had made Of
that power. 1t is also true that | antago-
niZed the unit rule. There had been very
little public discussion of that question.
The chief allusion to the unit rule had
grown out of the discovery that General Ma
hone was secretly sending circulars in hon
orable confidence" endeavoring to secure
its adoption without discussion. | pub
lcly announced that in fair field and open
advocacy ] would contend for change in
our plan of organization and against the
unit rule. And this is the head and
front of my offending
The open and direct way In which |
took my ground was in such favorable con-
trast with the methods General Malone
had seen fit to employ that | am not sur
prised at his irritation. No general likes
to be out. mannuvred in the selection of
his battlefield. Losing his temper, for
getting that we have many hard fights
ahead, in which it is very desirable that
we shall be warm friends and workers.
even if we differ as to these points, Gen
| eral Malone at once resorted to his old
tactics of trying to kill instead of capture.
He calls me 'disorganizer, ''malcon
tent" ''deserter," weak, short
| sighted, unstable, and aspiring man, "a
| blower of glittering bubbles, " and finally
dismisseS my views almost contemptu-
ot,clu nn1U worthy of Motion hpHanSl
through his kindness and without any
merit of my own presumably | have occu-
pied a nominal, not real, prominence in
the party, which lends my ''incOnsiderate
statements and sounding phrases fcti-
tious character that may impose on the
thoughtless. To these kindly uJterances,
which coming from anybody else would
pronounce gross inc pertinonoe. he adds not
only discussion of the points | raise. but
a number of entirely volunteer sighting
illusions and erroneous statements of
facts, all tending to exalt himself and to
my prejudice. Well may | Tetort as did
Caesar to Mark An thony:
"You praise yourself
By laying defects of Judgment to me-"
The first sixty-three lines of General
Mahone's statement were DEVOTED to a
criticism and complaint at the publication
Of my letter in the Dispatch, a Democratic
paper.
My answer is that had no Republican
paper in which | could publish my letter
! and reach my constituents, and that Cen
eral Malone himself had set me the eX-
ample, for he published the Republican
address last fall in this identical paper. 1t
first appeared simultaneously in the Rich
mond Dispatch. Petersburg Inde.r Appeal,
and some Northern papers. | made the
arrangement with the Dispatch for Gen.
eral Malone, we both agreeing that it was
the best medium to give the address prom
inence. But how puerile does his point
become when his reply first appeared in
the Free Lance. an ayOWed enemy of our
who has poured his filth upon Malone for
years-accusing him of every sin in the
catalogue of crime.
[ used the Dispatch merely as con-
venient news medium. Although bitterly
opposed to me politically, its managers
have always been, personally, kind and
courteous.
To argue that because they published
my first letter ! am Democrat or in sym
paUhy with them puts General Malone as
political bedfellow with Volt, of the
Free Lance.
General Malone misstates me when he
says l. announced luyStll DIS ldklDS Cn6
lead of fractional and personal array
against the party organization and admin
istration.'' He ad nits that up to the
moment of the alleged announcement
had been cordial supporter of both.
announced no such thing. | simply de-
ciared for change in our plan of organi-
cation. Is that fractional when | also de.
clared that | would be bound by the de-
cision of the convention? [ disclaimed
any Personal feeling against him. but
ayerred genuine friendship. Is that an
nounclng my leadership of the personal
array against his administration? The
fact that General Malone may choose to
class as q faetionist and as his personal
| enemy every Republican who does not
agree with bis views neither makes the
statesmen that they are such true or even
p ausible. 1t only Injuries him by its ten
dency to prove the long-assereted charge
of his enemies that no man can differ with
him and remain his friend. His sneering
illusions, in which he classes me as dis
organizer and malcontent because invite
| my party to consider the propriety of
changes which he does not approve, show
a degree Of pettiness which distresses
| rather than annOys me. His assertion
| that | have volunteered with unhesltating
assertion Of potency and infalllbiIity Ito
play the part of Mascot" finds no warrant
save in his jealousy that any Ole but him
self shall have voice in party affairs.
| In a somewhat labored sentence not al
together ineligible General Malone cyni-
] Ca1IV rpDu1iatnS nv assurances of friend