Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-07-19
A Card from Judge Waddiii in Reply to
Captain Wise.
RICHMOND. Va, July II, 1890.
To he E,litOr Of Me Dispnfoh :

To Hle Editor Of The DisDdt0:
Your columns bear witness that am not
the assailant but the assailed IN personal
controversy which l did not begin, nor
seek. nor shun. II was George ID. Wise
who M the Powhatan- Club picnic, as
reported by you. saw ut to arraign me at
the bar of public opinion; and II he now,
after playing accuser, prosecutor, witness,
and Jury, assumes also to pronounce Judg-
ment or TO dismiss" me, or the case ne
has so improvidently brought against me.
am persuaded that the public opinion to
which he appealed will insist thatit luris-
dictiou and arbitrament (as between u.s.
are not to be so summary usurped OF
eyaded after having been invoked. Az any
rate. | decline to be dismissed IN any niah-
ner by George d. Wise, who, with hit CO.
adiut5rs and appropriate ways and means,
sought to dismiss me from my representa-
tion of this district in Congress, but VINO
now finds himself dismissed.
NV whole life (and all of il has been pub
lic) bears me Witness that l am neither
bnlly nor blackguard. and that never as
suminc the role of either it cannot possibly
happen that am chagrined to be surpass-
ed in both by any one who chooses thus 10
court the applause of rude fellows OF the
baser sort.
But | entered your columns-appeared
AT tllt DHr Ol DuDili OBiiiAOh w
character and record from the grossest and
most wanton misrepresentation and mis-
constructions, and my response TO GEORGE
ID. Wise's Powhatan attack upon me was
calm. TEMPERATE and dispassionate IN tone
and substance, being fully content to let
the plain facts of Official record speak
for themselves and for me-. The Lodge
election bill. before everybodv's, eyes,
shows that it is 10 apply no'ohsre without a
popular demand for 1t. The Lehlb
amendment. on the contrary. asked that
the bill should apply ereryrshere, whether
wanted or not, necessary or not. Nor has
George ID. Wise's reJoinder altered the
| facts or their significance. On the contra
nv. all that he has dared to quote from the
record but substantiates not only all that
| have heretofore said as TO the bull and the
| Lehlback amendment, but as to the view
taken by his party associates in Congress oil
his claim to my seat and salary-a view es'
tablished irrefutably by acts that SPEAK
| louder than words.
1t is no doubt great shame that. the
Lodge bill should be necessary anywhere
but his is the greater shame who makes II
necessary.
Before it was known whether the present
House of Representatives would be RepuD
lican or Democratic began my struggle
TO yindicate my rights and the rights OF
the people OF this district to the sea
wrested from me by George d. Wise ano
his accomplices; nor did 1 or my support
ers allow those rights for one moment, a.
any time. to be impugned OF dlshonorec
by any concession to wrong. Vindicatet
and not dismissed, | can afford to contemI
tie idle wind of disappointed fraud ant
calumny.
Yet it cannot be denied me, as between
him and me, to hold George ID. Wise to th'
Judgment of that public opinion he woult
iurn against me. In my former communi
cation expressed how willingly l woult
submit our characters to this arbitramen
Of the people who know Us both so well
and now on any issue of moral character
especially as 10 veracity now raised by him
am eagerly ready to abide by the verdic
Of a democratic jury of the vicinags q
between myself and George ID. Wise. A
|, = man DEFY scrutiny and criticism fron
any quarter, as L have given hostages Il
society and fortune that not only bind M
bv hooks Of steel to every duty due thi
Community. but that attest nv incerrupti
bic fidelity to all the ties of family, blood
and race.
of the case as now made MP betweel
George ID. Wise and myself. 1 have bu
one word to add. and it Is this: / ventur
!, the belief that discriminating public wi
acree nor with me that my letter In answer I
Ir Wise's unproyoked attack was ut leas
free free from billingsgate. and that it cannc
: he answered by epithets, nor can its fore
: : be ;,nnaired or diminished by any sue
smbtsrfuee or evasion. Respectfully,
EpAusD WADDIr. in.