The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-04-07
A CACSTIC LETTER.
Ex-senator ingalls, Replies to Bish-
OD McCabS

% McCabc
TOPEKA Kan. March 3l.-John J. In
gals has fred a broa,,side at Bishop Nc
Cabe of the Methodist Episcopal church.
The bishop took occasion recently to crit
icise the good taste of Mr.. Ingalls, in re-
porting the Ettlc difficulty between Mr..
Fitzsimmons and Mr.. Corbett at Carson
City, Nev. The statesman out of
job says few things. to the good bishop
in the shape Of an open letter.
Following j. Mr.. Ingalls, letter:
My Dear Bishop McCabe: In Il Kansas
City paper which bought at Trinidad this
morning on my WY home from san Fran
cisco | find the following:
At the Winfield conference Bishop Nc
Cabe rose to i question Of personal prIvil-
eye, and roasted John J. Ingalls, for his
report Of thu prize fight. He said
1t is Il fitting sequel to the career of the
man who declared the publication of poll
ties an iriGesCent dream to find him slough
ing off his senator=hip to so long enough
to prostitute his glowing rhetoric for the
sporting readers OF the New York Journal.
What I; contrast between the calm d:g
nifty with which John j. ingalls, held the
restivc members Of the upper house of CON
gress within tho bounds of senatorial
courtesy ard his gentle efforts to soothe
the ruffian spirit of Mrs. F'itzsmmons
| when she shrieked to her husband: XIII
the dirty puppy | am willing to leave the
acrobatiVe statesman amid such genial en-
| vironmentS. but as an American citizen l
protest against the declaration that the
! spectators at the brutal fistc tournament
were average citizens of this republic This
| statement i a lie, an insult to American
citizenship and American manhood
HE IS NOT A METHODIST.
Not being member of the Methodist
church. | am at loss to know how the
| censure OF any act CT mine no matter
! how nefarious, could have been properly a
| question Of personal privilege at the Win
! field conference. Dut my respect for your
| high Office ard for the great organization
which you represent, many Of whose mem
| bers my personal and political friends
renders it appropriate that l should not
/ allow your comments to pass unnoticed.
Your revival OF the venerable caumny
| that | advocated depravity, because [ said
| the pUriiiclton of politics by the methods
proposed by Democracy and Populsn
was an lrIdt scent dream, requires no en-
| tended reply
IF YOU think that the politics OF Kansas
| and the nation have been purified by the
| precerts Of tn opponents of republican,
ism, then you are warranted in your con.
| domination o. the phrase which | uttered
ten years ago: if not. then your quotation
| : 0isingenuous and unjust
Your alU&;on to the 'SenatorSnip toga
makes ii proper that l should say tina
| / left the senate involuntarily six year.
ago. | did not slough my toga as YOU in
| innate, The Popuists s0ughed it for me
very much against my inclination. | in
| effcctually endcavCred to resume it at tn,
! recent election but the people decided
| otherwise. and l am now a private citi
zen, without even tne vague and shadow,
publicity tha4 attends when he il
| Il prospective candidate for office. for
realize that my political career in Kansas
| is at an end.
During the interval I have been. like
yourself. working for my living. Not hay
ing the gifts faculties and conservation
'equisite for a bishop. being out of prac
tice at the bar and business being dull
| have been doing odd jobs on the lyceun
platform and for the press. l talk arC
write, as YOU preach, for money. but my
opinions, convictions and Judgment are NJ
more for sale than yours.
| From your illusions to my 'elOWinc
rhetoric ana the alleged incidents, it is
evident that YOU carefully read the ac
| counts Of the brutal fistic tournament a
Carson City. whether from the pulpit tt
| your congregation. at the fireSide to YOU
| family, in the secuson OF your stud
does not appear To the unregenerate mine
1t looks quite immoral to read about {
| diSreputabte transaction to witness
and to write about it. Your time and mine
l admit. could have been moro profitabl,
employed in meditating upon the maledic
| tons of Christ against the phariSeeS o
His day; the canting hypocrites of Pales
tire and their iineal descendants in Kansas
who. thanking God they are not as othe
men. pay tithes of anise. mint and cum
min and omit the weightier matters of law
| WHY iif. WENT TO CARSON CITY.
Il went to carson City with authority t
write as much or as little [ pleased, il
any VEIN as | saw fit and my purpos
was to tell tic truth about the encounter
the spectators and the moral environment
as ii appeared TO me. Had / been request Q,
! n NJ the Win fiaI0 farppca nd vii
nay impressions of its proceedings | shout
have done 50 with equal conposure, ha
the compe nsatOn offered been sttisfactor
and no other occupation prevented.
Had | heard YOU distort and miscor
strue the language of a man who had al
ways treated you with courtesy and spoke
of YOU with respect; had | heard YOU appl
injurious epithets gratuitously and with
out provocation to one who had endeavore
to endure adversely with fortitude: had
heard YOU denOunce as u lie a statemon
of whose truth you could personally kno,
nothing, l should have said so in the sam
spirit with which I described what too
place at Carson City. and l might ais
have added that YOU exhibited all the chal
. | acteristics of the gladiator except his cou1
| age.
) Il heard no such language at Carso
| City as is imputed to you at the Winfel
| conference. Its only parallel is the fict
tious eXclama ion which YOU incorrect
! The etiquette of the prize ring does nc
i, | permit a man to call another q liar or &C
cuse him of being a 'prost;tUted acroba
I with impunity. Perhaps you are Incorrect
| reported. / hope SO. / should regret to b
compelled to believe that Carson City ha
a higher code of ethics than Winfield {
/ that puGilist may have better mamie,
. than a bishop. Very truly yours.
JOHN ]. INGALLS,"
We must confess that our symp
thes are with ex-senator ingalls,. Fl
is cast down from high estat,
, He is poor. He is workin
!, for a living. He probably has othe1
!, dependent upon him. His letter is
. pitiful as it is sarcas tic
: If the bishop should ha,
: had little more of Chris
tianity, and something more {
;, the spirit of human brotherhood
The whole American people rushe
eagerly to read the reports of the bal
: tie at Carson City. Surely it can NJ
5 be a great crime to furnish repo
which every one wanted to peruse.
Prize fights are all wrong, but the
is no manly man who does not rcspe(
courage aud endurance, and skill an
strength.
! p. S.-We see that it is since denie
# that Bishop McCabe made the speeC
= in question. 1t was mistake in a
S tributing it to him.