Arizona republican., 1900-10-15
WILSON'S PARTING SHOT
It Reads Well, Even Though Its
 Author Has Quit

The day before Colonel Wilson with drew from the congressional race he addressed an open letter to Mark Smith in reply to one Mr. smith had fired at h;m three days before. lnasmuch as the Republican printed the Smith lec- ter, Col Wilson thinks it would be no more than fair fsr patrons of this newspaper to read his pa:',.ng shot. and the Republican therefore prints it, as follows:
 Prescott. Oct. II, 1900. Hon. Mark A. Smith. Tucson:
 My dear sir:-Your reply of Oct Sth in reply to my open letter to you of the third, proposing terms of settle ment of our unfortureLe dispute now disturbing our party, is this day re- ceivcI. and it certainly requires reply from me.
 In this reply I must first say to you that you shut out all room for settle ment on any '.erms, Unlssls l concedc all.
 In the second place, pardon me for saying that your letter displays both selfishness and egotism. which under the circums taEces are ineXcusable. You may ask why? l say to you:
 Flrst-Because you assume to be the undisputed guardian and trustee of the parry, without right to dispute it left anywhere, nothwiths tHEl;ing every principle of all rules of action fixed (and it is fiXed) by parliamentary law governing the action of conventional bodies, is against you.
 Second-When, you say the action you take is the action of your party, you arrOgate to yourself and presump- Vively assert that you are now the par ty, with kingly authority over it, not withstanding what any of it's members. or even a majority of them, might say about it.
 When you say in terms of surprise that you do not know what could have possibly led me to suggest the re publican secretary as the final arbi- trator of this dispute" and in a kind of left handed way rebuke it, permit to say in reply on this point, while I can not believe you insincere, I must take it therefore that you are misinformed as to our own positive law barring on the point Therefore, on that point l proposed to leave it to him because the law itself leaves it to him: and from his decision there is no appeal. See our statutes on this subject. Also Spelling vs. Brown, B Pacific Reporter. page 127, the very last case on the sub ject and in point.
 Therefore the plain reason was TO GET 4 DECISION ON THE POINT EARLIER than the law required him to make it. Good sense and good taste my dear sir. forbid further answer on this point.
 You are astounded at my proposition to flip the coin Your reasons for such surprise are certainly evasive if not selfish. You certainty know that in certain cas-s where disputes involv- ing personal demands cannot be set tied without unfair surrender on part of one side. the law of the land has long ago pointed out the drawing of lots Cor the Tipping of tks coin) as Q mode of honorable settlement between the disputan:s. You may be greater than lhe law. but I never thought my self .D ar1 therefore thous nt it might not be cut Of p.ace or even 'astCund- ing" 10 submit this dispute to an hon. orable mode of settlement, which the law itself recognizes and indeed pro- vides. siAIS
 Therefore, my dear sir when you as sume to be greater than the law, and to laugh its propositions "out of court" you assume more than I shall under take.
 When you call my third proposition unfair. that is, that We both quit the field, etc, you give as a reason there for that you cannot agree to this, you being the regular nominee without the consent of your party, etc. q put it this way as you apply it to yourselO, you again assume that you are the solid rarty. the regular nominee, made by the majority of the people, without any authority lsft for response.
 My r-ply to this is that you have no lawful reason for this reply. You know as well a,' I that Maricopa coun- ty was contested in the territorial con- Vention by B delegates sent there with credentials as formal as yours, basing their contest on the corrupt use of money in the purchase of delegates af- ter elaction by primaries, and other frauds affecting ,heir rights, of the grCssest kind. You ought to know that that disqualified either side of that county from voting in the convention until the qualifications of one or the other side of that county were deter mined by all the other counties there assembled in convention and whose