The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-10-19
CHECKMATE
Senator Hndspeth Closes
the Record Challenge
Incident.
INsINCERE MOTIVE EXPOSED
The Republican Nominees
Views on the Tariff Ques-
ton Make Debate I'm
possible.

Senator Hudspeth has replied to Mr..
Records letter challenging him to joint
debate. The following is the text of the
/ letter..
Mr. George l. Record;
Dear Sir-your favor of the 11th inst.
received, suggesting lhaI you ana 4 ear
gage in series OF six joint deoates, Us
Stale Senator for Hudson county, etc, we
TO conclude what are the vital and con-
trolling issues, and 10 separate the wheat
/ from the cfaff and then proceed to invite
an interested and thoroughly Impartial
audience TO The forensic least we Shall
furnish for them. Primarily OF course.
our efforts are to further the interests
1 OF o1f respective parties and their can-
didates, and, secondly and remotely, our
own,
sonable proposition, and peculiarly attrac-
| tive to one who reyelS IN forensic duel,
yet, upon consideration, there are serloIs
| the first place, it is d political device.
| familiar to a generation long passed away
now archaic and shop worn In TINS Gay
and age the press IS the great exponent
| of public opinion, the political lnstI uctoT.
| The newspaper is now the wade mecaIl
CT the people It is the source OF tneir ii
/ general information; it moulds their
! thoughts, and is the arbter OF their Juug-
! ment This is particularly 50 regaraealng
| political subjects, and venture y allllni li
that while our constituents mlgnl atlenu
| in gratifying numbers prepared 70 eA-
| press approval or dsapproval OF our IS,
| spective efforts, as the splrll nlovsu ,.sSi
/ them, vet the sum of our converts Woulu
| be as grain Of mustard seed cast INTO
linfinite space. :,
ssYou say that the. plan is well ana
! favorably known in the South as an in
| ducement for our inaugurating TINS lnno-
/, yation My reply to that IS, that II ls
! a method extant in the South, devlseu ;se
/ to give the .sspellbinder an opportunity
i to exploit and air himself and chlefiy 70
! provide an audience for the speaker VINO
represents the minority party Inc lale
ter reason is evidence Of the ehivaiiry 4,od oa
/ the Southerner, but finds no place In the
! colder and more selfish composition OF
/ his Northern brother. You further reier
/ to the famous and historic Lincoln
Douglass debates as a precedent Tor your o,llr
i SUGGESTION All, my dear sir; recal tne
! theme which inspired that memoraple
/ contest between those intellectual giants
/ and marvellous orators, one in which not
/ only the people of their State were ap-
/ sorbed, but the entire popuiace OF ine
United States We're lnyolveq.a qpessioal ssrl'sl
/ perity of the Union-and tnen contrast
/ the occasion with the present And may may
/ / not add, without being omenSlVe' lnae
/ neither you nor ], are Lincoin OF
/ stHowever, the strongest objection to be
/ urged against your proposition is lts iack F
/ OF sincerity. / am constrained 70 say
/ that I believe in making the suggestion
5svot1s ss5d5 are only attempting to carry. out a
! part Of the programme outlined py the
I managers of your adopted party IN the
! uresent campaign. Some days before you
/ were nominated, was informed you
] would be the probable nominee OF the
Republican party for tae oee sn q q ,s nena, f.
! a Joint debate. This prophecy appears 70
/ have been fulfilled, for behold you nave
been nominated and in the morn1ng os la1,l OF
| in the letter I have referred to, ana sew
! eral hours before its receipt by me,
! was interviewed by reporter OF rne or
/ gan Of the party you are presumably al
/ lied with in this county, in the course OF
/ which he exhibited to me copy OF the
| letter was to and did receive later N
| ascertain what course I would adopt in
connection with your lmpenulng zen, usn.
/ Before the ink had died upon your com,
munication, your acton ana de1.er ,s ared doIaed
/ article in the selfsame newspaper, Where.
/ in you were furnished with a PAIR OF
/ wings and harp, and was ciothed with
\ = n5ir sof horns and hOofs. This was very
4 had form in an affair of honor OF this
/ Kind. The course you adopted savoreG
/ strikingiy of the ways of the professional
politician and at once casl suspi9fioh l;n, npoi
+ am justified in exclaiming tnat heaTu
1 the voice of Jacob but recognized lne
hands of Esau Another tn9ugnl ocGn,S
| to me before conclude, ana IN dWeiHhs
! upon 1T grow reminiscent.
isNot many years ago the Democratlc
PARTY fought a great fight In the cause
| nf tariff reform One of the main argu-
ments then used was that tariff I'M
/ nosed for the sole purpose OF protectlon
/ Was the progerlitor of trusts and monop-
/ olies or all the Democrats l personahy
/ / new or had heard of, not one was
/ more enthusiastic and eloquent supporter
I Of this doctrine than yourself. In loglcaI
L 3 nd forceful discussion of the subject, IN
/ hitter inveetive of the Republican party
/ and its candidates, particularly OF the
/ lalnerted Mckinley, who YVES the great
champion Of the Roacy POI o, you on ensu uehem uu
/ emily and with irresistible logic plHoTleu
/ the recipients of the fruits of this system,
| which You characterized as ROPER ,sas ;st lat
| and flourish as never before, ana the ne
publican party and It's cand'dates stana t,li 9.
avowed sponsors ana supporteIs s ol en.s ,rs
/ to be considered and discussed IN the
! present political contest, and your party
managers insist that they are Panam0qns ann 11'a
| ia debate with you the tariff question?
! How can you support and plead for Mr.
1 Murphy. the nominee OF the the, 5epuphcaaa sI,. s.a
4 Consistent champion of high proiectlve
| tariff, and who, am informed, is en-
tployed In q business pecuna3rlly lavQred
/ ate recipient of its favors for many years.
/ enabling him to amass large fortune. /.
i Until you as publicly recant your former
1 acknowledge your error in the past, how
! can you ask the public to believe you in
your present espousal of Republican doc
trines and policies
sIr conclusion desire to say, that ire
spective OF the reasons have referred %
and which to some extent nave lmpetea
! me to decline your challenge, my political
engagements are such and have psen p ssa Is So
] and iif1iustsaable for me now to break
/ these engagements and assume the role
| of & Don Quixote in running amuck with.
/ windmills during the rest Of the cam
Pardon the length Of this communica-
4 tion. and acuuif me Of any desire TO pc
personal or offensive, as q am determined
4 that "a, far as am concerneds my can
vass shall be absolutely devoid oL person..
/ ality or abuse. ~ e
This closes on my part an incident in.
the pending campaign am; ,s vsry !, y,,3sry rrqiv
i yours, n ssft -, 2 FL IT,
October 19. 1901
49,. r,ss1sr. fya1sad Pe1lan~.