Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1905-11-03
Mr.. .WERTH REPLIES

II
had been informed that the Taze-
well Republican in its this weeks issue
intended 10 reply 10 my article i'm your
last issue. The Tazewell Republican,
though due TO its subscribers i'm this
town ON Nov. 2nd, has not as yet been
delivered, for reasons which the editor
of the Tazewell Rnpuhlican deems
good and sufficient However. the
paper has been delivered TO out-of-
town subscribers, and having learned
this fact 1 personally called on the
editor OF the Tazewcll Republican, who
Is also the postmaster i'm this town.
and asked him il he would give a rca-
son for discriminating against all Of
his subscribers who get their mail at
the postoflice at Tazcwcll. and further
asked him il he would not give me a
copy of his paper (which he admitted
to be printed and ready for delivery
and which contained, as | had been in
formed, a reply from him 10 my article.
I'm order that | might bc able 10 read
II before the CLINCH VALLEY News came
out. His polite and gcntlcmanly reply
was, that he would deliver the paper
To subscribers at this postofll, G
l'whcn il suited him"
by your enterprise. You have sccur-
eel copy of the Tazcwcll Republican
of Nov. 2ud, mailed and delivered to a
subscriber i'm remote part OF the
county, aud in that paper l have seen
the reply 20 my article.
The statement of the Tazewcll Re
publican, which was criticized i'm my
article as being absolutely untrue"
was as follows:
$50, for the past twcnty-scvcn years
the intcrmarrying Of white persons and
NBGEoEs in Virginia ln,s not only been
allowed, but has been INVITED, and in
known instances practiccd."
To any intelligent reader, it will be
perceived that the above quota ton
contains an unqualified statement that
ALL "WHITE PERSONS AND NE
iliOES" are "INVITED to inter
marry under the Democratic laws oi
this state.
In the issue Of Tazcwcll Republican
IF Nov. 2nd, the editor Of that paper
instead of frankly stating that his
fofmcr statement was untrue, under
takes to maintain the truth OF the
same, yet there is one admission near
the end Of his article which not only
shows his former statement 10 be un-
true. but would seem 60 Indicate that
ne knows il is untrue. The admission
is in the following words
"OF COURSE WE NEVER INTENDED, IN
OUR EDITORIAL or THE 2GH INSTANT To
INTIMATE THAT PERSONS or oNE-FOuRru
DR MORE MICRO BLOOD IL THEIR VEINS
GOULD LAWFULLY INrERMARnN WITH WHITE
PERSONS IL VIRGINIA"
So il will he seen that the Tazewcll
Republican now admits that il knew
ali the time that persons of onc-fourth
or more negro blood in their veins
which would include more than seven
ry-iive per cent of the negroes in the
Statc) could not under the laws of this
state intermarry with white persons.
Yet, Knowing this, the editor Of the
razewell Republican for partisan polt-
zeal purposes, made the bald and un-
qualified statement quoted in my
articc in your paper-a statement
which said in terms that whites" and
negroes" were "invited" 10 intcrnar-
~ in this State, without any regard to
che now admitted fact that negroes oi
Dne-fourth or more negro blood ICON
stitutiRg the large majority Of tn,
race) are not So allowed to intcrmarry.
Ii will also be noted by careful ana
intelligent readers OF the Tazewell Re
publican that it makes no attempt,
whatever, to negative the reasons
which ] gave i'm my article as making
IL absolutely necessary TO iegalize such
! marriages as might occur between "a
white person and another person zap
parently white,) but who had LESS than
| One-fourth negro blood. It's silence on
this subject is an admission that ii
knows those reasons TO be legally and
socially sound, and to have stated that
such marriages were 'sinvitcd' when il
was known they were permitted from
necessity only, certainly appears t.
nave been wilfm pcrversion of the
facts, and yet the statement comes
from man who processes to be an
advocate of high politics.
| WM. III. WERTH.