The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-12-22

who participated in that war. many
who unable to take actual part eA-
perienced none the less ali ths nolIol
of those four cruel years. and whose
fOrebears, have from earnest tunes
lent heart and brain and energy Tor
the welfare OF State and nation. For
these ! beg a word.
In the first place. the assertion that
Gloucester County estates were desert
ed or sold as diyect result OF the
war has absolutely no foundation IN
fact No case of such abandonment
is on record.
The fragrant error OF Nessrs Church
and Ellis in stating that Gloucester
County was ever overrun by drunken
ness and license. a license which (Dy
inference) her white population IN
their incompetcDcy were unaple 10
combat is unpardona bic. As TO the
little iail a, the courthouse being
usually filled with negroes as con-
sequence OF "idleness and whiskey.
should term this a DANGEROUS stretcn
of an already sufficiently stretched
imagination. The open bar may III
old days have contributed its part
to the cause of lawlessness and DIS
order-may even have led indisputaply
70 isolated cases of crime-Dut
Gloucester has, from earliest times
ranked as one of the most orderly
counties in her state. whether tne
local option laws AT present IN iofcet!)
have served 10 lessen those eNils at
tributed To an untrammeled liquor traf-
nc is in Gloucester, as elsewhere,
nooted quest
We are led to believe by those who.
strangely enough. escaped Tom Walk
er's wholesale redemption that with
proper Introduction and a kNoWiedSe
of the high sign no thirst need long
go neglected. But there. OF course
that would be a horrible revelation 10
some OF us Really | should never nave
mentioned it,
! We make no claim to moral periec-
tiOn-not all of us-even now that the
devil is on the run. We're Just so So
like everybody else. Very properly
we have jail and some accommodate
ing individual drops in now ana theh
to occupy it. That no negro naive
of Gloucester county has been In jan
in three years" clause i a-wel,
mistake. The gentlemen have been
grievously misintormed.
Ny limited search Of court records
show three CD in 1910 alone; one l
within the past six months: beyond
question there are others. Inc cla'm
that less than ten Uo) are tried an
nually for misdemeanors" is. on the
face of it, ridiculous.
Far be il from NE 10 make our
citizens out a bit worse than they
really are: truth. however. compels
me TO question the existence Of any
thing approaching pro millennium
reform in dear old Gloucester.
Now just word about the county
steamboat landing that was not pay
ing and Tom Walker investigated.
which. during his first term. he was
able to put on such an improved finen-
cial basis that. together with other
economies" introduced he reduced
the county tax from 40 10 p cents
In December, 1889. the steamer stopped
landing at Gloucester Point while the
wharf was undergoing necessary re-
pairs. County bonds We're issued 10
defray the expense Of the above work
and in April. 1890, the regular steamer
resumed her landings. During the
next twelve months the earn ngs from
the Gloucester Point Wharf were IN
excess OF seventeen hundred dollars :
(sl.70O). and the bond levy had been
reduced from 40 to % cents. In the
elected to the Board of Supervisors.
This is how much Tom Walker had 10
do with the increased county revenues
and reduction of county taxes during
that stirring first term
Any subsequent reduction to q cents |
would naturally have resulted from |
the esta blished improvements. AS to
the assertion that Tom Walker was
elected to that board by the votes oil
white Democrats, il is safe to say !
that no two white votes were cast for |
him--and exceeding few white Re
publican votes
And. understand, this does not neces- |
sarilv reflect in any way on Tom
Walker personally. Furthermore, in
justice to Walker, one feels iuclined
To ask of Messrs. Church and Ellis /
from what mistaken source they
CLEANED their monstrous knowledge
From the records of Gloucesters court
house? Impossible. From those of
Gloucester's citizens. qualified by age
and intelligence to pass on the coun-
tvs history? Never. From WING
then?
The colored people Of Gloucester.
no less than her white population
recognize the countless biunders which
run through the entire yarn.
Possibly | have said enough; and
yet-just a word on that matter OF
land purchasing.
Messrs. Church and Ellis give US to
understand that the first land ever
sold TO a colored man in Gloucester
County was the thirty-five acres sold
to Tom " alker by Squire Hopkins.
Shucks. Before little Tom was big
enough to skin a hare hundreds %
acres Of land had passed into the
hands of the thr ftier COlored folk OF
the neighborhood-twO hundred from
one plantation; almost as much from
that adjoining il.
necessary cash come from to buy ali
this land? out of de ribber': from the
despised and "sloth" fostering oyster
industry The foundation of what sue
cess the cOiored people of Gloucester
have attained has, almost invariably.
come from saltwater start
oysters primarily. with fishing. crab
bling and so forth in their minor or
der And be il said that up TO the time
the oyster rocks" were well-Digh de-
pleted. a long as there remained
reasonable days catch for the perse-
Vering tonger. little stock was taken