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OCTOBER 25, i 9 07
The Commoner
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There is "Something Doing" 'Virgiffia
Honry T. Wickham, member of tbo Vir
ginia state senate from the district composed of
Caroline, Hanover and King William counties,
succeeded his father in the legislature .in 1888,
and was continuously re-elected by his demo
cratic constituents until the democratic primary
of August 28, 1907, when he was defeated for
the nomination by Dr. C. U. Gravatt, a retired
United States navy surgeon.
The Wlckham family is one of the moBt
distinguished in the state of Virginia. A monu
ment to General "William T. Wlckham, father
of the senator, stands in Monroe park, Rich
mond. During his long term in the state senate,
Honry T. Wickham was employed in the law
department of tho Chesapeake and Ohio rail
way, which has its general offices In Richmond.
ITIrst he was general solicitor, but several years
ago was advanced to the position of general
counsel, at a salary which is said to approximate
$20,000 a year. For throe years he has been
one of the receivers for the Gould traction
properties in Richmond and Petersburg at a
reported fee of $5,000 a year.
The fight pn Mr. Wlckham in the primary
this year was confined to the single issue:
"Could he, at one and tbe same time, fairly
represent both his railroad employers and the.
voters of his district?" His personal character
was never attacked, nor were the honesty of
his motives impugned.
For nineteen years the people of his sen
atorial district were so solidly behind him that
Mr. Wickham had not even nominal opposition
In his own party. But when the "railroad
issue" was raised, he went down in defeat in
one brief campaign before a comparatively un
known opponent.
Because of the principle invplved Com
moner readers may be interested in some clip
pings from Virginia newspapers relating to Sen
ator Wickham's defeat:
The Harrisonburg .T.imes, a republican
paper, says: We believe the people of the. Thirty
second district will come to the conclusion be
fore y$ry long , that r (hoy made a. mistake in
turning Senator Wlckham down and especially
"wfll they see their mistake in doing so for the
reason that he was a railroad attorney.
The Harrisonburg News (dem.) says: Mr.
"Wickham will serve the Chesapeake and Ohio
next winter with great ability when that corpor
ation is fighting the state of Virginia on the rate
question. He will render valuable service when
the railroad corporations seek to hold down the
state assessment of their property for the pur
poses of taxation. And he will be able to do it
now without being hampered by the official oath
of a senator.
The Staunton Leader says: The defeat of
Senator Henry T. Wickham for the democratic
nomination to succeed himself is a noteworthy
victory for the people against corporate influ
ences. It is an omen of good to come, The
peopld of -Virginia are awakening to a true real
ization of their rights and well-being and the
power that is within their franchises, and this
bodes no good for the ring rule that has obtained
within' the commbnwealth for many decades
past. In the words of Barnum's maxim, you can't
fool the people all the time. They have been
hoodwinked into voting against their closest
Interests for many years, but they are beginning
to see which way the wind blows. A few more
euch victories as the defeat of Senator Wick
ham will have a most salutary effect, and we
will find' that democratic primaries will be en
tered by the voters with renewed interest.
The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot (dem.) says:
The now senator from the district composed of
the counties of Hanover, Caroline and King
William, will be Dr. Charles U. Oravatt, a re
tired officer of the United States navy, and,
therefore, presumably, a gentleman of culture
and character, but wholly without experience in
public life. The change has been made by a
decisive majority of the people with whom Mr. ,
Wickham stands deservedly high for his per
sonal qualities and ability. He has been re
tired solely because a preponderant element of
the voters held it to be incompatible with the
general welfare of the community that the func
tions nd obligations of a state legislator and
of chief attorney of a railroad corporation should
he. .united in one and the same person. Espe
cially is this view .prevalent in Virginia just
:now because of the existing controversy between
the state and the railroads and of the possibility
.that judicial procedure may take such a course
as to Uirow all the matters in dispute .unpn. the
decision, of the general assembly, For, In such
a case, the feeling is not without warrant that'
no man could act as counsel for both sldos of
so radical a contention without projudlco or fa
vor to ono aide or tho other. The regularly em
ployed advocato in a suit, after exhausting) argu
ment and eloquence in behalf of the defendant
can not bo expected to go on tho bench and
render a judgment fair to tho plaintiff.
The Petersburg Indox-Appoal says:' Tho
distinction 'between thoanatf and the-rofficlal i
fine almost to tho point t)f impcrceptibillty, but
it has been made by, perhaps, too partial friends.
Mr. Wickham is an able man and a very capable
representative, and far be1 it from us to: impeach
his honesty or sincerity But whatever may bo
his consciousness as to the rectitude of ihls own
motives and acts, the lesson of thd popular vdr-"
diet in tho Thirty-second senatorial district
should not be Jost on hirn, to-wlt, that those
voters do not.boliove any man cann serve two
masters, and bo they havo dono'for him what "
ho should havo done for himself -long; ago, in
retiring either from the senate or from tho ser
vices of tho railroad.
The Lynchburg News saysj Thcfailuro of
Hon. Henry T.. Wlckham to securo a ronomlna'
tlon as democratic candidate for tlia state son-f
ate reflects a more than usually important event
in Virginia politics. The people of the state
have reason, in our judgment, to bo gratified '
at Mr. Wickham's defeat as doubtless in large
ly propondering numbers they arc and- to ro
jolce that tho democracy of Hanover, King Wil
liam and Caroline havo had tho courage to es
tablish a precedent in this relation which is al
together of wholesome import. In saying this
we would bo understood as In no way seeking
to prejudice tho worth of Mr. Wickham as an
individual. The Hanover senator is a most am
iable and agreeable gentleman. His ability as
a lawyer requires no encouium when it is con
sidered that he represents a great railway trunk
line as chief counsel in Virginia. That he is an
accomplished, skilled and influential . legislator
is .also a subject of geiieral concession. But
while all these things are true, there are dome
other things that are equally truo, which should
long since have constrained Mr. Wickham's con
stituency to retire him to private life. It ought
not to be so that any member of the general
assembly shall be brought face to face with
the alternative of voting for a measure lit the
risk of inviting frowns of a powerful corporation
client. Mr. Wickham was compelled to face
the issue thus arising in the campaign just
closing, and upon that issue tho democratic
electorate of his senatorial distrldt rendered a
verdict of "nay" to his plea for re-election'. It
was in all respects a proper verdict, and abso-'
lutely consistent with sound public policy.
The Richmond Journal says: For months
the Journal thas.been urging the voters of this
state to defeat overy candidate for a seat in
the next general assembly who- occupies' the posl-1
tlon of counsel of any railroad. We have given
unanswerable reasons why this should be done.
The least of these is the -equivocal position of
the attorney himself; tho greatest is the ' utter '
impossibility of serving- twp masters'. This im'-plled-no
reflection upon the integrity of tho at
torney. It imputed to him no conscious wrong
doing. It simply denied him- miraculous pow
ers; tho capacity to be in-two .places at one and
the same time.- He could -nob be in the place,
which ought to be occupied by a faithful coun
sel, of whole-hearted devotion to the interests
of his clients, and at the same time work with
an eye single to tho welfaro of his constituents.
When the time came, as come it must, that the
interests of client and constituent met in head
on collision, the corporation .counsel must be
in a position of great embarrassment and torn
by conflicting views. It is sheer nonsense, if
not arrant hypocrisy, to pretend to unbiased
fair-mindedness when vital questions balance
between the gopd of the railroads and the pub
lic good, when In one pocket is a huge salary,
and in the other merely a. mandate from tho
voter. The man was never created with bo
judicial a temperament and so oblivious of the
side of the slice the butter was on,- to wbom
with restful, implicit confidence the people .could
look, under such circumstances. It is not in
human nature. The fight of the future :1b, for
supremacy" between the railroads and .their
cognate influences and the rule of. the people.
So rtitantic are tho powers of the former that
while the ultimate issue is sure, the. struggle
will bo sovere and long contested. Strange" art
it may appear, it., will take tho whole forco'of
govornmont, oxcrtod through yoars, id show
thoso who now dominate the country, that" It'
was hot for their bolfoof and glory nnd fatten
ing tho fathers established this republic. Tlfqy
shall -lmvd' tho lesso'n drlvon Into their 'hSadfl
that thd taxing power of traffic rates, which can
lovy a toll upon ovdry thing a man and hlafamlly
tiso, and hqneo rogulaCo that ninn'a Hfo, fono'
longer a sovereign, prerogative of a hateful of
Wrill Street tyrants, This is tho way tho people
of Virginia arp now thinking. This In tfiorwny
the. people of Xh '.Thirty-second senatorial dl-
trict thought last ibfck when they dofeated for
Termination Ifo'n. Henry T. Wlckham. Seldom
in tho history oJ politics has tlioro boon sot be
fore a pooplo i nluestlon of principle moroclearly
dofined and djvqstqd of diverting and ontangHnK
ncpeorlfos; . With- nothing against tho ability
or Integrity of oithor Wickham or Gravatt, wjth
everything lit favof ,r, the former, so far as 6$-,
pqrlertco in. publjr affairs goes, ho wont dowmlbi
defeat because the poaplo woro dctormlhc"dfttf ',
sp'eplc with no uncertain sound upon tho' q tigs'
tlop, tho burning quentlon of railroad domina
tion It Is needless to add tho congratulations of ,
tho Journal to tho Bturdy voters of tho XhlrtVr"
secoti'd' senatorial district of Virginia. They itfoV.
serve,, and wfll receive, the applause of tho renv
tiro stato. ' ' ''z:
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