Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1834-11-13
From the. Lynchburg virginia.,
INSTRUCTTONs-ogaing

J The.TJ5ayiile Observer, which Is striv
~ BY its Vehement Jacssonisul, 10 earn
celebrity, and. for ausht we know the
right io'pEgtshe laws, post Office sadyer
tsements- et cetofa, "by .authoftyp has
hon9f4a ~ BslIf 90 occasional notice, in
way. II thinks that The rea
sons which we have adduced against the
present mode Of msfrlning our represent
atIyes ia the Legislature w9.b4 apply
With equal force against !e!sHfoiA Not
50. Elections are con4Ashkoperb; sig
natures "a. distractions INC 0btalsH secyet
y. II a AAlers is deceived by faIss repre-.
sensations, he has the means in his pos.
session of Obtaining correct iniortnation !;
the reverse iStrue Of the signer, who may
be tqglktsst the paper haaded TO him is OF
a scbaraeier directly The. reverse Of the
truth, AMI tho error may never be correct.
ed. At The polls. every, mans right to
vote ls seru;inized; 10 obtaipifigi signatures
10 instructions, the namas Of persons not
en,iiled TO yuie may be- tpsedi with perfect
IMMUNITY. These are a fe,y uf' the obiee-
tons to Instructions. that 10 nodapply to
eleciions--and, they are thH. faoie potent
when we rccollet that the former are dc.
fslgned to counterfeit and render null the
latter, and that a secret and dishonest
system of obtaining signatures TO instfuc
ton papers is designed 10 reverse the
honest and open expression Of The peoples
sentiments, at the polls We admit that
the people have the right By 5kH fuciions,
10 reverse decisions made at lheir cleo
tons, if they think fit so 10 do; bot we
contend that the representative should
have some stronger evidence that. they
have done so that the bare presentation
to him OF certain papers, containing a
given number Of signatures. That stEon
ger evidence is, that these signatures have
not been obtained by fraudulent and de
ceptivc means-il.at in ailixing them TO
these papers, the slgncrs acted under
standmgly, and from IA fair repress ntation,
not only of their contents, but of their de
sign. The present is exactly one Of these
cases, where fraud may be easily perpe
trated-where the clrculators Of tfffse pa
pers may speak literally the truth, and
yet speak falsely; and we have good rea
son 10 believe that some of themllaye so
acted For example they tell snmc of
the voters that tie paper which they are
requested 10 sign is against the Bank. but
they do not add, that it is against Mr..
Leigh also. They describe it as in favor
of Judge Barbour's election to the Senate,
whenever il suits the partlalities ossyhe in
dlviduals approached; but they ds4ot re
for 10 the possibility that the jude NAV
not be voted for at all, and that, i. he be
not, Mr.. Rives or Mr.. Stevenson, Or some
other man, whom the voters w6Ald not |
prefer 20 MIR Leigh will be the Stcina. !
tive candidate. Indeed they go e3en fur.
lher than this, did wc not pubIissin our !
last paper, a fact mentioned by herrbing
don Statesman, that man in thatyonnIy |
had been induced TO sign pap& con-
demnlng the course Of lheir State tnator
Col keller) last winter, and instticting |
him TO vote against MIR Leigh, byIassur
ance5 that that paper approved If Mr. |
keller's vote ? Have not ethes similar !
frauds been brought TO lightp We have
indeed. another instance BOW before us, |
from the FarmYille ChFonicie. We un
derstand Gays that paper from uuques
tionablc authority that one OF those who |
carried instruction papers in Powhatan,
presented 1t TO man whose prejudices
he knew were strong against Notification
tie told him that the object Of the paper
was 10 put down nulliication-that Leigh
was nullIter, and IN this way attempted
to induce him to sign it This mode of
procuring signatures to instructions, may
accord with the Observers ideas of pro
prietg but TO us it seems to be fraudulent
aud dishonest, and consequently the in.
sirucilons emseves, deserve not the
slightest welSh hit in influencing the course
OF membeLs, who were elected fairly by
the people, with full knowledge of their
political principles, and of their intended
votes.