Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1848-03-30

i The mind turns with pleasure from
contemplating this subject, and IA sens
Of relief is experienced when the pros
porous condition Of The country in ev
cry branch Gifts industry is seen, a:
the practical effect of Democratic meas
ures. But few months have eIapse,
since the continent to its remotest con
fines, was agitated by the eager pre-
dictions of ruin and distress which
were made by the leaders of the Wing
party. They foretold tina, the Reve.
nue. Bill of 1916 would stop the loom %
the manufacturer, paralyze the han,
of the agriculturist, turl the sails O
commerce, and, like fell peStilence
clothe the whole land in mourning
Happily for the people and for the
cause of good government, we have
been saddened by no such spectacle.
Exchanges have remained equal and
the currency sound, the revenues Of
the government and the commerce Of
the country have increased, while the
prices of agricultural products have RI
sen to vast extent wi,hou! destroying
the profits of the manufacturer. All
investments Of capital, all empIoyments
Of labor, all orders and conditions OF
men, bear witness to the soundne SIS
Of Republican principles, and to
the faithful manner in which
the present Administration had dis
charged its high duties. Many, even
ofthe Wing party, have been COMPEL
ed by the genera! prosperity, 10 remain
silent as to their views of public policy.
Although, this is the case, you, fellow
citizens, should remember the past,
and be instructed by its lessons.
A are familiar with the fact: that
the Proclamation, the Force Bill, and
the removal Of the Deposites, followed
by the events of Mr.. Van Buren's Adj
ministration, banded together forni-
dable Wing opposition. This oppo-
sition, composed of the members of
the old Federal party which had been
defeated by General Jackson, and by
many others who had left he Demo-
bratic ranks at different times and for
various reasons, agreed in nothing but
a common name and common desire
to obtain ,he reins os government
This Heterogeneous mass could adopt
no system ofpolicy and designate no
course as the one to be pursued, when
their first object should have been ac-
complished. AS party, i: was with
out political principles Of any kind;
and, true to its character, it met in
Convention, and selected as its oandi-
date in 1910, one who had so long re-
tired from public life that, although he
was kown to be whig and gallant
soldier, his political history had come
to be vague tradition. His friends in
each State were left free and untram~
melted to urge his claims in the man.
ner they thought best adapted to COM
mend him to the people, or render the
Administration odious. But the great
popularity of the Republican measures
enforced respect. We then heard
nothing of Bank ofthe United States
or Tariff for Protection. On the
contrary, Gen. Harrison was express
ly recommended to the people of Vir-
ginia by a Convention of the Wing
party, because he was opposed to the
creation Of such corporation and
was willing to abide by the Compro-
mise act of 1882. By such tactics, as
sisted by accidental circumstances,
they were enabled to elect their candi-
date. The hand of Providence soon
removed the President, then chosen,
and the people could form no idea of
the policy he would have pursued, fur.
Their than that to be drawn from the
unexampIed prescription which was
practised during his brief administra-
ton. The Presidential chair was then
filled by John Tyler, who was nominal
ted by the same convention and sup
ported by the same party which elected
General Harrison. Throughout his
whole public life he had been opposed
to a National Bank and Protective
Tariff, yet no sooner did Congress as
sembe, than she Wing majority threw
off the mask, and denounced as trait
ors and apostates those o: their assoc
ciates who would not admit that the
election of 1910 gave the assent of the
people to the Federal doctrines which
had been studiously withheld from the
canvass. A Bank Bill was enacted,
the Land Fund was distributed, the
Compromise was destroyed, and Tar
if passed as odious as any which had
preceded ii. And even to the present
day their vocabulary furnishes no cpl
tibet too abusive for them to apply to
the Vice President oftheir choice, be-
cause he was true to himself and the
pledges he had made 20 the people,
Therefore, fellow-citizens, you should
remember the past; and although the
Wing party may be silent as to its
creed, although it may refuse, before