Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1850-02-20
THE sTAUNTON SPECTATOR,
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 90, 1859.

ara form Of an argument sustaining his views sofaF
a, variant from our own. Not SO, however "tiav-
ing accomplished my object" (says our co'fespon
dent, al shall no; presume to discuss WIN you Inc
correctness Of your opinions" Vety modest 10 DC
xuysl if il were neither affeciation nor rse' Inc
! sllusion to Old Rip Van Wrinkle rs somewhat un-
: so,,uoa,e. as betraying want Of perception Of
spsciaI point in that celebrated tale Old hip e'a
sse things after his long sleep, as they really we!e
. hat he could hardly trust his own eyes as 10 she
great changes tina, had taken place IN shor' 'ie'
ssshs etheagh. In this respect, we profess 10 oe
nrscisely like him. we too can hardly believe our
ewes or sars, when ws find some people, with the
hruad mark of arstocracy, in It's mock and mimic
forms, upoa them, suddenly become the peoples
mso. with the honed phrases Of ssgood irlends'
xwse, friends" distiIling from their lips. Accom-
nlisbed nv object" We will say just here to Ike
.{o,m because it is convenient to do So ihat ne IS
otestIy mistaken in the Editors of this PAPER
.has ever fitted across his imagination that pence
can purchase their principles. de is mistaken III
another thing and that is, the numbers sustaining
his extreme notions. The people oil this region gen.
ss,slly are emlnenty thinking people, always ready
-, ,ss;s. oppression but not apt to be carried away
hv f,Iss alarms. But to the merits OF the sr'icle
before us. -,
:, oor critic. who seems careful to let the public
aoow somethipq Of his acuteness, and by way oil
correcting errors, says TO us-"fou nave ~holJ
misunderstood Reform There is no charge oy
inlima,ion OF implication, that you had Purposey
remained silent upon either Of The points OF reform
refsrred to in your paragraph" Wecan assure MIN
that he is not 'scu,s" enough yet-that the decla-
,asian cannot be amended now, for the purpose OF
changing the issues rendered BY hun, aud linus en-
,sblips him 10 escape from Tire charge OF "ialse
c,atooro made sgains, the Editors of this paper
The facts shall be "brilliant" upon the point, and
hare ,hey are. "Reform" very gravely called up
on Us to "defne our pOsiilon'-a most sweeping
and reaersl phrase when used in connection WIN
Constitutional reform, and embraced all questions
no, specially excepted in the call. Again-"fou
have indeed furnished your readers VITA TWO inca
ore and obscure editorials upon one branch Cine on
" exception) Of contemplated REFORM" One branch
land ia close connection, denying ''the right OF the
conductor. Of public Journal to withhold or conceal
chair ooinions." Is there no implicahon here, that
the other branches Of contemplated reform had been
withheld or concealed mo ianuendo that We had
purposeIy, on all these Others concealed our op'n'
ions mo aten; pregnant to make the impres-
zion that we had spoken bsI t,sice, aud that 1t be-
came necessary for "Reform" to bring us out
third time and upon other topics besides the single
one of s!ec.ing the Superior Court Judges Inc
uublic can decide. Our paragraph, showing the
additional pontsof reform which we had advocated
and which our critic now says, ne did not mean 10
assal, embraced the all important and interesting
question of the elective franchiseand the election
of Governor by the people, instead OF the Leglsia-
,ure. These are pronounced by "Reiorm" to DO
minor points. Indeed! Is this the language OF
general, good and true refn'mer? Above all other
questions, the suffrage is one most potent IN placing
power where to be, in the hands otihe people
Vet this. in the estimation Of "Reform," is "ml-
nor question:" The JudieiG'y. and that branch OF
4, TOO referring to the Superior Courts, is, in his
Wow, the major and maxma. Why is this g
Echo answers-why?
"Reformn says, "the simple issue between u.s.
and The only one intended TO be raised, rs whe-
,her you had up to the penning Of your last editori
al. (Feb. 18Th made known through the columns
of your paper, your opinions upon the two points re-
fsrred TO- TO wit the mode Of electing Judges, and
the tenure Of office" This is question in SUBSTANCE
and rather singular mode oftendering an issue
Prssumng, however, tina, an affirmation was lnien-
ded, quite usual with our critic when dealing with
interfoga,ories and knowing that it is often the
strongest mode of affirming, we accept the ISSUE
Now for the evidence. In our article Of January
s0th. paragraph 9th, reform" may read as follows,
to wit: IAN important inquiry here arises (speak-
ing Of County Courts)-how is this double purpose
10 be effected In other words, what tenure would
be conducive to this end That Of goad bshGoiOr,
essential in The higher Courts, (omitng our psren-
thesis, we should not consider 50 essential IN the
County Courts" Surely we have right TO com
plain Of the miserable misrepresentation Of our ex-
plcis and recorded statements.
Onr RaGrmer proceeds to say-'I now under
stand (Feb 20ih) that you are opposed to an Eioe'
tive Judiciary, in the popular sense OF ms term.
The term Judiciary according to our apprehension,
takes in the whole system of Courts, from the high
est TO the lowest; and slsctice in popular sense,
implies specific tenn Of years. Having declared
ourselves in favor of eleetHg the Justices by the
people for such term, we are here again misfepre
sen,ed, it the County Courts belong to the Judicial
ny, which none will deny.
''Reiorm" knew, on tbs Soth Of January, as
shown above, that we contended for the tenure of
good behaviour with respect 10 the Superior Judges
he therefore knew st that date, previous to his
ls article even of our opposition 10 an Elective Ja-
dietary in popular sense quoad the Judges. Moo,
(he says,l If for the frs! time, he finds us oPpos-
I'D to an Elective Judiciary ina popular sense! -
This is'strange.
The tsnars has been all along the great question
LII ssp aE,rro - and he sets down the sssnponfiup