Republican vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1857, 1854-02-27
NOS
Tno Liauor-Lsw Petitions.

4 tina fuss folly, sfaEfaronsde " hieh this in
Y famous Maine law has excited in the State.
!. its ultra advocates are not yet the controls
ing power in Virginia. We trust this
meagre number may grow small by de-
grees. We claim TO be as good a friend
to the Temperance cause as the mostnoted
Maine Liquor Law men can be, but az
far as thai law or one similar to it in its
provisions is concerned we are out and
aut opposed to it. When we are con-
vinced that, the legislature of Virginia can
make honest men of rogues, truthful men
of liars, or Christians Of infdeIs, we will
hsverome confidence in its power to make
tsober men Of drunkards, and thenswe
may favor the enactment Of a Maine
Liquor Law. ''-Alerandria Standard.
The proceedings Of the Legislature
show that another reverse has befalen the
advocates OF immediate action in the shape
Of prohbitory legislation on the .liquor
traffic, . The effort to rescue the subject
from the standing committee to which it
had been referred, and give them the adj
vantage OF special organization signally
fa,led. II, as the gentleman in charge Of
the subject distinctly declared, the subject
is certain of full and impartial considc.
ration Under the present arrangement. we
do no. see what reasonable desire there
could be for q change OF er- porte agita-
ton and one-sided discussion, we have
had enough. 1t should cease when the
General Assembly Of the State is invoked.
So far as our observation extends, the
friends of the movement have had moro
than justice at the hands of the press and
the people. Their appeals and arguments
have been freely published and dissemi-
mated and comparatively seldom replied
to. Their petitions have been signed, not
only, as petitions generally are by men
who had scarcely expended a thought on
the subject. out of more disposition to
oblige, but in some cases by individuals
opposed to the movement but willing to
see it examined by those officers entrusted
with the public interests. The activity.
shown in he getting up Of these petitions
has sufficiently vind;cated their own sim
cerity. Having fairly laid the case before
the court, they must be content patiently
to abide its ae.ibn. ~
A list Of the petitions presented on the
18th lies before US. We have taken the
trouble TO add up the whole number Of
signatures. There were 81 petitions. one
Of which is mentioned only as being sign
ed by ssundry citizens Of Norfolk The
others sum up s, 434 Assuming the an
uonymous Of Norfolk to reach the average
Of the others in number we have for the
gross number of petitioners on the great
tieid-day 9,547, instead of fifteen thousand.
as represented by over-ardent enemies, of
the ardent. Three or four stragglers came
in on subsequent day but this will hard
~ bring the aggregate to ten thousand or
a fifteenth part oil the voters of the State.
We only find one petition claimed to re.
fleet the wishes Of majority of the votes
of town. That came from Petersburg,
and bore 81 names. As that city has
population of 5000, it may well be
doubted whether her voters do not out
number 1920. Richmond city, with
10000 people comes with 1921 petition
ers One CT her delegates, Mr.. Ellyson.
is leading ptohibiiionst and the leader
Of this concerted assault. Next to these,
in both actual and proportioned strength,
appears Monroe. with 400 signatures
Frederick follows forth, with 456 She
was administered in broken doses; Mr.
Mcleod presenting 209 and DR.. Miller
247. We confess, ourself disappointed at
the meagreness Of her array. when We
recollect the uneeasing exertions made
during the last year throughout her boz
ntrs. She cast two years ago, 2,495 votes
AID has II 600 inhabitants. DR.. Miller's
list does not number one-fourth the votes
cast at Winchester alone. Clarke sends
bat 46; Warren "a; Hampshire "a; JEFF,
| lerson 293 and Shenandoah 1870. We
looked with particular intererest for the
Augusta list. An sindepndant' paper.
devoted to the advocacy Of the cause, Is
published IN that county and an organ
ised effort was made to make this issue
the controlling one at the last election OF
Delegates. The attempt succeeded, but
unfortunately the wrong way the result
being that those candidates who answered
the mtorrogatones addressed to them by
the temperance meeting unequiyocaily in
the negative, were tliumphantly elected,
and old federal Augusta for the first time
sent democratic Delegates to Richmond.-
Her signers are but 223. arranged with
beautiful regularity in squadrons Of Is, "a.
aud Y respectively. In Augusta surely
there can be no complaint Of not having
been fairly heard. According to their
chosen test the nun Der Of signatures to
their petition, they have succeeded in
winning over to the Maine system but dne
fifteen of her voters. The same proper
tioa, as before remarked, obtains between
the gross number OF signers and the poll
list of the entire. The sentiment Of Au-
gusta, then, may ON the Matte system DO
set down as the sentiment of Virginia.
The county where it has been most fully
discussed speaks with the State; and tho
vote is fourteen nays to one aye.
The Press
When Tamerlane had finished building
! his pyramid of seventy thousand skulls.
and was seen at the gate of Damascus.
|gl,tterlng with steel, with his battle axe on
his shoulder, Till his fierce hosts filed, out
To new victories aud carnage. the pale
ooker-on might have faneied that Nature
was in her death throes-for havoc and
despair had taken possession Of the earth,
and the sun of mankind seemed setting in
seas Of blood Yet it might be. that on
that very gala-day of Tamerlane. little
! boy was playing nine pins in the streets Of