Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1855-05-11
Federal Interference

menfng. N terms Of deserved severity. upon late
patiea development in that city. The Admin
i>trati IN al Washington could not till the pa
tience of the public was entirely exhausted. he
brought Ia take measures against thcving loco
loco postmaster, but. the statement goes has
-:ruetrd the Collector Of the Port 10 require
d. all applicants for office formal written
laswledginrnt tina, thcy are not Know Moth
ing" According Ia the Nrw Orleans Bee The
Administration, with that short sighicdncss
hch has ever Characterized II. fance- that by
turning ont c,o-y officer suspected OF entertain
ing American sentiments: by system Of test
oaihs Ia be administered 10 all applicants, and
WELDING n The most unmany and diseraceful
mode il, cntre influence against the tmerean
pa..ty, il will fnull, succeed IN purifying every
bran Ia Il the Goyernlnc At, rendering the order
odious, driving thousands away from il, aud de
stroyng il power. The President apparently
forgets that persecution generally Ucts upon
parties, like trampling upon chamomilc- the
harder you trample uponit the faster it grows.
The contemplate machinery set in motion to
crush Americansm in the United States il the
best evidence of the utter worhlcssness of tho
administration, and adds 10 its unpopularity,
WITHOUT advancing lpl III tu' VI
It's purpose"
This species Of Star Chamber scrutiny the
Bee says, began last winter in the municipal
elections in the city of Washington. Ne sooner
was it rumored that Mr.. TowERs was TO he the
candidate for Mayor, against Mr. MAuRY, the
then inc umbent, than the edct of the Admins
tration went forth and every employee wns or.
dered uader penalty Of official dspIeasare and i'm
mediate dismissal. TO oppose the American nomI.
nee. The major part of til" poor fellows, havi"g
wiz and children to support on the slender earn
ings of their clerkships, obeyed--a minority, bold
er or better off resisted. Some sought TO conceal
their votes, but in vain They were bounded and
watched by the Government spies, and suffered
ostracism in common with those who hud
disp'a yed more moral hardihood. This
the first example Of an overt fragrant attempt ON
th e part ofthe Administration 10 cnntrnl the pc
liticai preferences of its nominees Since
then, ali pret,nces and pretexts have been thrown
side: all over the country, the hrelngs of the
party in power have been sedulously engaged in
ferreiing out every unfortunate fedora! officer
no is foolish enough to hold 10 the doc
trine that Americans should rue America, and.
whenever fornd, he suffers political decapaiion
in the specdiest and most summary manner
Every petty postmaster every clerk an
inter in the custom houses, liz subjecte ~ ..l..
inexorabe rule. He must denounoe his oo..5IIy
men, or consent to be ostracised."
+ he independent old commonwealth of ! irpia
ia has not escaped the insulting interference 81
the Federal government rhe sovereign people
of the State not left free to make their
election of public officers but the insdous inhn
ence Of the Administration at Washington is
seen wherever it be exercised. Since the
overwhelming display of AmeIicansm in Ports
mouth, last month, the most shameless efforts
have been made there to intimidate voters de-
pendent far their daily bread upon the employ
mon of tAe government, by threats of dism-sion
fro1n lhe pualtc works. w have heard it boast
ed here III the streets Of Lynchhurg. that the
Secretary of the Navy had spiked the American
battery at Portsmouth Foul shame upon him,
if he has made the attempt At this very timo
the Democratic press i, growing over the defeat
of he American party Mt Harper Ferry anoth.
erG"vernment station. What has come of the
State pride Of that press The liberties of the
peoplc--ibe unterrhed and unseduccd ndepen-
dence of the mas. 's-thc honesty of the woman
ry these and similar themes have furnish ID Dem
ocratic journals material for many rhapsody in
times past-shall the song now be changed into a
glorfeation of the Federal government for as
sumng control of State election and undertaking
TO coerce the votes of the people. In France
the popular tcH is expressed under the mild
promptings of the bayonet and the suggestive
prospect of the guillotine. BY such aprocess IA
President easily transformed into an Emper-
or. Shall we have the system introduced into
this country Are the Palace troops and the
Iiveried officials Of the Federal Executive to stand
guard over THE PEOPLE while dscharging the
nreropatives of freemsn J Americansm has many
nm abuse to reform, much misconduct to punish
abundant corruption to cut away from the bod,
politic-but in its whole mission there is no high
or duty than that of guarding from invasion tn
first and greetest American institntion-tbe ao
solute and iualienable liberty Of the people
Let this be the great leading object Of the ne
marty. and its members will establish title thu
none will dispute to be called the "Sons OF th
aires Of 76." Let them rebuke every move {
F.dersl mower and Executive oficiousness to ste
bevoud the boundaries of the constitution Ii
them repel With scorn and indignation any an
every attempt at interference with popular indie
penaance and the purity of the ballot box Ia
them spurn With contempt every effort OF the on
ployees and emissaries of the government to shaI
popular sentiment and influence elections. 1heI
is something in the indignant expression of gu
ragged public sentiment, that even Federal pr
sumption and hariihood will cover before--wi
A. Ia.