Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1857-05-05
For the Spirit of Jefferson
SPEECH OF HON. yRbT. LUCAS Ar
- MARTINSRURE.


report of his fst speech, and that occupied Two
houss and half il is unnecessary TO say that the
report is meagre and incomplete. believe, how.
ever, haiti represents his position Iairlr II not
fully, and that is the only object OF the reporter
II IS scarcely necessary tosay, thai 1t is 6y a4-
Sl0fity." having been done without consulting Mr..
L as 10 i;saceuraey, OF submitting it to bis In
s9ecton. 1t is done in spirit of fairness upon The
iudiyidua responsibility Of OLD LINER.
Mr.. Lucas said that he occupied y painfal zad
embarrassing Siiuation and he h&d been plsced
Ia il NOT by any agency of his owa- He natheen
nominated aOeRS pIlsHS BY near one hundred and !.
nifty democrats hola Hampshire, Berkeley, and
elsewhere. Their action was without his knowl-
edge or consent, but he did not pretend control
then-they had right to do rs they pleased. Bur
as these old Liners had brought him out, and he
was in the breach, he did not mean to be zlRas
candidate, or 10 be SET up mark 10 be shot ats
without defending himself. They had placed in
{ his hands the old-line banner which he had car
rid for them in days of yore with all the DeulD-
cratic principles inscribed upon it-Ihey had pla-
leed that banner again in his hands, and he meant
10 carry 1t through. He meant sound The old
tfples, Old dag 6Hglc, which once could sc heard
Throughout The district from the waters AZ the base
of the Blue Ridge, to the hills of the AIeghaniess
THAI stretched into Hampshire. He carried their
banner through the ihiekest Of the tight and never
through thick aud thin, through evil and through
good rsports-lhrough the darkest hour OF baille,
when yon siT, Ilo MIR. Faulkner, sitting by him
fighting in the ranks of the enemy.
=. He was in the breach, and he meant TO fight il
through He was into the river and he never
looked baek-he meant TO cross il or perish oliIi
ally in the aItemptl
On his para he meant to conduct The canvass O.
renly, houorably and in friendly spirit. Bat il
there m9si be war. then war let il be-we must
meet as Romauss Romans met.
Wing and Know. Nothing candidate, and not s. I
democratic candidate al all. And WhO.were these
men that questioned his democracy How long
had they been in The democratic ranks He ehal-
lenged a comparison OF records. You that live in
glass houses, don't dare throw stones al mel
It2-AnoIher report which he had heard since coming
up there, was, that he had been teegr0Phs6 by The
Know-NoIhing Convention, and had Ieegraphed.
then in return. Upon his VeTacily, which never,
had been, and so help him God, never should be
questioned with impunity-he pronounced the
statement false. He had never left his home on
the day of The convention, nor heard a breath Of
It's Intentions or proceedings until it ha6 adjourn
ed. He called on Mr.. Faulkner TO bear him Wit
ness, that he had announced publicly IN Charles
town in his speech At that place. that II the Know
Nothings and Wings nominated candidate, he
| lMr. LIZ would canvass the district, not as MI.
Faulkner competitor, but in his Iavor The
tensible nominee of the Democratic party.
He was, as he always had been, an old-hne demo-
Graf, and there not man in the District who
could vote for him under any mtsappIe hsnSton a.
| TO his principles or position. There was Dot-a-
man who could believe that he would change any,
ofthe sentiments opinions or al ate anything OF
| his Democracy.
The issue had been made up whether the aese-
| liners were TO monopOiiZe ali The honoTs and all
| the offices. Whether when have fought the
baule they should reap the fLui,s of victory. He
had been commissioned by The Old-lineTs TO break
this line succession enIailed 10 the
utter exclusion OF all the oldliners and their chill
dren's CHI idren to the end Of the chapter, and he
meant to do IT, He meant to hoist The Old-line
banner, and sound the old line bugle, and
| whether there was only bakers dozen" left to
! guard the camp and bury the dead He was not
prepared OF his own knowledge TO impeach n G
nomination Of Mr.. F. These old-ineTs did not
believe il fair. He knew liule of his own knowI--
| edge. He only knew that there was no printed
In IN q RlE in fhaG RR
gressional Convention At SbepheTdsIOwn, and none
at Aarper's Ferry, the whole Mountain vote being
unTepresented Ihereat. And since ming up he
had been informed that Martinsburg was EiId
enough to appoint delegates for all the other e.
cincts in the county He knew what estimate 10
put on caucus nominations as latteIly conducted.
He knew how the nod and the wink went round,
and how few aspiring leaders got up the meetings
without notice, and nominated heir candidates re-
gardess OF The wishes of ma joriIy OF the people
And then the honest masses we're 10 be whipped in
with the cry OF NOMINEE, and those der onnced ~
secedeTs who daEe rebel against corruption and
usurpatiOns il was part of the mission entrusted
to him, to purify the corrupt caucus system In The
district and restore The power into the hands OF
the people.
"A There her vas no opposition candidate in the field,
a ,h.;r t0e nSd Ugh to choose between
and defeated him when he was The nominee IN 1915.
were now the very men who were most vociIeTOus
in the cry OF "nomince!" MIR, BedingeT had de-
feated him an independent candidate, and Mr..
Faulkner had in turn, as an independent candI-
date, defeated Mr.. BediDeer He (Mr. Lucas).
was not even treading in the footsteps Of his iHu,-
tTi0uS predecessors, Tor he had neither announced
nor dominated himself.
M. l.. regarded Inc disposition Of the public
lands as great and momentous issue. We hsd
public donna in of more Than a billion of acres,
whose value present and prospective aIlIhe aTIh--
metics in America would not ems bic him COM
pute. Virginia of the Joint owners Of this
domain, and yet we were 10 be told that her share
II ten hundred millions of acres vas mOiAimg =
TIE land originally gTanpd by Virginia and the
o her states Of the confedeTacy, granted under
peculiar circumstances. The long war Of inde-
ma hRRn EOnOh nRHS Infsk
ticIes of confederation, that the states bOtoiBg un-
occupied lands should grant them to defIay the
penseS OF the war, or pay off the revolutionary
debt Virginia granted hers under restrictions
which she had right TO impose, and tie other
ce6ng states followed her example. In the Ian
guage OF the deed of cession they were 10 be ke d
as a common fund for the and benefit Of such
OF the United States have become or shall be.
come members OF the confederation. or federal al
lance of the said states, PTgiHiG iHeiHstre accord
ing 10 the II usual TcSpeeffUe proportions in The gen
eTal charge and exp. Dditure, and TO be faithfully
and bona tide disposed of for that purpose, and fer
no other use or purpose Whatsoever"
The object OF these grants had been carried ont
and the debt Of the revolution paid, and most of
these lands sold and their proceeds exhausted. We
have gone on acquiring more territory until
enough has been added 10 make many times The
original l3 States This ACQUIRED territory was IN n
tution al all, for one could look into fuIurIIy
or anticipate the acquisition Of Florida, Texas
California, aud Louisiana. Where does the tue
to this newly acquired land rest? He had alvaya
believed it vested in the States and that the gener
al government had acquired fl as their agent and
held il only their uustee. This opinion had
been confirmed ty The recent decision Of the Sr---
preme Court in the Dred Scott case. He eould
ed 10 The Federal government II this gOVeIomenI
could hold land in is own right, ard actually held,