Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1858-08-27

This, our readers will recollect, haslbeen
the system upon which not only QUO
Democratic Conventions hsvs hithert4l
been conducted, but upon which the
Conventions OF alEaRdrtiss, aud. JUDGED ?
oil Conventions, for alt purposes. have
been conducted in Virginia for time i'm
Bmeaelfialszsz;Ghisz being anEelek land -Ieeog.
q pzsd plinciplc OUG party. diciplne. we
think We have CHE arighs to insist upon
sEg0oSk reasuHs forsitss donments .Mhiehsz
aSsfat<es We have seer, slllasFnot been Civ
en- Nor do y G think It lies in the scope
Sof human ingenuity show why any
F9 prilGiplesSho ala DE abolished which. has
E been tried1sp aongsan worked solwell. @
80 PolabO lish proxy otings fatEthis ss time
Would be aiyiftaat disfrapehisemeuSof at
least ouesthitG part of Western Virginia;
ADDE'S &leShany Virginia would beisl;
* 'uoStsswAolty estrapged from, the.pale oil
= the Virginia Democracy Staunlon is re-,
corded as Abe most central point in, the,
State, and1ou Stale Gonyenllons are, eon-
EEsr4uently 4hel17at that place. Now, what
p area3the, facilities for, reaching that point
from the differ enL charters the, Com
q msnwealth? The, whole,of EastSYirgihia
Is reached "a sort Of net work ,of,rail,
i roads.Icanats. &c. which render any cen
tral point,in .tae, State of easy access
-.l So much SO hat 6ae day 's.trayel will take
them from an y7point7inf the, East or in, the
Valley. 70 the point Of destination. How
is it with US ON shis side the Allegheny
mountains? We are wholly destitute of
rail roads and canals, and have no other
way ofreaching the point where the Com
venlions are likely TO be held, than by
-, ,1nl
agree to be ioltrd, to death ovr CROUCH
mountains roads. -ins little two.wheel go
CATS. sometim4s called stages. incurring
an expense OF from twenty five to one
hundred dollars, to say nothing of the
time consumed in going and returning.
The Examiner thinks that when a sec.
tion has candidate which they want 10
put forward. they pay very little regard
TO the expense they have to bear IN Sc
curing the nomination of their favorite,-
There is no doubt that under such cir.
cumstances, the expense would be much
more willingly and readily borne by ma
ny of our people. but still this fact does
not prove the position assumed by the
Examiner. Because we have som4 men
who are ableio bear the cost, is no rea-
SON why the rest sholld be dis!ranchis.
ed.
But who are the proxies Usually cho-
sen to represent distant counties in the
general Conventions Of the State? Surely
the Examiner, nor any one else will pre-
tend 70 say. that any but true and unsus
pected Democrats have ever been chosen.
Then. It a county. none OF whose citizens
can afford to attend, why should they not
have the right to say that the Editor Of
the Examiner, or the South. should rep,
resent them. and act in their name and
stead. Indeed, these very same Rich
mond Editors are usually the pa'ties to
whom the Western Democracy delegate
their rights. They do this because they
believe them to be true and answering
Democrats-meu worthy to be trusted.
But when this idea was first put for
ward. it was to abolish voting by proxy;
unless the proxy was instructed in the
vote he might offer to give. We suppose
the manifest impracticability Of this idea
has driven our Richmond contemporaries
into the departure in which we now find |
them. and caused them to take the bull
by the horns. and go against all proxy
voting whatever, with or with cut instruc
tions. 1t would be next to impossible in
the "noise and confusion" of County
meeting. on n court day, to instruct the
alternate on one half the questions that
would be presented for his consideration.
And then there would be the anomalous
farce Of having a representation for one
purpose and vote for another; and this,
Notwithstanding the meeting from which |
he derived his authority had invested him |
with plenary power TO act for them in all
matters whatever.
But who has been Injured by this sys-
tenn Of voting? And when, and where. |
has the Democratic Party been damaged |
b. it? MIR. Leake was beaten by Gov.
Wise in the Stanton Convention in 1854 |
aud it was said by his friends that proxy I
voting did it. Admit that this is so, vet
who has suffered by 1t? Surely not the
Commonwealth Of Virginia. nor the Dem
ocratic Party. and all the suffering there
was about it., belonged to Mr.. Leakc and
some Of his very warm friends. We
humbly think that itais Infinitely better
Tor Mr.. Leake and few devoted friends
to 'sutfer in the flesh little than for a
large and respectable portion of the party
10 be excluded from its deliberations al
together.
We repeat, that We shall insist upon
or old and tr ed principles and usages,
until sufficient reasons shall be given to
Justify their abandonment.ABur60 JET.
JerSOnian. 5a--f. J
The PREs1TENr AT THE RELAY HOUSE. |
-EamiIiar as onr people are generally
with the unestentatious habits OF the chief |