Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-08-15
The Senatorial Convention,
10 ns Editor Of the Beinom Chronicle.

!
! The Senatorial Convention,
! To ne Editor Qf the belmont Chronicle.
I SIR--"To lie right Is better than to be
! President" and while there is no Union-
ism i'm Belmont County that can be bolt
cd into rebellion, now Is perhaps as good
time as any to remind our associates i'm
the good cause everywhere that "the
best way to do thing is as good as any,"
That any thing gained by unfaithfulness
either as to the facts of history, or as to
each other, 'is dear at any price"
For the benefit of future meetings, for
the purpose of nominating Senator in
this District, that even upon the unreas-
enable or arithmetical rule heretofore in
vogue, that portion of the Union men of
the District living in Harrison County
had no claim to the candidate Mt our re-
cent meeting. AS an original PROPOSE
tion, there is no just ground for their
claim to alternate with the majority In
the district. Such a proposition, call
things else being equal, has no founda
| ton i'm Republicanism or reason. But
what is the situation under the arith-
| metic of the minority?
| First. After the district was establish
| ed, there were two elections under the
! old organization of Whig and Democratic
parties, and the minority had one and the
| majority the other candidate-the minor
| Hy claiming modestly the right to begin.
Their man was beaten, by n failure on
! their own part "tO come to time" the
generous majority having stood by him
sufficiently well to have elected him with
out aid. That portion of the district lying
| North of the Belmont line having Pep
! pdrd him badly. The second candidate
| 1S53) was elected notwithstanding the
minority undertook to carry through n
third candidate-they having in this
| guerilla arrangement modestly secured
again the right to Jcgin. The faithful
mujOrity having sent Mr.. Allen to the
minority 600 votes in advance of his guer-
lila pursuers, and to which they respond
ed with an additional help of 142 votes.
The Republican organization proper
made its first nominations iE 1866, and the
minority, true to their modest instincts.
graciously accepted the situation, with
the usual condition of having tie right to
begin. And thus we plodded on under
this arithmetical rule, without reference
to either public or private justice--our
arrangement, as is conceded on all hands,
being without merit.
TO endorse by u denomination good
and faithful public servant, at least once,
seems to be the sense of us all. But our
ever modest brethren of the minority
seem to think that it could only be right
to do so sensible thing upon the Origi-
nal and fundamental condition that mt
this change they shall be allowed also
the right 10 begin.
Many other considerations of public
interest, and hence of common interest,
after sixteen years of absurd folly, all go
for nothing, unless the majority shall ut
least submit to- II rule that never gives
them even ono day of chance to consider
whether they owe the minority anything
as II mere matter of arithmetic-theY
must always have the righttO begi,l: two
years of advantage in possession never
thcless.
The 81 Townships lying in Belmont
and Harrison Counties are, by constitu-
tionnl provision, the XXth Senatorial
District of this State; the people where
of, and all of them, are entitled to one
Senator. The ndjorHy designates the
man ut the ballot-boX, and minOritics
either submit or are cOcrced to do so. A
rule of government which, it seems, is
not compatible with the rights and in
tcrests of the friends of n common cause,
unless, according to the Davisian philos-
ophy, the rule, and the right to yutc, is
guaranteed In some way to an "mtcW-
gent minority"
As II mere matter of arithmetic, the
majority sent to the minority their cam
didate (Mr. Kerr with 4S votes in his
favor;
Allen lin 1859 with 600;
Warfel lin 1861 with $50;
Jamison (in 1863 with GA;
West lin 1869 with 140;
and in the case of
HollowayQn 1859 with only 10Sagalnst
him;
, Mccall lin 1851 with 10 agninst him;
And Welsh (in '6l) with S6against him.
| Showing that, during the sixteen years,
nf
against the common enemy, four were
presented by the minority-and that five
of the eight received an electing vote
from the Townships of the majority, and
that one only failed of an election, and
he by the default of the Townships of
the minority. 1t would seem, therefore,
that even in freak of this kind, they
exercised the right to begin.
The majority having to contend with
a compact and well organized resistance,
about equal to their own number have,
nevertheless, always placed them within
easy reach of the minority. TO aid them
In this, in violation of an absurd rule,
the minority graciously refuse; and by II
rule of simple stubbornncss, that can
beat "tlme and tide" or "any other
man." gain their pOint-and this In the
very face of II magnanimous concession
of power, founded neither upon reason,
common decency, or the plaincst rules of
republican justice, and Nottingham not
withstanding.
With this view of the facts, and un-
prejudiced by u reckless utterance of
claimed history, the case Ia submitted to
, Nottingham and the balance of the mi
nOrity for calm consideration. And, as
self-prescrvatlon Is said to be the first
law of nature, 1t may be pertinently ask
ed of the minority how long they think
hitherto nagnanimous mojOrHy will
fail to avail themselves of this law.
May 1t not be well for the minority to
consider, If they can, that there is point
in all unreasonable demands at which
forbearance ceases to be virtue" and
that majority will exercise its power In
u legitimate way, unmovcd by all appeals
. | Enr n hiIhnrtn unIlnh nhlsnd ON Inn itN