Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1868-09-29
THE BOARD OF REGISTRATION.

pleasure in writing Of the doings of that body
which is termed the Board Of Registration
of this county, he is very much mistaken, but
duty which we owe to the people, who have
been most shamefully treated by this Board,
compels us to pursue its members in honest
exposition of their conduct. 90 BY their
fruits yc shall know them," is standard by
which meu are allowed to judge their fellows,
aud however uncharitable that judgmen. may
seem, no one can claim that it is not right
eous one. Now if ,we E.easure the present
Board of Registration by what it has already
doue, and estimate the fruits that are likely
tc develop from their course of intolerance,
how will its members stand before an enlght-
ened public? How ought they to stand?-
They are all of that peculiar stripe of poll
ticians with whom the shrek Of " loyalty" is
the shibboleth, and if they are honest men,
which We believe they profess to be, they
ought to take an especial pride in carrying
out, in their letter and spirit, the laws which
their " loyal" Legislatures have prescribed
for the registration Of voters. Have they
done this in this county? We hardly think
| that any member of the Board, with the lights
before the people, will have the efTrontery to
claim that they have; and if he should do so,
as Mr.. Geo. Kooncc essaycd to do last week,
in our columns, he ought to write opposite his
name-fool, as well as knave. If we should
seem to be harsh, let it be remembered that
we shelter ourself behind facts which no men,
Der of that Board dare controyert; facts which
| arc patent and familiar to every man in our
community.
| What then is the reckoning? 1t is this
| the Board Of Registration of Jefferson county,
unmndful of its sworn duties, and acting in
the interest of the Radical party, neglected
to provide registrar for this township, and
this too in disregard of appeals made to it by
those whom its members are bound to recog-
nize as loyal men. What excuse has the
| Board to offer for such treatment to an entire
| community? That they were not officially
notified of the declination of their appointec.
Is this fact? The declining appointee al
leges that he did notify the Board and there
fore the issue is between them, with the cir
cumstantial evidence strongly favoring the
veracity of George Anderson. Bully for
| George, Cor once. But if the Board had no
official notice, did not a majority of lis men,
| bers know, from other sources which they
could not question, that Anderson would not
serve as Registrar? They dare not deny it.
In this neglect then, we charge deliberate,
intentional, and premeditated violation of the
Registration law, which makes it the duty Of
the county Board to provide Registrar for
each township.
And yet Mr. koonco says, in his admirable
and effective letter to us, that {" the action of
the Board looked in all things under the law,
to the fair and unbiased polling of the loyal
vote of the county" Does anybody question
| Mr.. Koonce's word whcD he makes this state
mcnt? We suppose that not more than nine
out of every ton would have the audacity to
| do so. Because, Mr.. Kooncc is loyal man,
and loyal man ought to be truthful man-
1. C. man with :: private reputation which
ought not to be ''attackcd and assaulted with
impunity." Marve!iously proper indeed was
the action of this Board, in its own intcrprc>
tation of loyalty. Its members must have
thought that few indeed were the loyal souls
who breathe a miserable existence in this
rcbel-riddcn and loyalty -forsaken township.
The ghosts of the peerless Ashby and the
sainted jackson must have haunted their
night visions, and affrightcd their '' loyal"
hearts, till they were ready to believe that
nothing good could come out of, or remain in, ;,
this miserable political Nazareth. So much
for the failure of the Board to give US a Re-
gistrar.
On Monday wcck-it being the third Mon
day of the mouth-thc Board met at Shop
hcrdstown, and what did it do? 1t regis
tered just four men, or at least it took the
names of that number, but whether they were
registered, is a question to be determined
when these parties present themselves at the
ballot, box. As for the hundreds of others
who had gathered there, to claim the privi-
leges of frcemen and provide themselves with
passports to citizenship, they were informed
that they had come on the wrong day, and
that they should call again on the first Mon
day in October, when their cases m1ight be
considered. And in this way, the Board of
egistration-composcd of immaculate, loyal
saints-is % looking, in all things under the
law, to the fair, unbiased polling of the loyal
vote of the county" Now the time for such
trihing is past, and too much is at stake in
the elections which occur in this State within
few weeks, to permit any such double, deal
ing, such cutting and shutting, and stocking
the cards, to pass unrebuked.
If this Board of Registration wishes to
make a name for itself, which will either ele-