Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1868-08-18
Work TO be Done.

1t has Oeen capable OF QetnOnStrallOH 1IOul
the commencement of our reconstruction
troubles" that we have been harrassed and
injured, political and socially, more by the
nefarious influences of the secret societies in
stituted among the negroes by Radical emissa-
ries than by all other means put together
Under one name or another, but generally I'M
der the name of the Union League" the ne
groes have been segregated into organized bod
les, whose object was avoWedly to control their
votes, but whose practices and teachings have
produced numberless crimes and corruptlons
among this ignorant people. Now, when there
is gangrene upon the physical body, wise
physician will advise its excelsior. These secret
leagues are gangrene upon the body of the
community, and they ought to be exterminated
Perhaps not one white man in a thousand vii
dissent from this opinion because all have sui
fered by their existence IN various ways-maln
" domestic The remedy is found 10 the same
relation in which the greatest evil has beer
done-domestic. The lull in the political con
test in Virginia reduces all our questions fol
the time to the domestic area, and it IS upor
that field that we may now fight with the Ger
tainty of success Nothing is simpler than tol
the people of Virginia distinctly to announce
to their laborers and domestics that they mus
either quit the ''league" or they shall receive
employment 10 longer than their present con
tracts last. Arguments are not needed to con
vince that this is the mos5 effective way tt
break up these infamous workshops Of Radica
malignity The safety Of the State demand
that the means be applied. &EX.
We read appeals to the young men of Vir
ginia, as to their duties, in the present eopdl
ton of the affairs of the Commonwealth. The
best of all advice is, what We have reiterated
for years-go to aco5A;; every one to go to wori
tc earn, by labor, a support,
Professions, and situations, and occupations
resorted to, in the expectation that they vii
produce an ''easy living are not now wlla
are desirable, or what will realize that expecta
ton They ere. for the most part, filed t
overfowing- additions, except in extreme
cases, rarely meet with success. But hands arr
wanted for the plow, the loom, and the anvil
for mechanical tradas~-for labor in the fielC
and in the workshop.
The middle and even the aged, generally, ii
our State, have set q commemorate example Il
our young men. They have not become dis
heartened or dispirited, nor have they sunk un
der the cares and responsibilities Of Dependent
and helpless families When the crash came
they rose FROM the ruins as quietly as they
could, and went to work That was their ex
ample.
Nor have they relinquished their eZertion;
because their patience has been tried since the
war, and because the return of prosperity has
been delayed-or even because the success they
had Iscped for has not followed their honorable
efforts They bide their time yet; full OF faltt
and hope So let the young men act. LIE
them remember that work, always i2o2crable
and always to be respected, is now doubly tt
be respected and honored 20 be good me
chanic or a good manufacturer, or 8 gooc
farmer, now-is to have in ones hands the as
surance Of a support, at least, with every pros
pect of future prosperity, if not wealth. These
arc the men who are to build up their own for
tunes, and It's fortunes Of the State.-~1tez
Gazette