The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1869-10-27

IEr. Ferrelle fitness Ior Tue Poeition'
When we inquired of the Attorne,
lcaneraI what was the proper mode o
procsedipg. he told us to get up petition
from persons residing on or near the INT
OF tbe road, and interested ia its pres
eryatiop, asking for his removal.
We did SO; and there is now upoi
vosr fles the petition of 322, cut OF th'
l10O voters of Triadelphia township, ask
ling for his removal, and not single re
mOnstrance against 1t.
And these petitioners are not mel
whose names were procured In grog
shops for dram, but the most intelli
GENT. influential and respectable CITIZEN!
of the community in which they live.
Amongst them is the Registrar OF tne
township and q member of the County
Board of Registration.
When this petition was presented We
were told by member of the Board thai
petitions were easily procured for al
most any purpose, and were very uDsat
isfactory evidence of public opinion, aao
that if Mr.. Ferrall had been guilty o.
any negligence or misconduct in office
that charges should be presented against
him, and ifthey were sustained by PROOF
that he would be removed.
Upon this these charges were pre-
ferred. They have been made much
more specific and minute than we
thought the occasion called for.
They have been made so at the urgent
and pressing solicitation of Mr.. Terrell,
and his wishes have been gratified by
the Board to an extent that has excluded
Evidence of the. Imost fragrant miscon-
duct on his part.
The evidence of two witnesses who
were present and ready to testify, that
Mr.. Terrell persuaded them not to bid
against Mr.. Harvey, under whom ne is
a sub. contractor, has been excluded be-
cause the fact that he had been tamper-
ing with them was not known In time
to put their names in the charges and
specifications before the trial COM
menced.
Still there is enough, and thousand
times more than enough, to make 1T the
| imperative duty of the Beard to remove
Mr.. Terrell from his place.
1t will be worse than idle for us to
conceal from ourselves what is known
to everybody else and that Is that MIR.
Terrell relies for acquittal very largely
upon his political associations, and the
political influences which he expects to
be able to bring to bear upon the Board.
Whether right or wrong, the people
who are interested in the preservation
of the road, are deeply impressed with
the conviction that but Tor the efforts OF
two gentlemen of great influence and
high social position, Mr.. Farrell would
long since have been removed.
And certainly it is not strange that
this opinion should be extensively en-
tertained. These two gentlemen were
as deeply interested in maintaining tie
road as any other citizens of the county.
Their intelligence and social position
gave them ready access to public func-
tionaries. Their opinions were entitled
to the most respectful consideration.
Their interest in the preservation of
the road precluded the idea that they
would be influenced by any improper
motive in desiring to retain Mr.. Ferrell.
1t is not strange, therefore, that their
opinions might be supposed to exert a
controlling influence in retaining Mr..
Ferrel in his position. ..'
do not question their sincerity, and
| have great respect for their opinions
But when they differ from almost the
entire community in which they live,
| must Judge for myself whether they
may not be mistaken in their judg-
ment.
They are men of ardent and impulsive
temper, strong in their attachments,
and somewhat bitter and unrelentiDg
in their resentments. Reluctant to
abandon a friend uLoso Oauoo Ghoy haro
once espoused, they stand by him and
sustain him, when perhaps he may no
longer be worthy of their support.
Hence / am inclined to question the
correctness of their Judgment in this
matter.
And permit me to say here, that the
Cumberland road furnishes a strong
illustration of the folly and wickedness
of the maxim that, "to the victors be-
long the spoils."
In 1919, just fifty years ago, this read
was finished from the Pennsylvania line
to the Ohio river.
1t was then regarded as a magnificent
enterprise 1t was constructed in the
most durable form, from what was re-
Every bridge and culvert, large and
small, was made of finely dressed stone,
which it was supposed would stand for
centuries. And so it would if proper
care had been taken to preserve it.
On the 4th of March, 1929, General
Jackson was inaugurated as President
of the United States. Immediately a
general sweep was made of all the office
holders of the country who had opposed
his election. From that time to the
present all the offices of the country
great and small-have been regarded as
the legitimate rewards of the vjctors IN
every political contest.
In lSi9, just twenty years after the
Inauguration of this spoils doctrine, not
less than dozen of these stone struc-
lures had been swept away on sixteen
miles of road. The people were going
round them and fordlng the streams INT /
their places were supplied by perishable
wooden structures, that are now rotten,
and must be replaced again.
cannot doubt that if men had been
selected for superintendent from the
beginning, with single eye to their
UualluC2JlOuS lOI lue paw SouIPSp'
engineers, energetic and careful men,
who would have watched for the first
appearance of injury to these structures
and promptly repaired it, they would
have been just as good to-day as they
were the day they were finished.
If we cannot remedy the folIies OF the
past, let us, at all events, save what is
left.
do not expect this Board to attempt
to reform W hat seems to be fastened on
us as the settled policy of all the polit-
ical parties of the country.
But in choosing from amongst your
political friends, try, at all events, to
chose those who have some qualitica-
tions for the places they are to fill.
Political parties are more frequently
broken down and destroyed by the in
competency an dishonesty of the men
to whom they eutrnst power and place,
than by errors of principle or doc.
trine.
The first duty which political party
owes to itself and to the honest masses
of the people who placed it in power, is
to rid the public offices of the country
of dishonest and incompetent officers.
In this cannot, and do not for mo-
want douht Won will heartily concur