Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1870-03-22
lFor the Spirit of Jefsrasn. i
POLITICAL CORRUPTION.

denied the right of citizenship, asks its publ
cation, in the hope that it may do some good, /,
at the praff At juncture. HIS great grand-
father settled in this Valley when wilderness
| Part of the lauds he took up aud patented, are
! still in the name. His descendants naturally
desire to hold them, and not to sell. We
! know if we dispose of them, the purchasers
will take our places. and the question arises,
achere are ace to go? Under our former Gov
ernment people generally were free and happy.
1t is quite otherwise with the great mass in
Jefferson county no,o. For my own part,
! though owning some 100 acres of land, chiefly
in the heart of the county, have no part nor
lot in the Government. L am not allowed to
vote, or hold office, and until week or more
since, could not practice my profession. OF
even become public teacher of youth, with
out taking an odious test oath. or even sue and
recover my just dues from those styling them
selves "loyal," nor serve on juries. In
word, though nGtire. not citizen, in my
own country. And This as tie sad condition
Of nearly nine te"ths of the motive lan5 holders
ofthe county. Aud who, it may be asked are
/ those selfstyied loyal few who vote, hold Office,
and rule? How do they rule2 We are
! Taxed excessively and do not know what be-
comes of the money who is benefited, and
: are DTcCeHteU. ny IIOiu Auu-
ing out. All we know or cat know is, that
we pay these heavy taxes, bear the burthen,
| and ace derive no benefit. My individual case
is a fair illustration in proof Of this. have
no children to educate, yet l pay this year
near $500 school tax, almost much as [
used to pay to the State before this tyranny
began on all my land and other property before
Virginia was diUide3 aud [ have been pay
ing nearly this amount of school tax annually
for the last five years. ever since the war ended,
and vet half the children of the tenants of my
land can neither read nor write, and many of
those set up and dllo,ced to teach, scarcely
capable of teaching anything properly.
Andhow are elections made and conducted,
limited as the right to vote and hold Office is
to the loyal fec owning small a portion
of the property of the county, and especially
of the land, aud possessing small share
of the moral worth and intelligence How
do they divide the honors and spols among
themselves The "loaves and fishes ?"
[ desire to call especial attention to this
subject, although one of the suffering dis
! franchised mass so sweepingly prescribed. and
not an actor in the miserable farce played in
Jefferson by these 'loyal' te'r. who have it
all among themselves at our expense. will
| avail myself of the recent cTpOSe Of E. Ii.
Chambers, Esq Republican Delegate in
tie last Legislature and n0n1in0fed candi>
date for election,-an Intelligent, and I
Lelieye an honest man. and this the very rea-
son why he was not re elected.
In recent letter, deliberately and spe-
cialy dedicated to the present Legislature of
West Virginia, and published over his sigma.
ture in all the newspapers of the county, he
discloSes shameful and shocking facts, not
merely involving the registrars, commissions
ers, and other officials connected with the
last election. in Jefferson. and leaders of the
loyal few hcreahouts, in fraud, perjury, and
other rascali'y, but duplicating our Governor
and our Judge, and local .rnte'S AHorRcy.-
Let no one be startled. This is not too much
to say of his disclosures. Yet none Of the
accused have deigned to deny or attempted
any defence or excuse, and, as it would seem,
for the plain reason that it would be vain, as
he proves as he goes by the record and their
own oaths. Nor does it appear that the Leg
isature has taken any notice of this grave and
| damaging communication so deliberately ad-
dressed to it, and Tor purpose avowed. MIR.
Chambers cauly tells the Legislature he will
"Ob,rude no argument upon the facts" COM
municated, as we'll he might; for there was
neither room nor occasion for argument
When facts speak for themselves and prove
themselves, "he that runs may read, and it
was but fair to presume that even a West
Virginia Legislature would do It's duty in so
plain case.
He refers the Legislature first to an "0GuSc
of the GflIOintimg P0'cer, and cites the proofs.
1t appears his ExceIleucy. although acting
under oath, instead of appointing certain Reg
istrars by name, filed up in the commission
l. o,lo
under the constitution and laws Of the State,
has the power to do. sent out to Jefferson
/ 6Ltnk con,mi ions, or forms previously signed
by HIM. to be flied up here instead OF IN
Wheeling with uny name by secret tool OF
the Governor, that tool mi ght select at hIS
discretion to DO the dirty work desired-and
the more desperate and reckless the man OF
course, the more SuituJie for any work Of ras.
cality intended BY the Governors tool and his
colleagues AND this tool filled in the name
OF one II Rhoderick and this man. thus pre-
tcudedly appointed, acted at the election as
registrar, and was chiefly instrumental in
/ carving the infamous aud fraudulent election
! OF those returned, and now holding seats in
the present Legislature, proposing amend
nlents to the constitution, and passing laws, &c
Now, where was the Governors oath ?
| Whether there was any secret understanding
with these tools and leaders in Jefferson or
not, implying corruption, is not the Governor
solemuly sworn to faithfully execute the du-
ties OF his office, and was not the appointment
Jy him of Registrars one of those duties, and
very important one Now if the fact is as
Mr.. c. states-and he verjfes BY the record
is it not an i'm peachaJte offence? How does
Mr. Chambers proce this? BY the record
in the Governors own office. This pretend
ed commission to Rhoderick, it there appeared,
was not flied and recorded till after the cleo
ton at which he pretended to act officially,
but was subsequently recorded there, and as
Chambers says. 1.-THE date was put back" to
cover contingencies,-tha is, a false record
was made up for the State.
This was DONE of course, to shield the
! Gnrernnr himself and also to Lcnnlizc the