The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-03-20
VEST VIRGINIA DEMOCRACY"


Democratic rsa.Iza,iOa s' This State
'hst it is any exception to the Vl4 i'l,.
TN ths oop:rary, search the country
ever. and YOU will not anywhere find 'o
strange and indispensable an element AZ
the ''Dsmo,rsry" OF our "child Of the
rsorm.' There are rene lew tEcuss'
FOR Ihis, bnt no rrGsous
e" wherever yon may within the
limit. nf this State. (.nd II wat 40 when
democracy was below par and You vii!
find little clique here. another there.
and till another over yondcr-sIl com
posed otmca pure and i,umaculats as'he
"rb Of day. o. and Ill considering that
upon them dsyoir"s the irst duty nj
'u,king war upon all other cIlques;
second, Of seeming whsterer of honor
or emoumcmt they can for their own
iarorite,; and lastly. Of fighting the
common Radicalism. Every
member ef each Of these cliques is i'm
pressed with tn, idea that upon his
shoulders rests tho salvation or ruin Of
tho country; and that unless all other
eliques how in submission TO his, the
party must 90 to the dogs.
Hence. We noticed last summer. when
,he members Ct the Con ven.ion had
scarce tine 10 return to their homes,
nne or two Democratic papers attack
ing the platform. imruguing the mo-
lives Of its trainers. aud furnishing am
munition for the guns Of the enemy.
Further along. we SAW democrats
rntlicly "boIting" the local tickets.
And to-day. in spite of the earnest ef-
forts to secure harmony Of the true De-
mocracy, We End mrn OF influence, and
,uere than one urrspspcr, attacking
one of;he mos, jus,i6able and necessary
nc,s OF our late l.cgisla;ure-ths call Of
State Convection. The men referred
10 are leaders in these cliques, and the
papers are the organs thereof.
It's useless ie talk to these people
,bout the opinions of others or tue de-
sires of a majority of the peOple-'hey
have placed themselves on tue record i,
md they are going TO be endorsed.
No matter at what cost Of principle
this endorsement may ne achieved
endorsed they must and will be-or
bust
How we managed to be successful at
oil in the election last year was always
matter Of surprise to us. We knew
ue had the numerical strength-but TO
induce them to believe that Jacob was
the man for Governor Gas against John
Smith Of their clique) was another
matter. And any Democrat-especial!y
if he be a citizen Of this couu.y-if he
study the attitude Of these rings"
prior to the election, will find an equal
source Of establishment that We did not
show Radical gain Of scores instead Of
tens.
But this thing is drawing to crisis.
We may as well recognize the fact, uu-
pleasant though it may be. that we arc
in a fair way to !s,e all that we have
gained. Our footing is not 70 secure
tina. we cannot 90 tumbled from our
present exalted position, and perish in
the pitfall Of our own making. A
shrsvd old Radical friend remarked to
rs the other day-"Go on; We sball
beat you-or, rather, you will beat
yourselves. and save US that trouble P"
And such is the fact. We lay down
the old proposition, that "r house d.
rided against itself cannot staud;" and
shall be agreesbly disappointed if the
Democratic tabernacle does not crum-
bic to,he earth at the coming elections
aud not make much Of a crash, either.
The blame for this cannot be saddled
ppoutbe masses Of the people who vote
Sith us. They intend to do right
but are led to worship false gods by the
Sir 0rucles of their locality. These
leaders (so-called) can properly be
charged with all the disasters that may
befall US: and until our people arise 10
the dignity Of reading, thinking and
acting for themselves, political tomb
will at all times stare US in the face.
As We have yet manifested no sign Of
good management, we must trust TO
luck"-for that alone can save US.
We propose TO do our duty as jour
r.list; and shall not shrink froLi the
unpleasant duty Of administering
wholesome castigation to oar own party
as we'll as to the opposition:
"He do not BELONG 10 our reats1
Our paper is wholly our own.
Those Who ike il may take II,
And thcte who don't may Jet it alone"
Acting upon this principle, We shnll
make no attempt to cover up the black
sheep Of our OSn fock--cn the contra
~, we shall hold them up TO public
criticism. We belong TO oursclf-and
are the organ Of 40 ring or clique.