Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1872-08-03
For me Register.
THE COUNTY CONVENTION.

ton will not, hope, be inappropriate.
There are but two modes IN vogue OF
selecting candidates Tor office III this
country, one by conventions as was
adopted in this County, on the 22nd OF
July,and the other by primary elections,
which is the custom i'll many OF the
States. The plan selected was adopted
and advised by the Conservative Tx
ecutive Committee, body OF gentlemen
in whom was reposed by the people
their confidence and the power to de-
cree in what manner candidates for OF
tee should be brought before the people
for their Suttrages. As have said the
Convention plan,- the tlme-bonored
system OF Virginia, was selected after an
elaborate discussion Of both plans by
the Executive Committee aud aaqui-
esced in with unparalleled unanlmlty,
by the people, as was evlnced by the
crowds that attended the primary meet
ings, on SATURDAY, the 2Uth July. Well.
the County Convention, OF winch the
primary Conventions were the lnclpl-
ency, assembled OH Monday, July end,
and orgarized with alacrity and in ap-
parent good humor,-the Chairman and
Secretaries being selected without OPP
positions, on motion OF the Charlestown
delegation. The balloting commenced
at 2 p. NJ, and was proceeded with un-
ri candidates were selected for four Of
the most important County offices, when
the Charlestown delegation arose and
sal d, through their Chairman, that they
would participate i'll no further proceed
ings of the Convention and would with
draw. They did not Withdraw however
from the Hall, but joined in the hue
cry that for awhile drowned the voice
OF reason and rendered all other pro-
ceedings of the Convention for the day,
nugatory. Then what was to DO done :
1t was very plain that . majority OF the
Convention had not seeded, because
the reason assigned 10y the few for with
drawing, was that they were overruied
by the majority then again | say, what
was to be done Why, obviously, to
meet in some secure place where there
would not be a repetition OF the threats
and violence OF the preceding Monday.
The Convention met at Dutlields the
succeeding Thursday upon the call OF
the Chairman and completed the noml-
nations for the County offices. What
though but eleven delegates were able
to be present, does any one doubt that
the It or II gentlemen who were pre-
sent and acted together at the previous
meeting, would have stood together at
this one, had not business engagements
or some sufficient reason retaIed them
at home. 1t will not do to urge that
all the precincts We're not represented,
because all were represented except
Charlestown and Summit Point, (the
seeding points, and it is uniformly the
custom for the delegates present to cast
the vote of AL absent delegate from
their precinct.
We all know that in the case Of
Charlestuwn, one OF her nine delegates
did not make his appearance until after
dinner, and does any one suppose that
Charlestown would have been deprit ed
of her fifty votes because Of the absence
of that delegate Most assuredly not,
for his absence and the proprlety Of d.
vidilg his 80 votes among the other
eight delegates was discussed before the
meeting OF the Convention on Monday.
We have then full set CT candidates
presented 10 the Cour1y for the various
offices, in the only tair and legitimate
way that it could DC done under the
Convention system, and no division OF
the County offices has ever been So equi-
tably made, every portion OF the County
is represented in the candidacy for office.
There is no monopoly by one section
of the County to the exclusion Of ano-
Their. The offices of emoUment and
the offices of honor, simply have been
widely disseminated, giving every sec
ton OF the County its legitimate repre-
sentation, an act Of courtesy and justice
which the writer has never seen SO fair
" extended before And this too in &C
cordance with the previous declarations
of many of the delegates, especially
those OF Harpers Ferry and Bolivar,
who declared to the writer upon their
first arrival in Charlestown, that they
came there welded to 10 particular
man, but with a determination to see
that the offices were equally distributed
throughout the County
In strange contrast was this Conven-
ton ot' calm considerate and reflective
men, presided over by a man whose
very name has always been considered
the synon!me for honor, and whose
presence has so much OF calm dignity
about it, that even strangers pointed
him ont as the proper man to preslde,)
with the assembly il Charlestown OF
Saturday, 27th July,-born Of the ex-
element of Monday 22nd, and assem-
bled before the passions had subsidized.
Who composed this assembled body!
The question is answered They were
the men beaten in primary conventions
and beaten i'll the County Convention
The DISCONTINUED friends Of al the beat
en- candidates. something ike the fol
lowers who gathered 10 the standard of
David when he fled tn the cave OF
Adullam before the wrath of King Saul
And nobody but reader of .A,henian
history would have suggested such an
assemDlage, for, since the days when the
hndy Of thu Athnnian nannl,. nSsemhled