The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-09-05
TUESDAY NOVEMBER A, 1878
NATIVES AND NoN.NATIvEs.

Inc OoHaciNullNc Si tioe Virginia
must be ruled by Virginians is all well
enough from any other standpoint than
the senseless one from which it is viewed
by the leaders Of that party. OF course
Virginia must be governed by Virgnians, if
she is governed at all. 1t is not expected
that Marylanders will make any political
raid into the state in order to snatch this
governing light away from her, or that
West Virginians will. flock from over the
mountains to wrest the constitutional pri-
vlege from her hands. AS long as we are
loyal to the Federal government and adj
here to the mutual obligations binding
the state and national governments
together IN bond of perpetual
union, there is little danger of anybody
else governing Virginia than Virginians
themselves. The only objection to the
demand is the superlatively ridiculous
light in which it places those who make it.
For it is puerile and almost babyish
position TO take under our system of rep
resentatve government. Virginians elect
their state officers, and their delegates and
senators to the General Assembly, with
ont let or hindrance from anybody that
we know of, if we except only the aristo-
cratic element IN the state, which has gov
erned Virginia to her ruin in the past, and
would govern her only to her greater hui
Hattie, -, Cal. ia flio
old, effete, and almost preadamitic element
which now demands that Virginians shall
govern Virginia.
Well, who objects? Where is the man.
from the mountains to the sea, who asks
that anybody else shall govern her? The
demented fool don't live outside the Con-
servatiye party, nor outside Of The fossil
ferrous element of that party. General
Kemper, who is neither fossil nor a fool,
handles this subject little more gngerly
and yet he tries to back the demand by some
delinitional adjuncts which only make the
proposition more ridiculous than when
presented in lis original shape. He under
takes to define "Virginians," and, blum
deling egregiously in the elimination, comes
to the conclusion that only Virginians, as de.
fined by him, should rule Virginia. This
brings the whole controversy down TO one Of
pathological dispute, in which no political
principle whatever is involved, or can by
any possibility be involved, as long as the
proposition stands as he puts it. He pro-
poses to turn photographer, and, in five
minutes, defnitionally whip Colonel
Hughes out of bis boots. The process is
simple one, and would be as efficacious
as simple, if he only had the making of
all the dictionaries. But the difficulty in
his case is, that this business of making
dictionaries is game at which two can
play as we'll as one. The world has seen
some prodgious battles in its day, as for
instance, the "battle Of the spurs," the
"oattle of the books" the "battle
of the kegs" the "battle of
the frogs and MICE" etc; but
this battle Of the Dictionaries should
it be once entered upon in downright ear
nest, would eclipse them all. Colonel
Hughes yields trenchant and diamond
pointed pen, which would fash definition
after definition so rapidly into the camp of
the enemy, that the General would be
compelled to resort TO sword instead of
pen in order TO save himself from ignomin-
ious rout. He would cry out peccaoi-
acknowledge his defintional folly--belore
the battle was considered as half begun by
the Colonel
As friend and partial admirer of the
General, therefore, we would advise sus-
pension of this sort of hostilties. Lexi-
geography is good enough in its way, but it
don't mix very well with politics, and is
nanifestly out of General Kemper's line.
"The pen is mightier than the sword" and
unless man can WELD it as consummately
as his antagonist, he should let it alone.
But, really, who is a Virgnian in the
strict delinitional sense Of the term? We
answer, +" an inhabitant of Virginia" as a
Brltton is an inhabitant of England, or
Frenchman an inhabitant Of France; and
all men who have actual fixed residences in
a country are inhabitants Of such country,
whether they be admitted to full citizenship
or not. The senseless twaddle about ''na-
tiye-born" Virginians ruling Virginia has
been listened to about long enough. More
than one-halfof the real estate in this city is
held by citizens not native. and the same
is true to still greater extent of personal
property. Nne-tenths Of all the rail-
road capital invested in the state came
from the pockets of non-natiyes,
while very large preponderance Of our
manufacturing capital is derived from the
same class. BY what patent OF nobility
is this native class to govern for all time
the non-native class? Upon the meat of
what industry have they fed that their pre-
tensions have grown SO great7 We know
of no warrant for the authority thew would
exercise but in the fable of the drones