The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-10-11
Z For The State Journal
Devotion and StatesmanshIp.

A letter to The Richmond Wing from an
admirer of General Kemper, contains the
following sentence - M
II cannot, and will not pretend to give
even the faintest outline Of the language in
which General KempeF spoke Of his devo-
ton to Virginia Of her past history, of her
great statesmen, and heroes"
CHS DEVOTION TO vIRaINIA.n
Devotion to country is avery common
trait in the human family the world over,
and there is another very remarkable and in
consistent devotion to country, that is, the
Tess cause for devotion the more ardent the
attachment. There is not more barren,
more worthless country on Gods foot
stool than the Desert of Arabia, yet the
Arab thinks it is paradise below, and
General Kemper's devotion, to Virginia is
''the faintest outline of language when
compared to the devotion of the wandering
Arab for his country and its past history ~
So you can go through the long list of
nations and people who have the least
cause for devotion for country and birth
place, and you will find that people the
loudest and most extrayagant in expressing
their sentiments of admiration. 'sWhere
ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise.n
yIRGINIA's PAST AND PRESENT HIS.
TORY. }ts54
There is one great, living truth connected
with Virginia sufficient in itself to cause
every native, every adopted citizen to be
proud of his state; that truth is the
bounty of Providence in making it the gar
den spot Of the world. Every element Of
commerce, of agriculture, minerals, and
manufacturing can be found here in great
abundance, but there is deep and wide
difference between the bounty bestowed by
Providence and the "bounty" bestowed
by the Democratic-Co Conservative party,
and managers of the state affairs during
past fifty years. Gods bounty made Vir-
GINA not only rich, but first in wealth,
first in population, the Empire State"
but acknowledgements "honesty,"
blindness, Incidence, stupidity, and mis-
management has made her, according to
the figures of the Richmond Wing, the
TENTH in the list of states, and saddled
her with debt as large, if not larger,
than any other state in the Union, and
wreck and ruin the fate of nearly all. 1t
should be the prayer Of every citizen from
such devotion to Virginia" good Lord
deliver us. 1t is the devotion" of the
leech drawing the life-blood from the
patient; it is the devotion" Of the bailiif
executing writs, distraining for taxes, and
levying upon the widows last and only
COW; it is devotion" that has placed
on record, and yet to be cancelled, 200, 900
judgments, and has driven between 1000
and 5000 Virginians to seek relief in the
bankrupt courts !; it is devotion that
should lead every intelligent man to ex-
claim. "save me from my friends I"
20 "HER GREAT STATESMEN"
Here is where the richest part of the
joke, or rather 'sdevotion," of General
Kemper comes in. 1t is a very common
error to consider man statesman who
has finished education, great gift of
utterance, and an easy flow Of eloquence,
but it is not 'words" but work. and
brains enough to apply that "work" to the
general good of mankind, that makes
statesman Tt was not the learning and
eloquence of Henry Clay that made him
the greatest and best Of statesmen, but his
great work and devotion to the principle of
protection to American industry The
planning and perseverance Of De Wit Clin-
ton to build the Erie canal, and connect
the Hudson with the great west, made him
most emphatically statesman in the full
sense of the word. General Washington
was the first in the list of statesmen in his
day and generation, because he was the
first to suggest and plan q way to connect
the Potomac with the Ohio but unfortu-i
nately, after his demise, there was not
craftsmanship, energy, and brains enough
left in the whole state to perfect his great
enterprise; consequently New York Sc
cured the prize which Washington intended
for Virginia! Such is the Statesman
Ship of the Democratic-C Conservative party
of Virginia, and the self-same party which
General Kemper now represents.
1t will not do for man to start life and
business with capital Of 500, 900, and
free from debt, to dwindle down in a few
years to $4,000, and that covered with a
mortgage, to boast of his financial abilities,
his economy, and superior management;
neither will it do for General Kemper and
his Conservative supporters to boast of
craftsmanship, with the fact staring them
in the face that Virginia in 1900 and 1910
was not only the FIRST but had popula-
ton Of 100000 more than New York, but
now the tenth in the list, to talk and blus-
ter about "devotion to Virginia, of her
past history, and her great statesmen! ! I"
Boasting and buster about craftsmanship
from the /" heather Chinese would be
equally as appropriate. &
t' ~ 't2ftt