Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1875-01-23

hASoe"SS ehoo oPP'oph Ao,AO
to extend beyond the meeting OF the
next Legislature.
Letter from the State Capital.
We clip the following letter from
the Wheeling Register, dated January
49, ..--...r ~. -.
The opening of the session .oflegisia-
ture has excited muchmoreJ than usual
interest this year. andt has brought TO
the Capital much larger number of,
by no means idle lockers on than ever
before. The number Of patriots who
have manifested Willingness and
even an anxiety, to serve the State in
some capacity, from Senator of the Uni
ted States down to page or doorkeeper
in one or the other Of the houses Of the
State Legislature, is almost beyond be.
lief, and shows that public virtue has
not yet entirely vanished from the land.
The uhlucky member Of the Legislature
has been beset and bcsieged button
holed and bullied, coaxed and cussed,
hauled this way and dragged that, with
a candidate whispering in each ear and
a candidate talking at him in front,
while other candidates were reckoning
or scowliag in the distance, until for
some of them the grasshopper has be-
come burden and desire has failed.
Candidates and the friends of candi-
dates have been, well, to put it mildly,
numerous, very. And tonight, now
that the organization of both houses
has been effected and the crumbs have
been nearly all gathered up, there Is a
good deal Of disappointment on the
part of the defeated, which the all
soothing and medical hand of time
will yet wipe away.
THE OFFICERS
chosen by the two houses are conceded
by all to be eminently'ft for their re-
speotive positions and deserving of the
honor they have received. Colonel Dan
Johnson, of Tyler, President OF the
Senate, commands the unqualified res
pect of all who knew his strict integri-
ty and high mental and moral worth.
He is one of the very best parliamenta-
rians in the State, and presides with
combined dignity, courtesy, promti-
tude and firmness. This is his second
term as President of the Senate, his
present election without opposition,
and in his absence (for heidi not reach
the city until after he had been elected,
is very fattering endorsement OF his
former service in this capacity.
Colonel Alexander Monroe of, Hamp-
shire county, Speaker of the House of
Delegates, is a man of about fifty years
Of age, with a large clean-shaven face,
and rotund form, q pleasant and courte-
GUS manner and good voice. He won
Legislative honors as the representative
of his county in the General Assembly
of Virginia, a number of years ago, and
served with some distinction in the re-
cent Constitutional Convention. He is
a ready and fluent orator and man OF
keen discernment. What tact he may
develop as presiding officer, or what
peculiar talent he has for the discharge
of the duties of his new position, re-
mains to be seen, but from the general
character and disposition ofthe man, no
doubt is entertained of his ability to
keep the House steadily in the grooves
and at good work. .,-% 80
STATUS OF TIE LEGISLATURE.
The Legislature itself is, in every re-.
spect, better one that State has had
for long time, and may go farther
and say that it is probably the best
that has ever convened in West Virgil
MIA. A large majority of the members
ofeach house are men OF high standing
and irreproachable character, and con-
duct is unexceptionable. They look as
though they meant business and were
qualified TO do it, and i believe that
the event will justify the expectation
of the people of the State in this regard.
THE SENATORIAL QUESTION
is Just now the most absorbing theme
of comment and speculation. The can
vass has opened hotly, and promises to
wax warmer day after day; The Hale
House is the present battle ground, and
the gathered clans are there in a perpet-
ual buzz of preparation and mysterious
hurrying to and fro: The feadihg cahdi-
dates are, as is already known, ]. N.
Camden, of Parkersburg,i &C. j. Faux
ner, of Martinsburg, Henry S. Walker,
of Charleston, and Samuel Price, Of
Lewisburg. Each Of these gentlemen
has rooms at the Hale House and each
does bis utmost to win the good opin-
ion and support of those TO whom the
people have delegated the power to Sc
iect for them a representative in the
Senate of the United States. Specula-
ton as to the result is, as yet, only the
merest guess work. The elements have
not yet crystalized sufficiently to enable
any one to say what shape they will
finally wear. At present it looks as
though Walker and Camden will re-
ceive the bulk of the vote, either OF
them having more strength than Price
and Faulkner combined. There is q
Walker atmosphere in the city. His
friends are earnest and persistent and
enthusiastic, and the citixeEs of the
place are generally, among his :warmest
admirers Camden, too, holds his own
remarkably well and his friends are
contestipg the ground inch by inch,
with a yigor and steadiness that are bard
to overcome. The election will occur
on the second Tuesday of ;. the. session,