Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-08-18
FAIR PLAY.

: cold for thirty-fve years, and now when
two of her honored citizens are presented
by their friends for the suffrages of the
Conservative Convention want them
to have fair play. The Augusta friends
Of Mr.. HARRIS, Of Rockingham, who are
quite noisy of tongue cry out about putting
<stwo men on one" in this county or "six
upon one'' in the district. Two upon one!
Is the one the gunner? What Conservative
in Augusta is expected to listen patient
ly to such arrogance. Is the seat from
this district the personal property of Mr..
HARRIS of Rockingham; so secured to
him and his heirs, that when two promi-
nent and popular citizens of Augusta offer
for it they are to be denounced as if ''com-
bining" against an owner to take away his
property; Are there never to be any can
didates from Augusta, or Shenandoah, or
Albemarle, counties who cast majority
of the Conservative vote of the district,
because any such offering would be coun-
ted as combining and plotting against Mr..
HARRIs ? Is Augusta presenting men of
unstained records in war and peace and
politics to be answered by the cry that Mr..
HARRIS Of Rockingham is in possession,
and that any movement towards obtaining
a recognition of her own sons in national
politics is treason to him. The true state
of the case is that Mr.. HARRIS of Rocking
ham has served two terms in Congress and
comes to Augusta with two of her own sons
to know if her people want him or them.
If Augusta chooses to select him over her
own citizens of equal if not greater ability,
and chooses to remain another term and
an indefinite number of terms out of the
halls of Congress, it is her own affair; if
she chooses to say, to her brilliantsand ris-
ing young men that she deliberately closes
the door against them in that direction I'm
less they shall emigrate; if she shall say
to her veterans who have served both their
State and country that she is Indifferent
to their receiving honors or, by implication,
that they are unworthy Of them; if she is
willing that for all time to come this great
Seventh District shall never be known as
the Augusta district; if she proposes to
nav that tribute of admiration to an assidu-
Gus and untiring wire worker which is
due to solid merit-then she can insure
all these conditions by casting her vote in
Ghe convention for Mr.. HARRIS.
But we do not believe that there is any
stronger feeling for him, outside of his
particular friends, than a sort of appre-
henson that he has his wires too ingeni-
ousIy arranged to permit of his being beat
en-. A notifying and humiliating admis-
sion for a free constituency to make isn't
it? An admission that it is no longer
the people who shall say whether Mr.. HAIR
RIs shall be returned, but Mr.. HARRIS
who shall say whether the people shall re-
turn him! Do the people of Augusta ad-
init that ? Do they admit that man
whom they voted against in 1859 while
running against his party ticket, and again
in 1870, beating him badly, has, in 1876
got them into position to tell them that
they shall return him !? Do they admit
that Mr.. HARRIS Of Rockingham can tell
them that they shall not have BUMGARD
NEE of Augusta; that they shall not have
SKINNER of Augusta but that they shall
nave him The self respect of the free
voters of Augusta county forbids it. For
the voters of old Augusta have self respect
and good share of pride too and we hon
Or them for it, Shenandoah has had her
son in Congress, Albemarle has had hers,
Rockingham has had hers under the new
dispensation and yet thirty-ive years has
passed since Augusta has had hers. Fair
play! Why it is Augusta who should be
crying out for fair play; not the friends Of
Mr.. HARRIS.
eff you want to have fair fight you
ought to put up one man against HARRIS
and try and nominate him. they sey
That is the talk of politicians, not of the
people. What the people, the voters at
large Of this district want is not two cocks
pitted against each other. They want
their choice out Of the whole main. They
want Messrs. SKINNER, BUMGADNER,
O'FERRALL, -SoUTHALL and RIDDLE
BARGER, all put up and give them
their choice; that is if it is to be
q peoples Convention, and not a HARRIS
Convention, or SKINNER Convention, or
any particular mans Convention. The
people want their choice out Of Ehe whole
party. They don't want to be forced to
be forced to choose alone between Mr..
HARRIS and Mr.. SKINNER, or Mr.. O'FER-
REL and Mr.. BUMaARDNER, OF between
a,ay taoo men: they want the whole field
open. If there are enough men who like any
of the gentlemen named over Mr.. HARRIS,
why nominate that gentleman ? and if
there are enough who would rather have
Mr.. HARRIs then any of the six, then Mr..
HARRIS gets it. This is the plain, fair,
honest way of making nomination, and
it is the only way in which Augusta
county will have a show to get her rights
though in the eyes of Mr.. HARRIS
friends, it don t'seem that this old county
of historic memories has any right
which they are bound to respect, excerpts
perhaps the inalienable one of garden seed.
ANOTHER OF GRANTS APPOINTMENTS.
Gen, Green B. Raum, of Illinoit, who
has lust been appointed and confirmed as
commissioner of internal Revenue, appears
on the record as an endorser OF Gen. Or
willie E. Babccck. On the day of Babcock's
acouitSal at st. Louis, on the charge OF
conspiracy to defraud the revenue he re-
ceived from Gen. Raum, the following con
gratuiatory dispatch: Hearty congratu-
lations from me and others from Southern
Illinois, ''t',s
How many old soldiers in Augusta 40
you think will vote to send Harris dele