Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1876-11-01
A.ExAGAzETTE &vlRGINIA ADVERTISER
PUBLISHED DAILY BY
IIoGAR SNoWDEN.
GAZETTE BUILDING, NO. 70 PRINCE STREET
To independent Voters.

10 AnOepenOeng voters.
Party feeling ruus so high that it is idle to
address either argument or persuasion to those
w;o ar. already cuunted iu the racks The
:@hareuls of each organization will give their
suffrage, to their respective candidates, and as
far as III, are concerned nothing that could
possibly be urged 10 favor of one or against the
other will serve to change single vote. Ii all
were thus bound 10 these lndissolube party
Ties speeches. written appeals, public gather.
;og,, proce >sious and fireworks, designed to af
t,ct different classes OF voters, would alike be
Wasted, as the result would long since have
been settled beyond recall. But there has not
been Presidential election 10 half century
when the issue depended so entirely on the de.
cison Of mcu who are DOT the slaves of party,
and VIII aic yet free to vote according to the
dictates of their own JUDGMENT. Upon these
there nos rests no ordinary responsibility. The
Immediate future of the cuuutry is in their
lauiS, aud 10 another week they mag turn the
election as they will.
The great body of independent voters desire
4 change Ia the uatioual administration. They
ar. not only heartily sick of the corruption and
vvOaI!ty which mark every department Of the
Government, but they are satisfied that amid
great professions aud with unfettered power,
III sc who have guided the national affairs for
the last few years have done little or nothing to
promote the public veal, and have seemed
chiefly iuteut 90 their OVID gain and aggran-
dlscment. If i change involved nothing be-
yond r,buke of this selfish spirit and the sub
s,utiUn of honest efficiency for prevalent rot
tcnresS and imboclluy, there would DOT be on
the part OF any independent voter a moments
hesitation as TO his choice
But .hcre are serl. US considerations involved
IN the proposed change, which no thoughtful
man cau avoid. The opposition which asks 70
b. trusted with the h>lm of State has becu uut
oi power in the national councils Tor hall the
III! tine Of a generation. Has it been chas!eued
aui disciplined 10 its enforced exile, or ouIy be.
come greedy for SPOTS by the long abstinence?
As independent meu, who are comparatively
tree from party bias, aud who desire The com
mut welfare more than mere personal or party
triumph. decide this question for themselves, SO
vii be the result next Tuesday.
We ask the same question for our own action,
h.y!ug no entaugliug party alliances; and we
knew that We have the ear and the sympathy
OF Il great body OF independent voters IN every
@itempt 10 answer 1t.
Tie ground upon which the needed change
i, most earnestly opposed by those who are
anx.uuS to retain their present authority Is that
the d. mcctalc party as body Is unpatrotlc,
aud il placed il power will be untrue to the
great principles OF liberty upon which the ia
siou was ioundcJ. The changes are rung upon
this charge with unccasiug caDgJr by the party
oigaus on every side of us. Ii is vehemcutly
asserted that tie opposition, if successful, will
Ic-establiSh slavery, Or at leasLoppress the De
gro into a worse than servile bondage; they will
rcpudiatc the pubic debt tor which the faith
OF The uatlon Is solemuly pledged, and they will
revive aud assume the detuuct obligations Of
tue cid r, belllon; they will pauder to low pop
uiar passions and prju Ices, will promote vice
aud ignorance, and will aid u religious hierarchy
u dominating over the bodies and souls OF
uicu.
The men who are charged with such fell de-
sigis are our friends and nelghbors and com
Dyse at least halt Ui the community 10 which
We live. 1t is not united South agllnst
which such accusations are made, but u lily
ol the whole Northern people. For it must be
remembered that the State in which We live
has a,rayed at least halt of her entire popuia-
llop on that side; and ii such great States as
OHIO and Peunss slvaDia are called republican,
Ii Is ony ty au insignificant majority, he great
body OF their citizens being almost equally dl-
vldrd between the opposing parties.
Even the oft vauoted virtue OF New Eogland
is uot to be ccunted against the opposition.
Conuecticu, and New Hampshire are evenly
divided, il not Democratic; Maine has been re-
publican of late, but ouly by tr.fpg aiorty,
aud he other States have very large mlnorl-
I, IN The opposing ranks.
Is it true, then, that more than half OF our
for, mliiivns Of people, dividing into almost
equal sections every State in the Union, are No.
true to their couutry and reckless of its honor
aud its liberties The orators, writer's and
politicians Who under the pressure of great
political excitement, Irelteratc this charge from
day to day with such tlresome pertinaclty, DO
not really believe it. themselves. After the
election, if they are defeated, they will feel as
secure in their persons, their homes, their
property aud their religion, as It ther own par
ty had won the victory.
Mr.. Eyarts, at the invitation Of certain Re
publican bankers, and under he inspiration OF
very liberal fee, may set out G hls most elo-
uucnt periods, to those who hear him on We'd
ueslay evening, the great dagger to which
bondhullers and other creditors of the Govern.
mcnl will be exposed if the present party Is
ilSpaccd and yet, when the announcement OF
Ti.dvn's election is made, u week after this pub
lie defamation, hot one ot those aforesaid bond
holders or creditors will sell bis hold on the
public faith tor one eighth OF one per cent. less
than he asked the day before
10 regard to the financial issues about which
SO much has been said a satisfactory "ns yer
may b. gathered from the pages of istory.
The cnampicrs OF paper money, from tie Jays
Of the old United States Bank down to the
latest propo llion to pay off the public debt in
adepreciatcd currency are all to be reckoned
10 the rauks Of the dominant party. The Demo
Gratis established the Sub-Freasury 10 the tace
Of the fiercest struggle upon 6naucial questions
the couutry has ever known; aud not dollar
OF auytniug but glitsering coin was recognized
in any official transaction, or paid to any pub
lie creditor, for a quarter Of century, durlog
most of which they held the rcins Of authority
We SEQ no hope of any reformation in the
pcrp, tus ton of the exi: ting rule. The repub
can party itself is not corrupt, the great mass
OF its voters being honest and patriotic, aud,
what is is more, at heart great greatly ash ameo
OF the late administration OF public AFFAIRS