The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-01-01
1876.


Old Father Time has turned over q
new leaf in the worlds history, and to-
day starts out afrcsh to record on the yet
unspottcd page, the events of the future
while our old friend 1875 has hidden us
al eternal farewell. His brief existence
h Is been marked with no very notable
event. AS he came, so pretty mach he
has gone, leaving us nothing more to
remember him by than that which marks
the life of any ordinary cycle distln-
guished as a year The Hard Times
which were complained of at
his birth are still discussed
and worried over at his death.
There have been terrible disasters on
sea and land, causing trightiul loss OF
human life but hardly can they be said
to be more frequent than during the hives
of his predecessors or than will occur, in
al probability, during the existence of
his successor. War devastated certain
portions of the world, when he made his
appearance, and war still RACES in about
an equal degree. SO upon the
whole he has departed rs he enter
ed. We regret to part with him,
because be was part of ourselves
but We must let hun 90. The best We
can do is to remember his hours OF hap
pness, and try aud forget his periods of
SORROW, ms we bid him good bye forever.
His successor, however, comes to us full
of promised interest for it is the begin
ming of the Centennial year OF the ma
tons independence One hundred
years ago we were only few small colo
MES struggling for life against the OF
posing power of Great Britain, and only
a little more than one hundred
wears ago, We achieved our freedom, aud
started national life for ourselves, though
with small capital The venture proved
IA success nevertheless, and to-day rs we
enter on the beginning of our second
century, we are one of the most powerful
nations of the globe, having for our citi-
zcns fifty million of freemen. Time and
space would fail at this moment to review
the events mighty to us, which that CEN
tury brought forth. But this is rot
necessary. The world knows them,
and consideration of them should
cause us to con gratulate ourselves on the
progress in wealth and power We have
made.
Unfortunately, though, there Is dark
side to the picture While we have
grown immensely in substantial wealth,
we have, to great extent, lost that repu-
tation our fathers of one hundred years
ago bequcathcd us. Now, instead of be-
ing regarded as a noble people, ready to
sacrifice everything to honor and
liberty. We preseLt the appearance
to the world of nation
corrupt and defled, ready to sacrifice
honor and even freedom perhaps, to a
sordid desire for gold. Hence our gigan-
tic modern swindling rings; our plots
and schemes in high places, for the
acquisition of wealth at whatever cost,
the readiness We show the world to pros
titute positions of honor and trust and
regard them simply as so many opPor-.
tunities OF money getting. 1t is humiliat-
ing and sad indeed to confess these things,
but their truth cannot BIO denied, snd it
is far better that we confess and torsake
our crimes IN the future, than conceal
and continue in them as in the past.
Thank Heaven the year 1876 promises
the needful reform. A differentiation on
the part of both representatives and peo-
ple seems to have been taken that these
things shall beno longer, and before the
year shall have closed, we have reason to
hope that this determination will be made
manifest IN manner which cannot be
misunderstood. The year then upon
which we enter to-day is full
of promise. Let us hope this
promise will be verified. Let
us trust that when the nations Of the
world who will visit us at our grand cen.
tennial exhibition next summer leave us,
they may be impressed with our resolu-
ton to advance backward to our old
honor and position, and that they may
see in this Sesolve the sign of our future
greatness and prosperity. So then we
will gladly forget the past except so far
as to shun its evil and pointing our
readers IN to glorious future, bid them