Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1877-10-19
GIVE THE WORKING MAN A
CHANCE!


GIVE THE WORKING MAN A
CHANCE!
The antipathy between the men who are
in the Adjuster's movement and the work |
ing men in Virginia is making itself seen
and felt. In Augusta county we had
symptom few weeks ago, when the Adj
iuster's caucus nominated ticket on |
which the city of Staunton, city that
pays one-fourth as much tax as the whole
county, and in which the working men
reside, was cut off from representation.
The antipathy seems to be mutual and
well defined, and the working men repay
it with interest. In Richmond, last Fri
day night, the Workingmen's Association
of that city were discussing political al
lance so as to secure consideration in
legislation, when Mr.. J. W. WILDE, a
prominent member, warned them against
any coalition with the repudiationists.
ssYou must select men not repudiators, -
said he. ''The day of the reputation of
the debt of Virginia is the day of damna-
ton to the working men. The rich have
their money. They can manage very well
any way, but it would be fatal to the poor
men,
The working classes of Virginia are not
dull of comprehension. They see plainly
enough that this Adjustment fight is not
ma lie in their interest. They haven't bought
more land than they can pay for, and more
land than they can work, and are now
clamoring against taxes, which are not a
grain of sand compared with their debts.
Theu are living within their means. The
workman saves his money, buys little
home and lives within his means, and as
long as he can get work is on the sure road
to prosperity. He doesn't launch out into
enlarging his estate and buying more land
than he can pay for or pay taxes on. He
has no ante war debts swapping him. 1t
is the ancient regime that is making this
trouble; the men who before the war could
not have paid their debts with their assets;
who after the war couldn't have paid their
debts with their assets; who. when the Stay
Law was passed, instead of going to work
and sari,,q to pay their debts, thought the
good time would never end, and spent
what they ought to have saved; who cry
out against the school tax, though they
are schooling their children at one-tenth,
yes. one-twentieth of what they paid before
the war, and an item in their complaint is
that they have to pay for educating the
working mans child. How many pros
porous farmers, who work their own farms,
live within their incomes and promptly
meet their private obligations those men
who are the cream of our agricultural popu-
Iation-how many of them are prominent
i'm this clamor? Not half a dozen!
Most of the clamor comes from those
whose private debts are burdensome. But
the workingmen of the State had nothing
to do with making those private debts.
Still they are made to suffer in the general
prostration that follows organized assaults
on the plighted faith of the State. In all
this Union there is to-day feeling and
prospect of more prosperous times. Shall
the private debts of certain class be al
lowed to deprive Virginia of her share
The most brazen of those who want to
reuGdiate the plighted faith Of Virginia
say that she will never want to borrow any
money and her want Of credit can have no
practical effect All, you think SO! few
DAYS ago the President of the Virginia
State Agricultural Society tried to borrow
$4,000 from banking firm, Gilliatt q Co.
in London, to put improvements on the
soeiety's grounds. The firm declined say
ing that they could lend NO money in Viz
GINA as long as she was discussing the
propriety of funding her obligations, There
was SAC, 600 gone from the workingmen OF
Richmond who would have had the erec-
Sion of the improvements. Suppose the cor
poration of Staunton had had two years ago
a party in her midst discussing the repudi-
alton or evasion (which is the same in ef-
fect) of her bonded debt, would she have
been able to borrow money to build her
water works !? Her credit being good she
issued bond for, say EssO,O00 which were
bought by people from elsewhere and the
money paid There was the bulk of $780, 600
into the pockets of the workingmen who
erected the works and IN turn into the
pockets of the farmer of Augusta who sold
these workingmen provisions. II Staun-
toms credit had not been good this never
could have been done. And yet men,
some of:.these very men who sell these
workingmen their food and thus have
market for their own farm products, laugh
and tell you with fippant ignorance that
the opinion of the world about the credit
of Virginia is nothing to them, that they
are the Judges of what it is right for Vlr-
ginia to pay. The opinion of the world is
everything. 1t is the credit of a man NOR
ally and commercially and it's withdrawal
ruins him in society or business as tie case
may be. 1t affects mems pockets as well
as their character. There may be sickly
sentimentality in talking about Honor as
Gen. MALONE has said, but it is death to
character or business to be without it. It
is sentimentaiity that affects the money
market, the butcher IS stall, the working
mems breakfast table, the churchIcontri
tors the farmer at his plow, the merchant
who credits him with goods and tho far
mer who credits the merchant with his
products. There is honor behind the coun-
ter as we'll as on the battle field. 1t is
everywhere. It is practical. All of sde-
pend upon it to secure our earnings. The
workingman is vitality interested in keeping
the States up. Give him chance, if you
don't he will make the chance for himself.
THE GAME OF BRAG.
The Adjusters are at their old game Of