Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-04-19
STAUNTON,V VA.
FRIDAY MORNING. APRIL 10. 1878
THE NEXT HOUSE OF REPRE-
,SENTA ITTES,

THE NEXT HOUSE OF REP RE
SENTA1TVES.
The Importance Of the next Congress is
beginning to excite the attention of, net
only the members Of the present one, but
of the people at large. The fact that the
Senate becomes Democratic in March next
makes it supremacy important that the
House Stall be so also, in view Of the fact
that the next Congress has to count the
Presidential vote in 1880. There is no
doubt in the mind of any one who watches
the moves now being made on the polltl-
cal board that GRANT will be the next Re-
publican candidate. BL4.INE may court
the railroad influence by acting as their
Senatorial agent, CONKLING may thrust
himself forward as the representative OF
the Republican party and combat its I'M
pending destruction at the hands OF
HAYES. but these gentlemen will be put
aside very easily when the nominating con-
vention comes. 1t will be a body COM
posed Of GRANTS chosen adherents. The
civil positions all over the country, bar
ring a few changes made by the President.
are appointees of the corrupt administra-
ton which has just passed away, but left
them in office. Who they will work for
doesn't admit of doubt. A lively sense
OF benefits to come will attach them to the
s'great soldier" an itching for another
grand division of the spoils and the re-
membered scent of those happy times when
BELKNAP and BABCOCK and the like
ruled, will awaken and assure their active
cu-operation. and his nomination is GER
tain. The air will be filled with campaign
mud which won't hurt GRANTS friends
a bit. They and he have been through
this and can't be worse smeared than in
the past.
There will however, be more side issue
tickets than there were in the last CAM
paign. Senator DAVID DAVIS, willing
hostler who is on hand to break in any po-
litical colt will mount the National par
ty'' or some other inchoate organization,
somebody else will straddle the SCREEN
back'' nag, somebody else the working
MEMS horse and so on until the chances
are that the election may be thrown into
the house of Representatives. And in
that body the Republicans need only gain
fourteen members to have majority.
This fact gives assurance that the struggle
for the House will be desperate, for the
loss of one member may change the whole
face of the legislation Of the session.
In the Democratic states the party
should be careful to keep its machinery
in working order. In Virginia, where
there are dividing and disturbing ques-
lions, this keeping the party together
is vital necessity. The views of Con-
servatives On State questions should not
be taken into account in our congressional
nominations, for the issue now dividing
Virginia Conservatives would die directly
it touched the threshold of congress. There
is no such issue there, and there mall IS
politics are simply Democratic or Repub-
lican. If man is Democrat in Congress,
his opinions about the Barbour bill OF the
Funding bill in Virginia are of very little
consequence.
OF course the Republicans will use all
efforts to distract and break up the De-
mocratic party organization, and render il
imperative in the fall elections, but over
this the people themselves must be the
sentinels. Leaving the Republicans out
of the question, not that they are out of
the question because SO weak, but because
they are Of no consea uence as long as the
Democracy holds its organization, we will
find some in our own party who would re-
joice in heabandonment of the organization
that they may take their chances in the
general scramble. 1t will not be hard to
find some debt-payer who would like to see
the convention discarded in an Adjustef' IS
district, so that he might have chance OF
consolidating the debt-paylng vote upon
him self and beating the divided AdjusterS:
u some Adjuster in a debt paying dis
trict, who would like free fight on the
Same principle.
1t is long time yet to the November
elections, and the congressional nomina-
tions are long way in the future. but
they can never he too far for us in Vir-
ginia to remember that at them Demo
Gratis are to be nominated by Democratic
conventions and elected by Democratic vO-
ters. There will be Democratic U. S.
Senate in March, Democratic President
in 1880, and they must have Democratic
House to cooperate with them.