The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1879-08-20
The Opportunity-The state
TIC Man.

ullIlcal pdttles, IKE individuals,
have need to watch and take advan-
tage Of opportunity.
st is necessary, for success, not
only to do the right thing, but to do
the right thing at the right time
The most casual observer may note
the fact that the approaching presi.
dental canvass is to be contested
upon the oldest traditional line divi.
ding parties in this country. The
question is, whether the people and
the States are the origin Of power
or whether the general Government
is source Of Inherent authority.
"The Democratic party, by its pre-
cepts, history and traditions Of cen
tury's growth, is fully committed to
the doctrine that the general Gov
eminent has no powers, except such
as are granted to it by the States and
the people. And that the powers so
granted TO it should be exercised
strictly in aid Of that public agency
which is called the general Govern
ment; and not to the hindrance or
disparagement, much less to the de-
stsuction, of any of the rights reserv-
ed to the State aud the people.
"Hence the intervention by the
Federal authority in the elections
held by the States, either for mem
bers Of Congress or for other officers,
is plainly usurpation. 1t makes
no difference in what way the inter-
vention occurs, whether by military
force or by the fundamentally Of
United States marshals, supervisors
or inspectors, so called. 1t is in Ell,
ther case unwise, illegitimate and
unauthorized.
military Intervention is especi-
ally odious and hateful to a free peo-
pie, or one desiring to remain SO, be-
cause it proposes to suppress the i'm
partial expression of opinion, the
murder of thought. Judicial inter
vention, if possible, is still more
odious, because it seeks directly to
connect the courts, which should be
the administrators of impartial jus
tice, with the lowest and vilest prac-
tees of partisan management.
interference by the general Gov
eminent with respect to finance, ex-
cept to provide for the necessary ex.
penses Of the administration of af-
fairs, necessarily included in its man
agement, is, Of all interferences, the.
most dangerous and the most unnec..
essary, becafserit has afforded the,
minority, the greedy grasping and.
corrupt few, an occasion to fatten.
upon the calamities and to make
large gains from the misfortunes of
the unsuspecting multitude. We
have no doubt that a very large ma
jority of the people of the United
States have for these reasons, GER
tainly concluded that it were better
to have as little as possible of FEEDER
al intervention-indeed; none at all
and thai the power, action and in,
duences of the general Government
ought to be strictly and closely con-
fined within the limits prescribed
for them by constitutional order. 1t
is the expression of this sentiment
finding voice, at all times, in all
places, among men of all parties,
which not only presages but assures
Democratic success in the near flu.
ture.
"That great episode in our history,
the civil war, between the adhering
and seeding States, grand as it is for
its record of devoted patriotism and
brilliant valor in defense of the I'm
ion and its authority, was not with.
out It's evil consequences. Among
these was the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the
power of the central Government,
the blotting out for the time being
of any other. But a peace has at
last come to US. 1t is not q peace
only between the sections, a peace of
the North or of the South, it is not
merely cessation of actual hostili.
ties, or the restoration of the seced-
ing States to practical relations with
the Union, it is peace following all
that; it is a peace pure, profound,
lasting, considerable and beneficent-
the peace of a whole people deliber-
ately asking a return of the admins
tration of public affairs to the an
cient system and methods of liberty.
1t is this great sentiment which is
waiting for expression in 1880. Its
voice only needs utterance, only the
opportunity to be heard. The votes
need only to be castcd and counted
to secure its success.
TIE STATE.
"What State ought 10 lead in such
a canvass? We say it should be a
State of mired population; State in
habited equally by the descendants
of emigrants, both from the North
and South; a State bound TO the
North by its early pioneers from
Pennsylvania, New York and New
England; bound to the South by its
hardy frontiersman from the Caro-.
linas, from Tennessee, Virginia and
Kentucky; State bound to the I'm
i'm hv hor Edal;I,, nuj 1o,o1l,, - a.,