Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-12-20

EDITOR lNTELLIGENCER:-The untimely death
Of Hon. Alfred NJ Lay has caused a vacancy In
the congressional district that the people will,
in all probability, be called upon shortly to oil
by an election. f ". b.
This is an important event. The choice of q
successor to Major Lay should engage the seri-
oas and dispasslonate consideration of the peo-
pie. The most important question. to my mind,
to decide. Is, the adaptabillty OF our choice to
the work to be performed; his anowledge of.
and his Identification with, the most prominent
interests of the district and Of the state. From
the last issue of the Intelllgencer l discover that
the minds OF some gentlemen seem to be direc-
ted to two prominent lawyers Of your city, as
suitable persons to represent us IN congress. II
that body required an addition Of legal learning,
1 should quite coincide with your correepon-
dents that either Mr.. Wallace or Mr.. Ryland
would be an acquisition to the lower branch OF
the national leg stature. But, as more than TWO
hundred legal gentlemen out of . membership
OF about three hundred are already in the lower
house, the writer submits. in all candor, would
it not be the fair thing to select a man from that
element in the district which owns three. fnurths
of the property which pays three-fourths OF the
taxes. and does two-thirds of the voting The
proposition is a fair one. and should be suHi-
cient of itself to provoke an affirmative answe
but 1t is proposed to still extend the argument.
AS above stated, there are over two hundred
~speech-makers by profession already In the
lower branch OF congress, and l may be per-
mitted to state, in p rehthesis, that the evils of
experimenting have grown to such an extent as
to induce Mr.. Wells, of st Louis, to introdsce
a bill TO abolish the publication OF the Consres-
slonal Record, ut the public expense, that his
facts and figures will show q great saving Of
time and expense if members should be COM
PEELED to pay for the reporting and publication
OF their speeches. Time is too precious, the age
Is too uiilitarisn, to fritier away in ..chin-
music" Speech making, in that body, where
all persons are supposed to be, and most are in
formed, has but little effect. A member, with
the provisions of II bill printed for his inspec-
ion, Can certainly give An intelligent vote as
surely as an Intelligent jury can render q proper
verdict with oral eviience, detailed IN their
hearing, without speech making by counsel.
The three questions in which the people of the
United States are concerned at this time, are
finance, the tariff and the question of transport
tation BY ocean, river and rail. Who are inter-
ested in any and all OF these questions as much
as the producer OF all wealth, the tiller of the
soil And have we not. in the seventh congress
~ t s"NhSyy NV
men the peers Of amy other hundred men of any
other avocation in their knowledge of the great
subjects mentioned ? These matters, all of them.
force themselves upon the consideration of the
farmer every day OF his life; and it would be
strange, Indeed, II a man of education and In
telligcnce did not bestow serloa. and Intelligent
thought on matters that nearly concern him.
Already We see a president and his financial
secretary daring to say how mnch and the kind
of money that forty millions of people shall have
as a clrcu sting medium. We see 80, 600 manu-
f%acturers applying y tariff for their own benefit,
through The venality Of a bought congress on
80. $50, 600 citizens Of the country. We see one
other man. Mr.. Jay Gould, ~grasping after the
com nerce OF L continent. Who then. l ask.
Is Is much interested as those who furnish all
the grain and stock. and who finally pay the
tarin duties on seven-tentbs of the foreign iron
used In the construction Of all the railroads in
the country. and on seven-tenths OF all the man.
ufactured goods carried on the roads, or that
hoat by river. or upon the ocean
say, and 1 wish that 1 could repeat it with an
emphasis that would resoupd not only through
our own congressional district, bu. IN ever,
congressional district in the United Statss, let
the toilers on the land in the future see to it hat
We have q ialr share. at least, of the represent
tatives in congress. Not only our national in
terests but our own self-respect demands that
we should remain no longer In the back ground.
we have the intelligence and the power to make
siates and TO break them. We need but to will
to assert ourselves-snd the deed is done.
WIN We do it? We seek to make war on no
man. OF class of men, or any arocation or call
ing Inc congress preceding the one now in