Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-09-18
la1lcaster futeIllgenrer.
Virginia yagQrfeS.


Our very silly system of choosing our
president and vice president is illus
trated by the difficulty our party is now
laboring under in Virginia, and by the
expedient which is proposed by one wing
of it to solve the question and unite the
party in the support Of one set of cleo
tors. In Virginia are two bodies of DEM
ocrats divided upon question as to the
state debt-but both declaring them
selves strongly in favor of the cleo
tion of Hancock and English. Yet
while thus protesting, each one has
nominated different set of electors and
of course incur the risk that the third or
Republican party will he strong enough
to defeat both of the fragments of the
severed Democracy and elect the Garfield
electors.
The absurdity Of this situation is OBJ
vious. A large majority of the people OF
Virginia desiring to elect Hancock and
English yet nominate two sets of electors,
and, dividing the votes between them,
are triumphed over by the minority,
which unites upon one electoral ticket.
OF course nothing of this kind could Oc-
cur among sane men sincerely desirous
of the success of the Democratic ticket.
But the fact is that many of these Vir-
ginia Democrats do not seem to Ike sane.
At least they are manifestly in the unan-
imOus judgment of the outside world
not sensible. The sc-callei "Re-adjuster"
faction of the Democratic party want to
disturb settlement made with the
states creditors by the Legislature
which has been pronounced final
by the courts. They are manifestly
wrong; but they are SO crooked in their
reasoning on the subject that many of
them err honestly. That they do err
does not admit of question, because
the judgment of all outside and unpreju-
diced people is against them. There are
not few shrewd rascals among those
who seek to use the crazy party for their
personal ends, and of these the chief
is the leader, General Malone, a
man who writes very bad English
and whose ability is all of the
manipulating and administrative kind.
He seems to be very easily the chief Of
his rag, tag and bob-tail followers, and
does pretty much rs he pleases without
consulting them. lie has been waiting
to see how the cat would jump political
ly, and now that Maine has made Han
cocks success appear pretty clearly, he
has consented to negotiate with the other
part of the Democracy for a joint cleo
toral ticket. lie refuses, however, to
adopt the simple method of equally di-
viding the electors, which the regular
Democratic organization proposed, but
suggests that the question be decided
between the two organizations by 4 pri-
mary election OF the party to he held in
the middle of October, and ut which the
vote shall bc taken rs to which of the
two electoral tickets shall he voted for
by the Democracy in November.
So that the Virginia Democrats shall
first vote who shall bc their electors for
Hancock, and then vote for the electors
who will vote for Hancock which is
certainly a very roundabout way of do
ing the business. One would think that
when both sets of electors want to vote
for Hancock and English, and when that
is the only duty they have to perform,
they might toss up cent rs to which
should do it, or find some easier solution
of the question than holding primary
election about it over the whole state.
But perhaps General Malone does not
want to finally decide whether he is for
Hancock or Garfield until Indiana has
voted. If this state should'brighten
up, Garfield's chance, Malone would
perhaps find a way to escape the verdict
of the primaries.