Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1881-01-11
STATES sENAToR.

ing ON the 18th instant, will have. ameng
ita first duties, to choose a United States
Senator for six years from the 4th of March,
This is a most important duty, apd
one which should be performed with&calnA
and deliberate juagmentby our Represents
%tiyessin the General Assembly. They must
BOT commit the folly of again placing i. in
the power of our political opponents the
Republican, to, select our Senators, as was
done four years sgo. albeit theyswere not
taken of the Republiean. organization. We
are strong esouzh to send a thoreugh.geing
Democrat. aad don't choose that The Repub>
lieans shall have anv part or lot in the mat
ter. We wants Vest Tirgintan-to the
manor bora raised and resred-nnd we
want him right out of the Democratic fold.
We want enc sho has 80 Republican ante
cedents en- tho one hand, aud no .Kno,o
Nothing affiliations on the other. We want
a representative in the Senate of the United
States who has been a lifo long Democrat
one who has lived within our State. who has
suffered with as, fought for Us, and in whose
political career there has beoa no change or
shadow of turning; not a Unian man during
aud just after the war, and then a gushing
sympath'zsr with the Csafederates, when
the. din of battle had CEASED. and Southern
men were excluded frsn qualifying or hald,
ing office by their inability to take the iron
clad oath.
1t these points are well taken, then, Mr..
Hereford would seem not to be the moat de
s'rabIe or natural selection for the new Sena.
torial term by the Democratic party. He
came among as sitter the war. and because of
the adventitieus fact that he could take an
oath that he had never done ANYTHING on
earth to help as in our troubles. he was am,
pieJed (our native lawyers being disfraa.
ohlsed aud unable to practice their profes.
sIen) in SO many important cases in the q.
3 Courts, that his practice became at once
lucrative He wss subsequeatly sent to
Congress from .ha Third District for three
terms, and, in 1877 was elected to Gil cut
the ~unsxpired term Of the honorable, and
ever to be lamented. Allan T. Caperton, in
the United States Senate Surely, if posi-
tons of honor and emolumant are given to
public men. in consideration eff sacrifices
made, or benefits bestowed by them upon a
Pa"ple or a party, Mr. Hereford has been
most lavishly rewarded ! And, then, if it be
true, as ia charged ia the newspapers. and
as is asSsr:sd-by Califoraians in Washington,
that hr. Hereford was an ardent member Of
the Know Nothing organization, and caadi.
date for oflcs in California under it's ausii>
ces, is he the man to be penetrated in tn.
w Seua(OE lEoh " est
Virginia?
Who that is old snough will ever forget
the magnificent fight that vas made by Henry
A. Wise in every county of tho 'sOl2 Com
nanUsslth," as it was then, against tina
dragon at tha Dark Lastern, whose unhoIy
mission It was to topple down tho very pill
lars of religious freedom. and to dsstroy the
asylum erected by our liberal institutions for
the oppressed of other lands? And with
the alarmiDgly growing osntralizing powers
OF our Government. it is net over. morbidn.ss
to anticipate That a liks contest will be on
US again before many years Thus mnoh,in
explanation of the fact. shat there is a very
ge~nerafsdosire for a change, and that honor
may be conferred upon some one of our ais-
~tingnished n0tiVe citizens, and most promi>
nent among these are Governor Henry N.
Matthews aud the Hon. johnson N. Camden
Both of thess gentlemen are, and have been
always, nnwavering, steadfast Democrats.
Both are gentlemen having the interest of
our young, but viscrons, Commonwealth
cordially at heart Each has been hoaored
with tho unstintsd confidence of tho Demo.
cratic party. Either would make an aficiep.
representative in the United States Senate.
Neither deserve, or should receive, the slurs
OF the ihjudioious partisans of the one or tho
other. for both have been houcrod hy the
party, and have done nothing to forfeit its
regard.
Personally, they arc friends, and hence
zach would have thoir respective supporters
refrain from the employment of those IN
lawful weapons of political Gem potion. per-
sonal detraetion and abuse. The com p~stitian
Ii. an honorable ene-the means to win the
goal SHOULD be alike honorable. The writer,
however, ia tia personal and ardent friend
of Governor Matthews; he is using all
proper msaus to secure his nomination and
election to the Senate be believes that the
choice should DO given to the Third Dis
triot. and he mistakes greatly if that dis.
trlet does not sand a majority of its della
gates in favor of Governor Matthews. If
this be so. and the honor should go to the
Third District, as many of US in this dis
trict think, intereomity between the sections
of the Stats should secure him a large sup
port in the other two districts. Bat, apart
from this. Governor Matthews has no supe>
rior in tho State in tho qualitis, requisite
for an able and efficient United States Sena.
tor. Popular manners and courteous address.
and eomeiy person, are always elements of
success In political life. when thew are sup.
pIcmeRtsd or sss;aiped by force Of character.
strong iateltsctaality, culture ia.a rare de-
gree, and, withal, rauknessNof paturo and
true courage, and these are possessed nv
Governor Maithews in a high degree. His
character, ''public and private" as was we'll
said by tho A"0erfiser. (Hunting,os) in n
late issue, sis without blot or stain-susri-
eion, even, has never connected him with
oro"ksdness Of any kind. His life for the
last eight or ten years has not been passed in
obscurity or in a corner. but in high public
positions in the full glare of publicity. to be
seen and knewn of all men. snd neither
envy or partisan malignity has been able to
discover anything in his whole record OBJ
nox'eus to csnsure or criticism" So, in tho
hope that the deliberations of the Lesisia-
tnrn nnn rnnnl. =.