Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-01-18
For the SPECTATOR.
Letter from a Prominent Rockingham
ReadjuSter.

| EAST ROCKINGHAM, Jan. LIST, 1881.
EDITORS SPECTATOR There having
been much said of late that the people
the masses-must rule Virginia, in
which sentiment / heartily concur, and
being one of that great number, and
Ito the manner bOrn," it may not be
considered presumptuOus in me to tell
you what manner Of men I take my
| brethren-the masses-tO be. In my
opinion, they are care-taking, thought
full working men, who, at times, relish
little fun. They do, and from the ma
ture of things are destined, to get more
than their share of bad whiskey and
tobacco, and precious little of that
which is good. They will follow with
child-like confidence the leader in
whom they trust, but should he prove
recreant to the high trust confided in
him, they will visit upon him the pent-
up thunders of their righteous indigna-
tiop. Though generally poor, they are
spirited and proud, and most of them
are proud to feel that loving wife and
dear children rest with confidence upon
their intelligence, their judgment, their
Industry, for their welfare and support.
AS citizens, they are taxpayers, and,
as such, cheerfully contribute their
quota towards the support of their State
government and her institutions. They
claim for themselves the right to dis
burse the same as their enlightened
judgment dictates will best promote the
end in view. That his neighbor, whS
has put nothing in the purse. has no
right to unlOose the strings-that it is
enough for such one to know that his
more provident friends have provided
fo, nh or1
for his comfortable and free mainte- /!
nance, should misfortune or vagabonds
ism render it necessary. The tax.pay |
ing masses regard the forty thousand |
nom tax payers of Virginia as hostile
and antagonistic people, ''who have no
common interest with, and
to, the community"
1t is through the ballot-box that the
tax paying masses exercise their power
and maintain the benevolent and hui
name institutions of the State, the in
situations of learning, and protect them
selves, each and every man, in the
fruits of his own labor. They will not
barter away their birth right by yield
ing that sacred trust to those whose in
terest it is to Cypress them by taxation, 4
and degrade them, their wives and chill
dren, as people. In the language of
oneof old, they exclaim, "Let us fall into
the hands of God rather than man." Let
our destiny and that of our families and
State be decided by our equals, our
peers, the sturdy honest tax paying
masses of Virginia, rather than by the
careless vagrant and tramp.
They will not ignore their common
interest and divide into contending fac
lions when confronted by such as these.
as arbiters of their differences. They
will ever regard the supremacy of the
tax paying masses as essential to their {
as paramount TO every other
political consideration, and that vagrant
rule would lead to dreary and. hopeless
and blast the fruits of
The working men, not
and tramps, should shape the
destinies of Virginia, is the motto which
port, and woe to the politician who ig-
nores our industries and tramples upon
our rights, and whose policy would
place the Caucasian of Virginia under
rule. In the fable of the
monkey, cat, and hot chestnuts, there
is pith, but the chestnuts are out now,
of the cat. They hail
the Hon. John Paul as the Patrick
Henry who has aroused their sleeping
("He is a wise man who always
knows what to do next''-Prover6s, and
the Hon. DR.. S. H. Moffett and the
great Conservative Readjusting Demo-
cratic leaders Of Virginia as the men
to steer the good old ship of State by
the Democratic chart and compass over
the breakers of the brokers and around
the quicksands and shoals of the syndi-
cate, clear of all entangling alliances.
Twenty millions at per cent, promptly
and eheerfully paid, and the people,
the masses-unembarrassed by the mob
and untrammeled by political aspirants,
should shape the destiny of Virginia, is
our ticket. PROGRESS.
The Rockingham papers will please
copy.