The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-04-06
Was it a Crime :?

the entire Re-adJuster party into the he
publican ranks. and with this as text ap-
peals are made to the rank and file of that
party to know whether they intend to fol-
low in that direction. To these Democratic
critics, it is an awful thing to be
classed as Republican in politics, bu. not
single reason is given to justify this out
burst of indignant apprehension. Any
amount of passionate denunciation is Of
fered and imaginary wrongs to the South
rehearsed to arouse prejudice, but no ration
al argument presented to sustain the ex-
IRENE views advanced.
IG is quite likely Senator Wilcox spoke
only for himself-that his announcement
indicated only mis- individual purpose. and
that it was not the subject of consultation
or agreement with any one. It is equally
probable that the Re-adjusters do not pro-
pose to rush pell-mell into the Republican
party, nor to identify themselves with it,
except so far as to carry out their policy in
the State, which in some of the more i'm
portant propositions, is what Republicans
have advocated. But suppose the assump-
ton of our Bourbon friends, that the Re-
adjusters are destined to affiliate and become
part of the National Republican party be
true, what great crime would they commit
by such course? The statement that the
Republican party is hostile to the South is
utterly without foundation. There has
been no harsh legislation affecting the
South, except where the enforcement of the
laws compelled the surrender of unneces-
sary and uniustitiable prejudice and vim
d ication of the authority Of the govern
ment in upholding the laws and constitu-
ton of the country. Had the amendments
to the constitution and the laws made in
pursuance therefor, been honestly accepted
there would have been no conflict of inter-
ests and no grounds for complaint. 1t was
in resisting the plain meaning of the laws
and circumventing the constitution that OPP
Grated with unfriendliness to the Southern
people. Had they educated themselves up
to the requirements of the situation
embraced the Present and adapted them
selves to the conditions it imposed,
there would have been no cause to dis
trust the friendship of the North, nor for
the bitter denunciation of the Republican
party which has become second nature with
Bourbon papers and politicians. What
should have been done at first, is be-
ing gradually recognized now. All these
years of resistance to the demands of the
laws, has not brought one com pensating
UOO6 tn the SOutharD manila uhila II hos
estranged from us those who had the power
and the will to ass ist us if we had made it
tolerable for them to do so. We have en-
deavored TO live backward instead of for
ward-to grope among the dead issues and
obsolete ideas of the past, instead of ad-
dressing ourselves to the living present and
moulding its opportunities to our advance
ment and advantage. We allowed the poll
ticians and place hunters to shape a disas-
GrOus policy for the whole South, that they
might be benefited, while the mass of the
people had to bear the burdens and suffer
the grievances which their perversity en-
tailed. And these results were charged to
the Republican party, while the demagogues
who invited and necessitated them escaped
responsibility under storm of epithets and
denunciation. But a change has come
The people have taken in hand the direc-
ton of their own thoughts and the shaping
of their own policy, and as result we find
forces at work which threaten the existence
of the whole Bourbon dynasty. The dis
rupting and disintegrating influences which
are upheaving and SCATTERING the very foun-
dations of the oligarchy that has SO long
ruled the South, are but the growth of the
independent thought and the manhood of
the Southern people, and are destined to
revolutionize political methods as well as
associations throughout the Southern States.
Senator Wilcox only announced what many
others feel, when he declared his distinct
and we'll defined separation from Bourbon
influence and identity, and that hereafter
he intended to affiliate with the only Or
ganization that is competent to successfully
contend with the Democratic party, which
while protesting to be friend of the
South, has been practically its worst en-
envy.
And why should the intelligent portion of
the Southern people not recognize in this
announcement sound policy and sagac1ous
craftsmanship? The history of the Repub-
lican party is but the record ofthe progress,
the prosperity and the preserved faith of the
nation. 1t had the courage to Crap
pie with the situation, when the coun-
try was overwhelmed with debt; cred
it impaired; one-half of the nation in
condition of virtual chaos. and repu-
diation and disgrace threatened by the
Democratic party. 1t declared that eve
ry dollar of the war debt amounting to |
three billions of dollars. should be paid as
contracted, and addressed itself to the work |
of devising a financial system which fully |
verified the promise made. Not only has |
the debt problem been mastered, but the
industries of the country have been so en-
couraged and developed that every depart
ment of endeavor and enterprise is now |
feeling the reviving effect, and prosperity |
realized never before vouchsafed to any
people on the globe. The farmer, the me-
chanic. the artizan, the men of commerce,
are all sharing in the beneficent results of |
Republican craftsmanship and policy. the
South with the North reaping the benefits
of the wisdom and courage and sagacity OF
that party. There is not a law upon the
statute book-not a measure that has en-
tered into governmental administration,
that does not owe its origin and enactment
to the Republicans, and which did not re-
ceive the united opposition of the Demo-
cratic party. Through all the ramiications
of the prosperity of the country, there is
no trace of Democratic legislation-no evil
dence of Democratic craftsmanship. Our
reduced public debt. our unsurpassed ma
tional credit; our overlooking public treas
ury; our vast and lucrative industries, CIV
ing employment to the labor of the land
and difusing their benefits through every sec
ton and hamlet, are the results of Republi-
can legislation and Republican laws. The
Pacific has been linked to the Atlantic, and
the vast intervening desert made to bios
som as the rose, and peopled with the en-
terprise and intelligence of the country,
through Republican craftsmanship; and to
accomplish these results Democratic STU
pidity and Bourbonism had to be encoun-
tered at every step.
Is it strange that intelligent men should