National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-03-15
Tho nnnri,nn stnmnnlln.


Oh they're not afeard. Bless you,
no. There isn't going to be much of a
shower The State Of Virginia is of no
consequence. The Bourbons never did
count on that much, anyhow. The farm
ers in the Valley and in the Southwest
were Democrats and confedcrates, and so
long as they trained under the captains
designed for them by nature-viz,, the
very earliest Of the very first families who
set themselves up to rule--all was we'll.
But whom some of them began to realize
that they were of just as old and early
families as their self-constituted man
ayers, and that the only claim to prece-
dence the latter could show was their
impudcnce in declaring themselves the
leaders, they quietly dropped out of the
procession, and then the too-too early
ones discovered that their recent associ-
ates were no.account people" That
is the phrase with which the
Bourbons thought to utterly extin-
guish the Readjusters prior to
the last election. And there are solemn
old Bourbon gentlemen now who think
that, as they have not consented to the
change, Virginia is still their kingdom.
As the old Colored clergyman insists that
the sun do move" and that around the
stationary earth it makes its daily jour
ney so the old brass-mounted Bourbon
of Virginia hugs the delusion that he.is
still the controlling force in the State
whose people have enorgeticaIllg' expelled
him from power and. ~ semblance in
every nookpnH corner of its dominion.
The blind man does not blot the sun
from the heavens by reason of his in
ability 20 see it, nor does the Virginia
Bourbon continue to existas political
power simply because he supposes that he
goes on forever. But all who voted the
Bourbon ticket are not equally blind. The
younger men admit that the political
revolution which has sent Malone and
Riddlcbcrger to the United States Senate
to renresent the Mother of States and of
Presidents until 1887 and 1889 respect
lively cannot go backward. And this
fact is day by day forcing itself more
fully upon the attention of the people of
the South generally. The charm of the
Solid South is broken. The tyranny of
local leaders is more and more offensive.
The yoke ofthe Bourbon tasknasters frets
the white slaves who have so long worn
it uncomplainingly The certainty of de-
feat in 1884 makes thinking men among
them consider whether it would not he
wiser to anticipate it and begin now the
political life which must otherwise be
begun in 1885. They see that they can
take three years the start of Fate. Why
should they not do so? The Southern
cause is dream from which there was q
painful awakening. Why should they
seek again to slumber in the hope of re-
peating it? Wcknow that with il are as
sociated the romance Of an ideal chivalry
the martial ardor of young manhood, the
love of high-spirited mothers and maid
ems, the attachment to native land, the
grief for the dead, and the bitter ashe.
of disappointment. But the men Of th'
South who have not use for the Bourbon
political machine are fast coming
to realize that before them is the
work Of making their beloved Soutl
n portion of the civilized worlc
in political thought and industrial
action, as it already is in the manly virtue
of valor and ambition. They see N,
degradation in universal suffrage, becaus
they realize that brains can easier contro
the many than violence can suppress o
fraud circumvent them. The politica
condition in the South is changing. |
wants but bugle blast from dozen Dol,
and progressive Democratic leaders to pu
to flight the already wavering column
of the old party which lags superfluou
on the political stage. The men who d
not see this will be left behind.