Daily Republican., 1882-08-03
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3. 1852.
Democratic sins Of Omission and
Commission.

may be retained in power Is the marked
honesty with which they have conduct
ed the affairs OF the State since they
have been in power which has been al
most generation. They say their pub
lie officers have stolen nothing, that NJ
great defalCations occur and while this
is the case the people had better let wei
enough alone. They make parade Of
reform, but when the people come tc
look Tor the reforms brought about
through their instrumentality, they are
not easily seen. Particular instances
of this nature are few and far between.
We might reasonably grant all the
Democrats claim and yet they would
fall short of measuring up to the staRd-
ard of reform, or of even being pro-
gressive. There is something else
needed to make state prosperous than
real hard boiled down honesty in tiuan.
ces. A miser may be honest, but what
use is he to the community? There is
large class of honest men that the
world would never miss were the
earth to unhinge itself, open it's mouth
and swallow them up. With push, vim
and energy and q goahead progressive
spirit, honesty becomes a negative
quality. But we do not concede to the
Democrats the honesty they claim for
themselves. None of their office hold
erS have been great thieves like many
bank cashiers that have made stealing
a science aud great success without
being discovered, but we will venture
to say that If the Democratic curtain
which has been in use for twenty-five
or thirty years, was torn aside there
would he quite an astounding array of
little thieves, amongst which tax col
1eciors would predominant. Democrats
point to the fact that the State debt is
decreasing as one Of the distinguishing
marks o.. good government for which
they should receive due credit, but II
should not be forgotten that had it not
been for Democratic mismanagement
and Democratic misappropriation of the
funds of the State, Delaware would
have had no debt. When the Demo
Gratis came into power the State had no
debt. What then was the debt made
for. We will give the Democrats the
credit of assisting the building of the
Delaware Railroad, for which the
State we believe took stock amounting
TO about 100000. This is about the
only bright spot in. the financial legis-
latiOn of the Democratic party. The
balance of our State debt which is even
now over a million of dollars was
made in purchasing substitutes for
drafted men during the war and in pay
ing the Communication the government
required in lieu of man when the war
first broke out. But small moiety
was paid to volunteers. At any rate
the motives for creating such debt
were of such complex semi. .disloyal
character, that while the general gov {
Brnment has paid offevery dollar CT the l
war debt of other States, it has per- I
Sistently refused time after time to l
acknowledge Delaware's claim fas her ,
money was raised. and paid more for a
the purpose of encouraging the south. |
ern side of the rebellion than to put 1t
down. This is why Delaware has
State debt at all. 1t may have been t
raised honestly and disbursed' honestly, '
but certainly patriotic motives were t
We would just remark in =
lipe as backing up this position, that f
The Delaware Legislature entertained a
rebel commissioners who tried to take D
the State out of the Union, voted down f
. resolution to hoist Union flag on the a
State house, never voted dollar to t
equip regiment of soldiers, nor never d
voted dollar for the support of the q
wives and children oflivelsoldiers doing 1
duty, nor the widows of those who had '
fallen doing their duty. For the gradu-
ri reduction Of this semi-rebel war debt
Is what the Democracy claim credit
for, and to reduce this debt the people 9
Of Delaware pay heavy taxes. Il
But what else have the Democrats y
Gone that entities them to favorable |.
rpco Rnition by the people? Where are q
the State reforms they have brought u
about? Our school system cannot be z
eOmpared in efficiency with that of o.
Maryland lying along side of us. A "
stubborn persistency has deprived
EBbD colored children of the least pre-. !,
asnce of An education at the hands Of :, =
shS State. Such prosoriptive ideas =,
nsy suit prejudiced minds of small :,
Dalibre, but they do not rank even with :. =
the more liberal ideas Of South Carroll
Ra, q State from which but little good
in Legislation iS expected. Besides this =,
it Is m acknowledged fact that the
white schools of Delaware outside of
Wilmington as a gener~l thing are be-
hind the average Of those in the States
shat sur.Oupd us. For this the Demo. b
cratic party is responsible for 1t alone o
has had the power to remedy the evil p
but has refused to do so. .
The Democracy of Delaware has also T
refused to give increased t
to New Castle county, I
ahnlgh there arc fifty thousand citizens ! p