The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-09-13
Messrs. Johnston and STAPLES


instruct their hearers as to the questions
they attempted to enlarge upon. Their
mental training and the high positions
they have held by authority of the State,
should at least have inspired them with
sense Of fairness and led them to state
any proposition that they deemed of suf-
ficient Importance to elucidate in the light
Of truth and justice. Both of them,
however, were guilty of gross perversion
of facts for partizan advantage. Each,
when referring to the announcement of
the Readjusters that they would support
the administration of President Arthur
because it was friendly to Virginia and
the South, deemed it fair to denounce the
President as unfriendly to Virginia, be-
cause he had vetoed the River and Harbor
Bill, which contained an appropriation Of
100000 for the improvement of James
River and other streams in this State
They did not tell the people that this bill
contained appropriations for various pro-
jects in the country aggregating eighteen
million dollars, and that at least one-half
of it was deliberate robbery Of the public
treasury Had they designed to impress
their hearers with the truth, they would
have inf ormed them that in his veto mes
sage the President expressed his regret
| that he could not eliminate from the bill
the meritorious appropriations, and ap-
prove them, and thus evidence tothe coun-
| try that he was favorable to the improve
| ment of the waterways which might con-
| tribute to the commerce OF the nation
and that come within the perview OF the
Constitution. There was not an intelli-
gent member of Congress, OF either party.
nor well informed citizen of the United
States as to the character OF the items
which constituted the River and Har-
Dor Bill, who did not know that large
proportion of the appropriations in this.bill
had no intrinsic merit and that they were
sandwiched in by members, not because
they had any national bearing on relation,
but to aid them i'll securing their re-elec-
| ton. The President could not have
signed the bill, without violating his oath
of office, and so perverting the authority
vested in him as to stultify himself. Yet
these two gentlemen have sought to make
| the people whom they addressed believe
| that it was because an appropriation for
Virginia waterways was NTH bill-a very
small item compared with the aggregate
amount it called for-the President vetoed
| the measure It contained appropria-
| lions for streams in other States that had
no existence on the map. The beds of
some of them, as Mr.. Cox, good Demo-
cratic authority. declared. would have to
be macadamiZed before they could be
used. Others were described as duck
ponds and mill races, and taking at least
one-half of the amount asked for in the
bill, it amounted to cool. deliberate rob
berry of the treasury. And it is a noted
fact, too. that a large number of the mem
bers who voted for the fraud, in the hope
of making a record at home, were repu-
dated by their constituents because OF
their support OF it.
1t must be desperate cause indeed
when two gentlemen who have held high
positions in the State and nationwide
have had ample opportunity to inform
themselves of the merits of the measure,
as whole, they referred to, should delb-
erately seek to mislead the people Of the
State, and array them in hostility to
the President and the Readjusters on such
false and pernicious statements, in the
hope of gaining q few votes. 1t is nc
wonder that there is an atmosphere OF de-
moralization pervading the politics OF the
State, and reckless disregard of truth in
discussing public questions. when an eX-
United States Senator and an eX-judge Of
the Supreme Court of the State. could so
| far forget what is due to themselves, to
public morality and the truth Of history
as to deliberately attempt to mislead their
hearers in matter of such great impOr-
lance. The brave act of the Presi-
dent in arresting and averting this
robbery Of the public treasury, under
| the forms of law, and exposing the inf
deity to public duty of the members Of
| Congress who supported it, has been fully
appreciated by the country, i'll the express
sion of public sentiment both at the ballot
| box and through the press. Nothing but
the most desperate partizanism could have
suggested such declarations as were made
| by Messrs. Johnson and Staples on this
subject, for there is not a fact or reason
that can be adduced to justify their az
raignment, consistent with sound public
policy and morality The River and Har-
Dor Bill was huge job of corruption, and
while there were some items in it which
the President, and all others. could with
propriety have approved, taken as q
whole, it was one of the most bare-faced
and monstrous steals, in the interest Of
| fomth-rate politicians, who were con-
scious of their own poverty of merit,
that was ever proposed in Congress. But
for the fidelity of the President to his con-
| stitutional obligations and his courage in
defence of the interest of the people, this
audacious fraud would have become q
law, and at least one-half of eighteen
millions Of the peoples money sunk into
mud holes and frog ponds, solely for the
purpose of securing q return to Congress
Of members who could not depend upon
4 their own worth and merit to inspire
| the confidence and command the support
| of their constituents.
Ressrs. Johnson and Staples have not
| added to their reputation as statesmen in
the low guage they have given to this
4 canvass, nor will they be the gamers by
this brazen. bare-faced peryersion of facts
that the Bourbons OF Virginia might be
benefited by it.
If permitted to make Il suggestion we
would say to the former gentleman that he
is now in the sere and yellow leaf, with
the evening shades lowering fast upon his
span of life. He has passed to the age
when the exigencies Of Bourbonism will
never be able to bestow upon him the hon
ors of office, or inclined to rescue him from
the environments of private existence,
where the progressive influences Of the
times have relegated him. He should cul-
tivate charity for all and malice towards
none, and seek in the few remaining