The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-10-11
What the People Remember.

has at last found out that there is such a
thing as the People and Acknowledgment
may be entitled to some little considera-
tion in the administration of the govern
ment. TO be sure, this knowledge burst
upon it with the light of revelation just
at the hour it is summoned to political ex-
ecution, but ike all exhortations from the
steps Of the gallows it attempts to crowd
into fifteen minutes of repentance whole
lifetime of revel in the crimes against
which it so vehemently inveighs. The
only difference between, the .yVandicator' s
ante-mortem eloquence and the last appeal
of the ordinary criminal is that the latter
is generally in dead earnest and really be-
lieves what he is saying, whilst the former
chuckles in it's sleeve at the cute trick it
is undertaking to practice ON what it con-
ceives to be the ignorance of the people of
Augusta, and especially the ,workingmen.
When Satan reproves sin and Bob Inger-
| soil is accepted as the leader of christianity
then, and not till then, may we expect to
see the Vindicator. espousing the cause of
the People.
1t is not, however. thel.frst time our
contemporary has moderated the intelli-
gence of the masses, nor does it stand
alone in the position it occupies. To its
sorrow, the whole Bourbon faction has
discovered that the common people can
read and think and remember. Among
the many things they recollect are these
That the Bourbon party, for which the
Vuadicator speaks, placed price upon the
ballot for the purpose of DISTINGUISHING
poor men. 1t said to the working man
You are good enough to work the roads
you are good enough to send to the front
of battle in time of war, but when it comes
II Government, you must pay your $1.05
or step aside. That the Readjusters re-
pealed this unjust provision and said that
he who contributes his labor to the up
building of the State, has an interest il
the community and is entitled to partici
pate in the making of the laws under
which he must live. 'isa
That the Bourbon party changed the
efficient and equitable system of making
county roads, which the Republicans hat
inaugurated, and substituted it by the
present law, which was designed to oppres:
the poor man by compelling him to expen(
his labor for the benefit of the rich HI
may not own a foot of land or hoof Of
stock, but he may be called out every da.
in the year to work the roads without
compensation for those whose horses ani
carriages and wagons are constantly pass
ing over and damaging it.
That the Vindicator had nothing to So,
against this injustice which its party put
inforce thirteen years ago, and perpetuatei
during it's reign, until the Coalitionists an
nounced in their platform that they in
tended to remedy it.
That the Bourbons stole from the public
schools ST ,504, 245, which the Constitution
solemnly dedicated to that specific pur
pose. That they curtailed the sessions
closed the schools, and left the poor child
rem Of the State to go in ignorance, whilst
they squandered the money paid in for ed
ucatiOn.
That the Readjusters, in two years, ovel
doubled the number of schools, the mum
Der of scholars, the number of teachers
the term of session and the amount Of
money for school purposes. They have
already restored one-half of the arrearage:
to the schools, and will give it all back il
the next two years.
That the Bourbons diverted $200,00t
from the Lunatic Asylums, and left the
insane, who had not the means of entering
! private asylums, to languish in filthy jails
That the Reajdusters restored this amount
ind aepfetad TIE JAMS 81 fheiff f1 66fftdRaitti
charges.
That the Bourbons said to the mechanics
not only will we teach the CONFLICTS trades tt
compete Nth you, but we will make you pag
100000 gear for the privilege of com
petiag acith conuicts.
That the Readjusters in two years re-
4 lieved the mechanics of 100000 a year
and made the penitentiary pay a surplus
OF $4,000 to $4,000. And that they pro.
pose to abolish the trades in the peniten
tiaries, and prevent the labor of the con
Wet from coming in competition with the
labor of honest men.
That with taxes at SO cents Oh the $1OO
the BOurbons went in debt nearly mil
lion dollars q year.
That after reducing taxation to 40 cents,
the Readjusters paid every legal demand
made upon the State, and accumulated over
half million surplus a year, and at the same
time cut down the assessment on real and
personal property over $12, 900, 900.
That the Bourbons, whilst taxing land
and personal property to it's full value, al
lowed the railroads to pay on less than
one-third of the real value of their prop
erty. ~
That the ReadjusterS reduced the as
sessment on lands and personal property
and increased it on railroads, until the
State now collects $13s, 454.92 from these
corporations, whereas the Bourbons COL
lected SAC, 559.04. Not only this, but the
lteadlusters are realizing 81, 496.25 more
per year from incomes, and $57 .427. 80
more per year from licenses, than did the
Bourbons.
mat the regular average annual ex-
pense OF Government under Bourbon rule
was $l,Os4,664, whilst under Readjuster
rule it was $780,, 2S4.14, showing an annual
saving by the Readjusters of $2s2, 43O. go.
These are few, and only few, of the
femembrances of the common people and
Workingmen. But they are enough to
keep Bourbonism in its grave for another
decade. ~
But, says the indicator, never mind
about these things. They are trivial when
placed alongside of the fact that the Of
fees, under the Readjusters, have been
distributed to a few families-a select
arlstocracy-whilst the people, the COM
mon people who do the voting, don't get
smell at the public crib. And, pray, will
the VS'adscator give us list of the com
mon people, the workingmen, who have
been put in office by the Bourbons during
theirten years of Statesupremacy. Look at
the distribution made in Augusta. Does
Gen. Echols, Col. Skinner, Maj. Hanger,
Ed. Echols, Jno. Opie, and the rest of
those who have hnnn inf in ,,looo ana ,,,bo