Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1883-11-27
THE LAND Is FREE" "
SPEECH OF MAJOR JOHN W. DANIEL DELIv-
Erred TUESDAY NIGHT, NOV. 18TH.

THE LAND Is FREE"
SPEECH OF MAJOR JOHN W. DANIEL DELIy
Erred TUESDAY NIGHT, NOV. 18th.
The following is Major Daniels speecl
as delivered at the great Democratic de
monstration in Richmond on Tuesday nigh
a week.
God has poured his benediction upol
this people. To him be praise The chain
J OF the oppressors are broken. The land i
Tree. The Virginians tread again thei
native heath with the elastic step, exult
} ing hearts, and uplifted brows of freemen
1t was said that Virginia was feeble ant
effete, and bowed to the despoiler This i
her answer. [Great applause.
ALI honor to the ssBig Four who il
yonder Capitol raised the standard of re
volt against the one-man power, and tt
i brave Sam. Newberry, who sounded tn,
slogan, "This way, freemen.'' All homo
to the Readjuster Democrats who in the
trying hour remembered that all true Vir
ginians are brethren. All honor to the
Straightout Republicans-few in number
but honest in conviction and firm in pur
pose-who refused to be sold and butcherec
to make Coalition holiday All honor tt
the sturdy and never-finching Old-Lin.
Democracy which. "trodden down" many
times, could never be ''trodden out" and
who now tread the path of victory. AL
honor to that convention of six hundred re-
presentative-men who honored the City oi
Hills by there assembling, and who in theil
platform secuted apology and laid down
bold and decisive doctrines, and then charg
ed home like the 600 of Balaklava; and witt
better success, for they have not only taker
the enemy's guns, but hold them. Ap-
plause.] ALI honor to the committee which
devised the plan of organization; to the free
and fearless and unbought press that sus-
tanned our cause; and three cheers for Johr
5. Barbour, our worthy and distinguished
chairman who conducted the canvass, and
now wears the victorious wreath well won.
1.-THE cheers were heartily given ]
But above all these, and next to Him
who is the giver of every good and perfect
gift, all honor to you, people of Virginia,
who led the leaders, outworked the workers,
and overleaped the prophetic ken-to you
who rose in your stirrups as you rushed to
the rescue of the peace and dignity of the
Commonwealth, and with blazing blades
cleaved through the Arthur-plated helmet
of the tyrant, shouting with triumphant
voice, "Bossism, get thee hence foreverr'
| [Applause.]
What does it mean That the Democrats
meant every word they put in their plat
form; that the people confded in their
pledges, and that every pledge shall be to
the last syllable redeemed. That the debt
as settled by the peoples representatives,
and by them confirmed, shall stay settled;
that the highest of all debts of a free people
is the debt due themselves maintain
their freedom; that the white people of Vir-
ginia intend to be generously Just to the
colored people, and fearlessly just to their
own race; that the public schools shall be
generously maintained; that the colored
people shall have their colored schools, and
as far as they wish them colored teachers
and colored trustees, and that the white
people demand and exact for themselves
white schools, white teachers, white trus-
tees; that we give the lie direct to and spit
upon the hoarse perjurers who declared that
we were opposed to the public schools. And
their new falsehoods that DanviIle or any
other Virginia community has shed inno-
cent blood cry aloud to Heaven, whose
| lightnings, were not miracles ended, would
paralyze their putrid tongues and shrivel
them to DUST That the colored men who
voted with US shall be protected from the
rage of their enemies and that black bat
tbaffeQ be ltd 4g gtd nFF5Raeed to ranks y
the white people-shall not ride roughshod
over white battalions led by white captains
over white men who once met brave and
honorable foes in battle, and will not bow
their crest to venomous dastards. That a
brutal and vulgar Attorney-General, who
boasted, when he helped TO turn out twen-
ty-six white women as school-teachers here
| ir,T iobn hat bo
of his boot has found now that the boot
is on another leg, and will soon himself get
touch of the kicking; that an itinerant
Governor, who drew the color-line against
his own race, helping to GUST white ladies
as teachers, and at the same time putting
in black men and black women as trustees
and teachers, is warned to obey the people S
will, and to stay in his place and attend to
his business. 1t means that your circuit
| Judges will not be torn from their seat to
make place for judges of the lizard breed;
that offices will not be multiplied to make
places for henchmen; that congressional dis
tricts will not be gerrymandered; that the
peripatetic officers who deserted counting
room and Office to SANDER this people and
.'whoop up the boys' must go, and GO
quickly. [Cheers.l 1t means Virginia
owns no Boss; that master, follow was
not written in her Bill of Rights or in the
Declaration of Independence; and that they
will not be amended to accommodate the
new evangel." 1t means that the auc-
tioneer and place -peddler, who cried aloud
"What am l bid for Virginia ?" and who
knocked her down to "Arthur for u.s. fora
mess of pottage, has been arrested for sell
ing stolen goods, the sale set aside, and the
whole proceeding quashed. 1t means that
| l.
is discrowned. 1t means that Arthur Sui
livan, the one-legged soldier who was kick
ed out of the Capitol four years ago to give
way for Norfolk Radical of low repute
will be borne back there on the shoulders
of comrades who never struck fallen foe,
and who stick closer than brother to a
stricken friend. 1t means, in brief, peace,
prosperity, safety, and happiness for the
Virginia people, who have worked out theil
own deliyerance, and
THAT the man shall have his mare as ain,
And all shall be well.''
Great are the lessons taught. First anc
highest, that people determined to be free
may be free and that neither patronage mol
power, money or trickery, lies or threats
can prevent them. That Democracy il
vital in every parts neither dead MOI
sleepeth. They stole the presidency from
Samuel j. Tilden, the elect of the people,
in 1876. They sent the star route thief,
Stephen W. Dorsey, to Indiana, and there
with bribery and debauchery, sold out Win
field Scott Hancock, the choice of the peo-
pie. They tied Old Virginia's hands and
cried aloud that she and Democracy were
together dead. But here she is, with the
rose of Heaven on her cheek and the fire o.
liberty in her eye. at the head of the Dem
ocratic column, which now, with eyes from
and heads up, marches right proudly toward
the coming presidential triumph of 1884
[Great applause
Now, then, let us take to heart the signi
ficance of this occasion. Victory is oppor
tunity. 1t is as searching test of charac
ter as adversity. Use it well. Be true tc
every pledge. And never forget the great
words of Edmund Burke, which cannot be