The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-08-23

efal TO experiment with new ono We
have had one chairman. They have had a
half-dOzen. Theirshave been Failures .s
organizers ours have beena snccesc Nv,
they have a new one. At last thev L.yo
found Wellington-a man who has Tho
distinction OF being president of a railroad
heretofore mentioned. We shall NOT CON-
plain of this selection Of new s.boss ;,
Certainly we shall not revive their with
cred hopes by dlsplaclng our chairman at
this time. We should as soon have ex-
pected President Davis to remove General
Lee, after the seven days fight below Rich
mond, or to have displaced General Jack
son in 1862, on the accusations made against
him 10y some who subsequently showed
themselves incapable of putting Il squad
into action.
undertake to say that no political party
ever had more deferential chairman than
General Malone. There is not a county
committee in the State that cannot testify
That he confers with them about the mi
htlteSC details OF organization, and every
reconmendatlon OF an appointment is re-
1effed Tor full investigation and endorse
ment as to character and fitness. Contrast
this with Bourb0nism. They put more
than two-thirds of all the appointments i'm
the State in one (Democratic) district.
while OF the rest large proportion were
relatives OF Senators or members of Con-
greSS. 1t was substituting these with de-
serving men and distributing them
throughout the State that gave rise to this
sickly cry Of s'bossism." 1t was Readjllst-
ment that gave the fatal blow to ''bossism
in Virginia. Every county had its bosses.
No such system of ring rule' obtained
anywhere conventions were composed OF
the same men, and the last was no ex-
70 1In
had it's 'sring'' to send them. They were
petty bosses indeed. In every county
where REIMBURSEMENT has prevailed these
ring masters are numbered among the
things that were. They are "bOssed' by
the people. Offices are dispensed among
the meritoriOus instead of among the
rings Hence the cry is, Down with
bossism." Either the s'bossism" which
now obtains must now go down, OF they
must go to work. Fifty families i'll Vir-
ginia have dominated this State for cen
tury. We must expect them to scream not
against the '-bossism" which educates
people, recognizes true merit, relegates
the inbred dwarfs to service for which
they are better fitted, and holds all true
manhood on plane of exact equality in
citizenship.
The tariff straddle is characteristic
Bourb0niSm says we must have a solid
South'' if we would preserve our liberties
We had a ''solid South" last winter, voting
two to four cents pound tariff on the SUI
gar and rice which Virginians eat and the
cotton which they wear, and we had
solid South voting against all protection
to Virginia industries, Virginia products,
and Virginia labor, even contesting for
free hoops which Virginia labor makes
from Virginia mines to bind their cotton
in bulk. But States do not fix duties. No
vote this fall can affect these. When we
elect Presidents and members of Congress
we can take the tariff into consideration
We have enough of State questions to at
tend to at this time. l think if we can so
readjust our elections system as to have
about half as many at half the expense, and
make up the other Readjuster work cut
out two and four years ago, we may well
afford to adjourn Federal affairs over 10
the next year, when Presidential and Con
gressional elections occur.
Very truly yours,
III. I'll. RIDDLEBERGER.