The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-03-29
The Work Before the People.

~-~~-ss~SAAs,
the State debt amount to nothing 80 long
as the main beverages Of that faction ex-
pose their purpose to be precisely the re-
verse of what the press asserts. The papers
Of that organization, with few exceptions,
with unnatural zeal and therefore insin-
cere, declare that the debt question is set.
tled-that the decision OF the Supreme
Court Of the United States In the coupon
case, has made flnality Of it,and that it is
not the desire to contravene or eircumventit
While this is the affected position of the
Bourbon press, the railroads and bondhold-
ers have, by concert Of action, announced
different conclusion, and have already
taken steps to attempt to give practical eff
feet to what they say. The business of the
Bourbon leaders in the State is to seek to
lull the people into a sense Of security,
while the corporations and syndicates pre-
pare for assault in all the forms that DIES.
perate resolve can suggest. Notwith-
standing the prominent fact that law
passed by the Legislature, signed by the
Governor. and sustained by the Supreme
Court of the Commonwealth and the Ma.
ton, is required to be observed BY the ex
ecutive and administrative officers Of the
State. the railroads have. deliberately de-
termined to resist its operations, so far as
they are concerned, and refuse to pay the
taxes assessed on their property. The
railroads have been part of the Bourbon
machinery to control the political affairs OF
the State, and more iRsensible to the inter-
ests Of the people and the welfare OF the
Commonwealth than the trading poll
ticians, they are more candid and agrees
slve. They only expose theconcealed pur.
pose of the party they are aligned with,
and plainly indicate by their action
what would be the policy of the faction
they support were it in control of the legis-
lative department of the State Govern
ment.
| The foreign bOndholders, with like in
| genuousness, have evidenced their inten-
ton BY 9 subscription Of 900 to resist
| preme Court OF the United States has pro-
nOunced constitutional. The declarat ion
is made that III every county steps will be
encouraged in conformity to this announce
ment. In past contests. thew money has
been thrown In the balance to influence po-
litical results. aud always Oh the side Of
the Bourbon faction. whose leaders are now
protesting their acquiescence in the man.
dates of the Courts. The double purpose
is thus manifest, to influence by corpora
ton power aud syndicate money an open
revolt aga inst the law, and to delude by
persuasive reservations ofinfention to sub
nit to the will Of the people and the iudg-
ment OF the courts.
With these indications SO plainly fore
shadowing what would be the policy OF the
Bourbons had they power. it is useless to
assume that the debt question is settled. 1t
is only settled so long as the friends OF the
settlement are in position to enforce it's
conditions. Having contested it at every
stage. it would be unnatural to suppose
that the legislation which constitutes the
settlement would be safe, were its oppo-
nents placed In authority to embarrass its
operation. And 1t is pIesuming upon the
credulity. if not the crudity. of the people
to assume that they can be hoodwinked
and deceived into placing the destiny ofthe
settlement in the hands OF Its avowed and
attested enemies.
1t is not only to secure the full and com
plete benefit of this settlement and avert
fits peril. that organization must be kept
intact and vigorous agencies employed to
give it effect, but it is equally important
that nc relaxation should be allowed, in
view Of essential reforms yet to be accom-
lished. The emancipation Of the Com
monwealth from the ruinous environments
imposed by Bourbon legislation and policy,
} will not be c0nsummated in the settlement
of the debt question. There are other in
terests OF as great magnitude and with
equal directness relating to the public veal,
which will demand attention, and that can
only be disposed of to the relief of the
people by the political force which has thus
far accomplished so much for the Common.
wealth.
The condition Of the public schools now
as compared with what it was few years
ago. illustrates the power Of parties to do
good or harm. Under Bourbon admins
tration they were on the eve of destruction,
and were only rescued from ruin by the
eiectment of that faction from authority
and the installation Of a.party which repre-
sents the popular will and legislates for
the popular welfare. 1t would be the most
transparent folly, if not public crime, to
entrust to the Bourbon faction the care and
development Of this beneficent institution.
Its whole history in connection with pop
ular education has been a protest against
the advancement and enlightenment of the
masses. Grounded in the prejudice which
encouraged class distinctions before the
new dispensation OF freedom was iaaugur-
ated, thas never yet practically recognized
the fundamental truth that all men are
created with equal natural rights, and that
1t is the policy Of our Republican system
to give each fair chance in the race OF life.
The Public School system is perpetual
protest against Bourbon notions and aims,
and the direct enemy to Bourbon supreme
cy 10 State and Nation. Il is not safe,
therefore, to entrust the management Of
our school system to faction that has no
sympathy with it, and whose administra-
ton was practically hostile and fatal to its
growth and prosperity.
Nor does the necessity for the public ban
to be placed on the Bourbon faction stop
here. There are still other interests to be
considered, affecting the people and impli-
eating the prosperity OF the State. The
glaring and monstrous wrongs inflicted up.
on the State. through the system of laws
from which emanate the chancery practice
and disposition Of the property Of litigants,
call for reform as loudly and imperatively
as any that has been effected, or may yet
| be in contemplation. The chancery pro-
ceedings in the Virginia courts are nothing
more or less than system OF judicial rob-
berry, enacted and fostered for the known
purpose OF absorbing estates and impover-
ishing the people who may be so unfortu-
nate as to be compelled to engage in litiga-
| ton. No interest of the State so impera.
lively demands change and reform as this.
II that is robbery which takes the property
| Of the citizen without an equivalent, then