The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-07-23
HINGING ON A. HITCH,
THE WEST VIRGINIA SITUATION
~ viewed by Foreign CaIrapondsst-Ths Be.
ialios Of hlaias TO This stAlt snd Ills Str.ns,h.
How the fuiioa Moum,st IL Looked
upas ThsosShast tbs State.

n opoh Ihfou6hbas tbs htAlt.
vi A correspondent o the Baltimore Su,
t Whites from Wheeling as follows: Th,
;. meeting Of the Democratic convention her,
Q on Wednesday next promises to be one o
1 the moet interesting and important evont,
). In the political history Of West Virginia
: on 1t possibly may hinge the result Of the
presidential election and the fate OF The
Democratic ticket. Since 1872. when Grant
carried the State against Greeley, West Viz.
ginia has been regarded as safely Demo.
cratic. In 1876 she gave Tilden II 44o
votea more than Hayes, the Greenbsck
candidate, Cooper, receiving 1873. In 1880
Garfield was beaten by Hancock by ll,l4S
votee, although Weaver, Greenback.r.
pol!ed 9o19. the majority Of which, It Is
said wers drawn from Democratic sources.
: At the last gubernatorial election lin lSSO)
jackson, DamocEat, received q clear ma
jnri.y OF 200 over the aggregate vote for
his Republican and Gteenback c,mpstitors
| CLAIMS or BEANIE rRiEsDs.
| Notwithstanding these facts Mr.. B,aine's
friends are claiming that bis candidacy
makes West Virginia doubtful. They ba.e
the assertion generally on the idea tha.
with the Republican and Greenback vote
combined Blaine can obtain high tariff
votes enough TO secure the six electoral
votes OF the State. They are also banking
to some extent on his alleged popularity
| Uifh Iptah entcvc u,hn {nxo,
element in portions OF the State, and also
put forth the claim that his Identification
with West Virsinis's interests generally
impsrss to bis candidacy q strength which
Mr.. Cleveland does not pcteess. Glove.
land, they argue, ia little known, whils
Blaine ia known throughout the State, no:
only from bis prominence in national
politice, but also IRON the fact that be lie a
siockholder in one Of the West Virginia
coal railroads. Thurman, they add, was
West Virg!nia's choice, after Tildep, fer the
Democratic nomination, and the feeling for
Cleveland at best Ia only lukewsrm.
ONE or TIE ARGUMENTS.
One Of the arguments mcet generally
used in favor OF Blaine is thst because he
happersto be stakeholder in the West Yir.
sinia and Pittsburgh railroad, which is
opening up the coal and timbtr regions of
Mineral, Grant and Tucker counties, hs ia
engaged in SORT OF missionary effort to
develop the material RESOURCES OF the State. |
The want OF force ei this reasoning is au-
parent when it is stated that a-nuluber of |
prominent Democrats, including Hon.
Henry G. D4vis and Senator Camden, OF !
West Virginia, and Hon. Wm. Il. Bar.
mum, chairman Of the Democratic National
Com mitteo sre or have been interested In
the same corporation, and several o! them |
ing to West ViryiniA's growth and pros.
pe1ity.
Some color Of plausibility, however, has
! been given to the story by the fact that Mr..
B!alnes closest political ally and special |
champion, Mr.. S. B. E!kine, who is also
interested in the West Virginia Central, is !
a eon.in.law OF ex-senator Davis. Mr.. Ell.
kins has naturally sough! to encourage the
idea OF Mr. B.sine's reputed strength in
West Virginia, and will no doubt strain
every nerve to make what now eeems to
be in q large measure pure fiction sad
reality for the Democrats.
THR rU:IoN MOVEMENT,
West Virginia this year is one Of .he o.
tober States. The election, to be held on
the second Tuesday in October, will be a
general State election. A Governor, two
judges Of the Supreme Court, Attorney
General, Auditor, Stale Treasurer superin-
tendent OF schools and county oGicers are
to be chosen. The preenbackers already
hsve partial ticket in the isid. Their
Stste convention, looking to a fusion with |
the Republicans, nominated candidates for
Governor, Auditor, Treasu,er and echool
Superintendent, leaving to the Republicans
the naming the candidates for judges aad
attoyney.general. Their candidate Tor Gov
ernor, Judge Edwin Msxwell, Of Harrison
county, is q pronounced Republican, and
was Nominated in the hope tsat the Rapub.
licars would indo,ae him, Many leading
Republicans, however, doubt the wisdom
of selecting him from the fact thst, as 81. !
preme Court judge during the reconsuuc-
ton period, he rendered himself obnoxious
to o large clues OF voters by decisions which !
are claimed TO have been extreme
and unjuatiaably severe. Either
George S.urgies, OF Monongalis, who ran ior
Governor in 1880. or Dr.. Logan, OF Ohio, i,
| is thought, will be nominated if the Re-
publicanH refuse to support Maxwell. The
other candidates on the Greeuback ticket
are J. Il. Hurtt, Of Ohio, Republican, for
Auditor Spencer W. Ssurnl, OF Marion,
Greenbscker, for Treasurer, and J. N. Ken.
dali, Of Richie, Gresnbscker, for Superiu-
tendent Of Schools. The Green hackers slso
propose that an electoral ticket shall be
put in the held, consisting Of tLree Green
backers aud three Republicans. The prsc-
tical result il such y ticket were elected,
would be to subtract six votes from
Cleveland and gvs them TO Blaine. It ia
not at all likely, however, that the propo.
sition will be accepted. "We Couldn'tI
afford TO 10 heiore the country" eaid a
prominent Republican in conversation
with me few days agc, with An scknowl-
edged Greenbsck fusion in WIS! Virginia
on the Presidential ticket"
SN= WAIT AND sEr. 'es
On the other hand some OF the Green
back leaders assert ths. the Green1sck
vote is no longer worthy Of serious consid.
Grafton. It has steadily declined since
1878, and in the Kanavha dia.rict, the seat
OF the esE.clioD, the return OF the Green.
back leader, Henry S. Walker, to the Dem.
ocratic fold, has practically eliminated it
from the contest. The Republicans, how.
ever, claim that whatever may be the Dam.
ocratic gains from this source, they are
more than counterbalanced By the disafIec.
ton in the Democratic party with the
present State atminia, ration, which Is said
TO have become unpopular with the
farmers, owing to an attempt to enforce
the assessment Of personal farm property,
which had been exempted byt
legislative enactment To this the
Democrats make rej,inder tha,
the d.sifiection on this ecore is tri.
fling, and that the loss, il any, will be more
Ftnap made up by gsius due 10 iactional
quarfs.s among the Rspu bticana. Proui.