The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-07-31
FOREIGN political RELATIONS.

pie. and in every sense, excepting that of mere
naval power, is one of the first nations OF the
liable, emitting its possessor to protection in
every quarter of the globe do not consider
1t necessary that our government should QUO con
and maintain q commensurate body of seamen
| in order to place ourselves on war footing
with the military and naval powers OF europe.
Such course would not be compatible with
the peaceful policy of our country, though IT
| seems absurd that we have not the effective
means to repeI wanton invasion of our coast
and give protection to our coast towns and
cities against any power. The great moral force
| of our country is so universally recognized as
to render an appeal to arms by us, either IN pro-
| lection of our citizens abroad or in recognition
| of any just international right, quite 1mprob-
able. What we most need in this direction is q
drm and vigorous assertion OF every right ana
citizens as well as an equally firm assertion of
the rights and privileges belonging to the gen.
eral family of American republics situated
| upon this continent when opposed, II ever they
should be, by the different systems OF govern
/ ment upon another continent.
\ Anappeal to the right by such q government
as ours could not be disregarded by any civilized
nation. In the treaty of Washington we led
the world to the means of escape rom the ne, nor or
| when all international differences shall be de-
ctded by peaceful arbitration is not far off.
EQUAL RIGHTS OF CITIZENSHIP.
The central idea of q republican form OF gov
eminent is the rule of the whole people as OPP
| posed to the other forms, which rest upon q
Our forefathers, in the attempt to erect new
government which might represent the adj
vanced thought of the world at that period upon
the subject of governmental reform, adopted
| the idea of the peoples sovereignty, and thus
| laid the basis of our present republic. While
technically a government of the people. it was
in StrictneSS only a government OF portion OF
| the people, excluding from all participation q
certain other portion, held in a condition of alb
| solute, despotic and hopeless servitude, 1.-THE
parallel to which, fortunately, does not now
exist in any modern Christian nation.
/ With the elimination, however. of another
cycle of advanced thought, the American re-
| public suddenly assumed the full character OF
government of the whole people, and four mil
| lion human creatures emerged from the cond1-
| theoretically invested with the same civil and
political rights possessed by their former mas
ters. The subsequent legislation which guaran-
teed by every legal title the c1tlzensnlp ana
| full equality before the law in all respects OF
this previously DISTINGUISHED people, amply
covers the requirements and secures to them,
SO far as legislation can the privileges of Amer
| lean citizenship. But the disagreeable fact OF
the case is that while, theoretically, we Wears, are
people, practically we are almost as FAR from IL
| as we were in the ante bellum days OF the re-
| public. There are but a few leading and 1ndis-
| putable facts which cover the whole statement
| of the case. In many of the southern states
the colored population is in large excess of the
white. The colored people are republicans. as
| are also q considerable portion OF the Wnlte
people me remaining portion OF me da aaIts
| truth these States invariably return democratic
majorities In other States of the South the
colored people, although not a majority. form
very considerable body of the population, and
with the white republicans are numerically in
| excess of the democrats, yet precisely the same
| political result obtains-the democratic party
| invariably carrying the elections. IL Is not
even thought advisable to allow an occasional
or unimportant election to be carried by the re-
! publicans as 'blind" or as a stroke Of hnesse
Careful and impa rtial investigation has shown
| these results to follow the systematic exercise
of physical intimidation and violence, con-
| Joined with the most shameful devices ever
practiced IN the name OF Tree el ecu 80
| brought face to face with the extraordinary po-
litical fact that the democratic party Of the
| South relies almost entirely upon the methods
stated for its success in national elections.
| This unlawful perversion of the popular fran
| chise which | desire to state dispassionately,
and in manner COMFORTING with the proper
dignity of the occasion, is one of deep gravity
| to the American people-in double sense.
| First. 1t is in violation, open, direct and ma
| grant, of the primary principle upon which our
| government is supposed to rest, viz: that the
| control of the government is participated in by
all legally qualified citizens in accordance with
! the plan of popular government, that MAORI
ties must rule in the decision of all questions.
Second. 1t is in violation of the rights and in
terests of the States wherein are particularly
Rcentered the great wealth and industries OF the
Ilnation, and which pay an overwhelming por-
| ton of the national taxes The immense ag-
| gregation of interests embraced within, and the
| enormously greater population of these other
States of the Union, are subjected every four
years to the dangers of q wholly fraudulent
| show of numerical strength.
| Under this system minorities actually attempt
to direct the course of national affairs, and
though up to this time success has not attended
| SAOSNoS AA~o
4 been so perilouSly imminent as to encourage
repetition of The effort at each quadrennial
election and to subject the interests of an over
whelming majority of our people, North ana
South, to the hazards of Illegal subversion.
these plain truths is that if the Republican ele-
ment was really in the majority they could not
| be deprived of their rights and privileges by q
| minority; but neither statistics of population
nor the unavoidable logic OF the situation can
| be overrdden or escaped. The colored people
| of the South have recently emerged from the
4 bondage of their present political oppressors;
| they have had but few of the advantages of ed
ucation which might enable than to compete
with the whites.
AS have heretofore maintained. in order to
! achieve the ideal perfection of a popular gov
| eminent, it is absolutely necessary that the
| masses should be educated. This proposition
applies itself with full force to the colored peo
/ pie of the South. They must have better edu-
| cational advantages, and thus be enabled to be-
come the intellectual peers of their white breth-
| rem, as many of them undoubtedly already are.
| A liberal school system should be provided for
| the rising generation OF the South, and the col
ored people be made as capable OF exercising
| the duties of electors as the white people. In
| the meantime it is the duty of the national gov
| eminent to go beyond resolutions and declara-
! lions on the subject, and to take such action as
may lie in it's power to secure the absolute
| freedom of national elections everywhere, to
the end that our Congress may cease to con-
| tain members representing fictitious majorities
of their people, thus m1Sd1rect1ng the popular
will concerning national legisl ation, and espe-
cially to the end that in presidential contests,
the great business and other interests of the
| country may not be placed in fear and tremb-
|
/ coed in sitting the wishes of the majority.
In accordance with the spirit OF the last reso,
luton of the Chicago platform, measures should
be taken at once to remedy this great evil.
| FOREIGN IMMIGRATION.
! Under our liberal institutions the subjects
and citizens of every nation have been well
coined to home IN our midst, and on 2 COM
government. While it is the policy of the re-
publican party to encourage the oppressed of
other nations and offer them facilities for be-
coming useful and intelligent citizens in the
legal definition of the term, the party has never
contemplated the admission of a class of SER
| vile people who are not only unable to compre-
bend our institutions, but 1ndiSpOSed to become
a part of our national family or TO embrace any
higher civilization than their own. To admit
such immigrants would be only to throw re-
tarding element into the very path of our pro-
tective against this and if not sufficient
ly so now, should be made so to the full extent
allowed by our treaties with friendly powers.
THE CIVIL SERVICE.
| The subject of civil service administration is
a problem that has occupied the earnest thought
of statesmen for a number of years past, and
the record will show that toward its solution
many results of a valuable and comprehensive
character have been attained by the republican
party since its accession to power. In the par
tisan warfare made upon the latter, with the
view of weakening it in the public confidence,
a great deal has been alleged in connection
with the abuse of the civil service, the party
making the indiscriminate charges seeming to
have entirely forgotten that 1t was under the
full sway of the democratic organization that
the motto "To the victors belong the spoils" be-
came cardinal article in the democratic creed.
With the determination to elevate our gov
ernmental administration to q standard of JUS
tice, excellence and public morality, the repub-
lican party has sedulously endeavored to lay
the foundation of system which shall reach
the highest perfection under the plastic hand
of time and accommodating experience. The
problem is one of far greater 1ntr1cacy than APP
pears upon its superficial consideration and en-
braces the subquestions of how to avoid the
abuses possible to the Judgment of an immense
number of appointments in the hands of the
Executive; OF how to give encouragement to
and provoke emulation in the various govern
: | ment employees, in order that they may strive
: for proficiency and rest their hopes of advance
ment upon the attributes of official merit, good
conduct and exemplary honesty and how best
to avoid the evils of creating privileged class
in the government service, who, in imitation OF
European prototypes, may gradually lose all
proficiency and value in the belief that they
possess a life-c calling only to be taken away in
| case of some fragrant abuse.
The thinking, earnest men of the republican
party have made no mere wordy demonstra-
ton upon this subject; but they have endeaV-
ored to quietly perform that which their OPP
+ ponents are constantly promising without per-
forming. Under republican rule the result has
l been that, without ENGRAVING any of the OBJ
: upon our own, there has been steady and even
rapid elevation of the civil service in all OF its
: departments, until it now be stated, without
/ fear of successful contradiction, that the SER
( vice is more Just, more efficient, and purer In
all of its features than ever before since the es-
$ tablishment of our government; and II defects
1 still exist system, the country can safely