The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-07-03
1.-THE Rowdy Element 4

ever DttIl pltSclitcu w uHC oouiioiy "AAoiA
were more expressly representative of the
sentiment of the great mass of the people
which.compose the party of their identity
The action of the National Convention has
never beenreceiyed with more enthusiastic
approval by the rank and file Of a political
organization than that taken at Chicago on
the 9th of June, 1884. From one extreme
Of the Nation to the other the voters OF
the party have accepted the determination
at Chicago as a reflection Of the popular
will and concession to popular DESIRE
The delegates who composed the conyen-
ton were chosen by methods most III &C
cord with a sense of fairness and in har
mony with the reiterated wish OF the con-
stituent body The most hypercritical OBJ
server could not. in reason, find fault with
the plan and proceedings OF the primary
meetings or raise question as to the fair
ness or Justice of the result announced, i'll
the choice Of delegates. There we're no
complicated contests submitted to the
| Convention Not only in their primary
proceedings, but in the deliberations and
action of the National Convention Itself,
there were no grounds for harsh CRITICISMS
or excuse for hostile manifestation. From
the inception of the campaign for the Sc
Election of delegates to the close OF the
Convention which nominated the RephD-
can ticket. there were less of questionable
texpedients and more of approved fairness,
| than have attended any party action for
the past score of years. Partizan ma
chinery. in it's offensive sense, was as COM
pletely ignored as it were possible for it to
be in contests of that kind. Ii states
| there were they were broken by the force
of popular enthusiasm for the choice that
was made. If com binatiOns were In con-
temptation they were frustrated by she
earnest purpose Of the people to voice
their sentiments in the selection that was
determined on. In all respects, whether
| in the districts or in the Convention, the
will of the people rose supreme over all
schemes and arrangements which looked to
ianother result than that achieved. The
tide of popular feeling for Blaine was re-
sistless. and was manifested at every stage
of the campaign that eliminated at CHI
cogo on the 9th of June. 1t was a peo-
ple's Convention and the peoples nomina-
ttion-the choice of men who make the
values which constitute the wealth OF the
Nation, and fight the battles OF the conn
try when its integrity is assailed or It's
honor is at peril.
1t is this convention which the New
York Herald announces was dominated by
the ssrowdy element" of the country-the
"demagoguism, swagger and bounce OF
the West-an element that must be
brought into subsection in the defeat OF
Blaine and Logan, and the election OF the
nominees of the Democratic party, Who
ever they be for, that paper says, lit is
better for the countryside people OF the
whole Union-to decide this question now
at the ballot-box peacefully than later, with
rifles in their hands -
1t is this kind of buster, coming from
the Anglo American free-trade snobs, who
catch their inspiration from foreign asso
Citations and the club houses of London anC
Paris. that is offered to brighten the Amer
lean people from the execution of their owf
will and the choice of President in &C
cordance with their own sense OF right. II
is indeed appropriate that a journal which
lis as much under foreign influence as II
published in a foreign country, should
class the great mass of the people OF thu
West as the ''rowdy element''-a class
which sprung from the best blood OF the
old States, and whose courage and daring
have built up an empire beyond the MIS-
! sissippi-who have extended the lines Oh
civilization to the fartheSt verge OF oul
imperial domain-made the desert TO ploS
som as the rose and planted the school
house and the church in the very heart Of
what few years ago was a wilderness
Compare the men who are stigmatized as
the .'rowdy element 1.-THE supporters OF
the Chicago nominees-their deeds and en-
durance in behalf of American progress
\ and American civilization--with the re-
/ fining sentimentalists and metaphysical
theorists, who pose in the attitude OF Kick
-deserters of their party and betray
ers of their party's integrity-the defa
mers of American citizenship and the
tools and toadies of foreign.plotters and
schemers to break down American indus
tries and degrade American labor The
one representing the robust manhood Of
the Nation-tilllng the soil, opening the
mines, running the machinery and de
veloping the capacities of our country
pushing her forward in the path of hel
grand ny-strengthening her power
and elevating her character establishing
her political as well as industrial indepen
dence. The other, paying court to fash
ion /; luxuriating in the soft embrace OF IN
herited wealth too refined and exclusive
for association with the people too subli
mated in their theories for the common
understanding and too self-righteous II
meet the common humanity-never strik
ing sturdy blow for the common veal o.
advancing thought in consonance witt
the nations needs.
4 A nation IS danger lies in a nations Ell
! feminacy, and not in the sturdy manhood
which run the shops and factories, the
} plow and machinery that create the afliu
ence and advance the power Of the coun
try. The ''kickers and boilers" are thu
| opponents of the one condition and The
s'rowdy element of the other.
No higher compliment could have
been paid to the popular upheaval which
called for the nomination of Blaine and
Logan than to designate it the "rowdy ele
ment.' as, contrasted with the impracti
cable obstructionists and refining refor
mers who would formulate administra-
ton on fiction and base political creed
on a romance. This is government OF
the people and for the people, and not {
government of sentimentalists for the ben
eft of abstract theorists.
Our national growth and strength ani
dignity and power must come from the
manhood Of the people-the 'srowdy ele
ment," according to the Herala-thost
who have built up her industries and
opened up her channels of trade and com
merce-who have felled her forests and
fought her battles when needs be, and moi