Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1884-08-30
Colonel Swan for Blaine
HE GIVES REASONS WHY WEST VIRGINIA
SHOULD SUSTAIN THE TICKET.

SHOULD SUSTAIN THE TICKET.
WHEELING, w. VA, August "a.
Colonel John S. Swan, Of Charles
ton, a cousin of Grants, and an
ext Confederate, who has until
now proudly proclaimed himself
an unreconstructed rebel and
proud of it, comes out in to NOR
rows Latelligeacer in a long letter
addressed to "My Comrades and
our Young Men of the South in
which he declares has intention to
support and vote for Blaine and
Logan, and gives his reasons.
He says the questions growing
out OF the war have at last disap
peared from politics, at least for
the present, and while he holds
views in respect to these which
he always held, he deems them Of
present Importance. The new,
living and vital questions are a
navy for the defence of our sea.
board, great commercial marts,
our coasting trade and commerce,
the improvement of our rivers by
the national government, our
foreign policy and the tariff. In
the last Congress the Republicans
proposed an appropriation suffi-
cient to build a navy strong
enough to put the country on a
defensive equality with modern
foreign vessels Of war. The con-
gressmen calling themselves De-
mocrats defeated the measure on
the plea that the Republican dy-
nasty at Washington would steal
large portion Of the appropri-
alton, etc. Such an argument is
the argument of the miser
and the Pharisee. 1t is not
the argument either of the
statesman, the patriot or of com
mon sense. If the laws are not
strong enough to prevent fraud
and peculation, let them be made
strong enough. If we cannot
make the guns of the ships, let us
so change the laws that we may
have them made or buy them in
foreign countries. "A protective
tariff has made the East wealth
and powerful at the expense Of the
South and West. That wealthy
and power, under this same tariff,
is about to be transferred to the
South and West more particularly
to the South; and here is coming
both the Eastern and foreign cap
ital, To take the duty from the
raw material and protect the man
ufactures is to send this capital
back, is to blast the great harvest
Of wealth and power now ripening
for a much-abused, but great and
generous people. This the Nor
rison Tariff bill; this the bad
faith of New York Democrats and
New York press in particular; this
the cajoled but deluded Southern
politicians; this many Western
Democrats, especially from the
potato states, are preparing to do,
and this, we may say, they shall
not do. Without charging, 1
believe Mr.. Cleveland would use
all his moral influence and that Of
his cabinet and surroundings to
force this Morrison Tariff law and
it's radical, sweeping changes on
the country,and / know Mr.. Blaine
will use all his power and infu-
ence the other way for judicious,
cautious, and not q sweeping
change. The colonel quotes large.
" from Blaine's chapter on the
formation of West Virginia, and
says: ssThese words and senti-
ments from Mr.. Blaine show him
to be bold, fearless and just, with
those large views that mark the
statesman, above all technicalities,
and Of . just appreciation Of the
true honor Of his country, and Of
the rights of the mother common
wealth of Washington" The
Democratic party Of to-day is not
the party Of twenty five years ago,
and the Republican party has be-
come the Wing party of old, under
a different name. The issues made
by the Republican party are set
tied for this generation at least,
and that party is rapidly becom-
ing the great conservative party,
as the Wing party was, for it is
the legitimate child Of the old