The Wilmingtonian. (Wilmington, Del.) 1882-188?, 1884-10-11
A DISTINGUISHED CONVERT.

| Attorney, has been glaVely mlsrepfeseiteu,
or the Republican patty in New Castle
comfy have gained convert and an advp-
cate in quarter where the most cnthusias-
tic seeker after recruits for the ''par;y OF
great moral IDEAS" would have turned away
iD despair. We had alv ays been under the
impression that Mr.. Gray represented the
Democratic party in its most inllexible,
unyieldng and Interchangeable aspect. We
should as soon have looked for grapes Of
thons or figs of thistles as an acknowledge
! mcnt of the right of community in D,la-
ware to local se.f-govelnment, from the
mouth Of Democratic politician. Yet,
these are the words which the Every EgeRing
"a presumably Democratic orgau) attributed
to Mr.. Gray in an address in this city last
Saturday night
'In that palladium Of our liberty are these
words: 'Al the powers that are not con-
| ferred on the general government are
reserved to the states Among them aie
| the right to manage your local concerns in
your own way, as you yourselves choose, as
| self-respecting men, equal in all respects to
those whom you elect to govern YOU"
We have some sort of vague, sladowy
| unsubstantial recollection Ofmunicipal powers
| formerly vested in the mayors of this city,
but which were wrested from tho present
incumbent of the Mayors Office in favor of a
gentleman belonging to the party Of which
Mr.. Gray has hitherto been a burning and a
shining light We may be mistaken, but we
believe the almost universal sentiment at
the time was that Democratic State
| Administration had gravcly pronounced this
community unfit to administer It's own JUS
tice in petty cases, and had abrogated all
laws empowering IA city official, elected by
the citizens proper, to hear and determine
minor issues and breaches of the peace aris-
ing between the said citizens.
1t further occurs to us that shortly after
this, the Democratic legislature discovered
that the Water Department of the city could
not be safely entrusted to the care of City
Council Especially when the political COM
plexion of that Council CHANGED to be
Kepublican) aud that it was very desirable
to take the Water Department out of poll
OH inv ai l,nS ha
cratic party regained the control Of the city
government. or this discovery the outcome
was the forcibe transfer of the Water
Department to a comm sscn appointed by
the Democratic Legislature of the State,
which commission, though designed on
/ pd.Ui3 ..t.-partissiii ptidc' PES hasteHe1
to re-appoint the previous democratic incum-
bent of the Office of Chief Eugineer--himself
an active partisan and ward-workor.
Inasmuch as these tri1es occur even to
the average citizens recollection, 1t is hardly
possible that they can have escaped tie
memory of so admittedly able and astute a
gentleman as Mr. Gray. We can only draw
the conclusion therefore that the Repub-
lcans have won over powerful auxiliary
to the cause of local selGgovernment, and
that it is because of a fine sense of the
iniquities of Democratic State legislation
that Mr.. Gray has used the language thus
attributed to him
There seems little doubt that Mr.. Gray
has been correctly reported by the Eceyy
Ereaing, but surely his recollection of the
little Democratic manmuvers above
described must have been at fault when he
went on to say
"Who told you my Republican friends
that the people OF Delaware had so lost their
sell-respect as to need guardians net
appointed by themselves? The power has
been usurped and the purpose is equally
villanous aud an nilaetion of constitutional
rights"
If the appointment Of Republican deputy
marshals to keep order at elections be ar
usurpation of power, surely it is as deiensi-
BILE as the stretching of the theory of State
| Rights to the extent Of depriving com
munty Of seli-goyerment of inlictug on
that community expenses altogether dispro-
portionate to the objects sought to be
attained, for the purpose of providing Demo
Gratis with offices. Surely too, IL is not in keep
lug with a respect for the scIErcspect of the
citizens Of New Castle county to disfran-
chise them by the thousand for the purpose
of ensuring preponderance of votes in the
lower counties, and maintaining party
supremacy in the STATED
Is it possible that Mr., Gray's speech was
a retiued and delicate satire on the actions
of his party? Or is it that he is clingiug
fondIy to some fossil party traditions while
his heart is warming up to conversion ?
Yes, there must be sCme of the Offending
Democratic Adam left in the system of the
Attorney General, for does he not ask plain
tively:-
"When did you hear any but Republicans
set TO guard the polls? How docs it happen
that, for instance, the men selected by
Marshal McMullen are more likely to main.
I AT,