The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-08-27

nVe sessions IN one year. When lne laV
provides that only one session shall be hell
every two years, and to the outrage com
mitted upon the people Of Virginia il
turning out seventeen of the lawful.
elected representatives and seating in thei
stead men who had been repudiated at thu
polls by majority of honestly cast votes
Referring to the capital which the Dem
ocrats are attempting to make over thu
fact that Lee was chosen as aide at Thu
funeral of Gen. Grant, the speaker stated
that the selection was made by Hancock
a Democrat, for political effect. lie ther
paid his respects in gentlemanly way t.
the candidates on the Democratic State
ticket; to civil service reform as inter
preted under Democratic administra
ton. and concluded by attributing the
hard times to the want of confidence
among capitalists who feared to put theil
money out whilst the affairs of the Nation
were in Democratic hands.
Col. Berkeley interspersed his argument
with numerous hits and apt Illustrations
which elected ringing applause, and at the
conclusion of his hours speech the eager
listeners showed no signs of WEAKNESS
but DANGEROUSLY cried for more.
W. E. CRAIG.
Indeed Berkeley speech seemed to put
them in humor to listen all day and they
would scarcely permit him to stop at all.
When he did set down, a wild shout went
up for Craig" and that doughty cam
paigner was almost lifted to the stand.
He jumped in with gloves off, dealing the
blows right and left with a vigor that sent
the audience INTO spasms of shouts. He
referred in clear and convincing terms to
the divertion of 100000 of the School
Fund +; to the law requiring the Board of
Sinking Fund Commissioners to purchase
800, 900 worth of bonds per month, and to
the extraordinary business depression
brought about by the change of admins
tration, and consequent want of confidence
on the part of the men who had emoney.
He declared that the Bourbons had used
the working men to put them in Office,
and then selected broken down aristocrats
for subordinate positions, leaving those
who by their services were entitled to the
rewards to whistle for their pains. Hav-
ing thus shown their attachment. for the
working people, the leaders would now try
to WELD the party lash over them andswhip
them into traces. Craig was continuously
interrupted by applause, which at times
was deafening, and the louder. the crowd
yelled, the harder the speaker hit.
At tie conclusion ringing cheers were
given and the meeting adjourned.
IN THE COURT HOUSE.
Shortly after Mr.. Berkeley commenced
speaking, the ringing of the Courthouse
bell and slight dwindling away of the
crowd announced that the Democratic
orator was taking the stand. Mr.. Stewart
was introduced by Capt. Jas. Bumgardner,
Jr., to an audience which numbered at the
outside three hundred.
The speaker commenced by abiding to
Col. Berkeley as the man who two years
before was a Democratic Ganyasser and
subsequently candidate for Secretary of
State before Democratic legislature. He
then branched off into congratulations
upon the result of the National election,
and upon the fact that the nursery of
spies and inform rs, the internal revenue
system, had been purged and honest men
TO- y1f in oharnn nf IL
also afforded him pleasure to see the post
offices filled by Democrats. The policy of
the Administration would be to pace the
entire Federal patronage in the hands of
its party friends. There might be some
complaint that the Administration is NOV :
ing slowly, but the mills of the Gods grind
that way. Thirty thousand rascals had
been turned out and thirty thousand
honest men put in their places, and 10000
more were to go shortly.
He then adyerted to the Legisla-
ture record of 1882, declaring that the
majority of that House was the most COR
rupt political body that eyer assembled in
the Legislative Hall. He referred to the
contested election case of Frazier and
Lady, denouncing it as an outrage, but
adducing not one single fact to support the
assertion. He charged that the argument
used to secure the passage of the Danville
railroad bill was $4,000 notes. and that
men were bought and sold like sheep. A
few Democrat S, it was true, had voted for
the bill, but they were actuated by sense
of duty to their constituents who lived
along the line of the road. The passage
of the bill was a deliberate theft of
$3.50, 000'' in that it allowed the Company
to pay in Riddl eberger bonds.
To the Republican claim of friendship
for the Public Schools he replied that the
party had turned out of the Office of State
Superintendent DR.. Ruffner. gentleman
who was present at the birth of the sys-
tenn and substituteda man by the name of
Farr, who was unable to spell the simplest
word in the language. He maintained
that a school history used in the public
schools was IAN insult to every ex-Con-
federate." [Some one asked for the name
of the book. The speaker replied that it
twas published by Van Antwerp. Bragg
& Co., but that he could not designate it
further either by name or author, though
he claimed to have carefully examined it
as one of the school trustees of Alexan-
dria.
The speaker then assailed S. Brown
Allen for having appointed his brother-in-
law as collector of delinquent railroad
taxes and said he Twas sorry that Allen
was not present, a statement which made
even the Democrats smile. He also re-
ferred to the Kendall bond contract and
charged corruption. Turning his atten-
tion to Attorney General Blair, he repeated
the old, exploded charges of extra fees for
services which belonged to the Attorney
Generals office proper, and stated that the
Legislature had endeavored to make him
restore the amount. In. this they failed.
The case went to the Court of Appeals and
was there decided against the State. That
decision was not a surprise. No lawyer
pretends to regard the opinions of but two
members of the present Court as of any
sort Of weight. AS for the other three,
lawyers only look at the political status of
the party that they decide against, to ex-
Main tho decision Ono of tho i,dooo hoe