The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-10-29
Mr.. Ayres' Speech.


0 the Club room,sas we wished to bear
With our own ears the kind Of speech the
Bourbon candidate for the important posi-
ion Of Attorney General would make.
During the time We listened to him he
touched on number of topics. 1t could
lot be dignified by the designation of
discussion of any one point. The speech
was disconnected, the subjects desultorily |
mentioned, but nothing like a logical ar
was attempted. Indeed, we do
not think Mr.. Ayres understood single
question that he presented, while we were |!
present. If he did, he studiously refrained |
from demonstrating that such was the
case. While we heard him he referred to
The Public Schools The Blair Bill
lizard Times and in this connection to
the surplus" in the Treasury, the public
lands and railroad subsidies; the. Internal
Revenue; the administration of the Read
justers in State affairs and the Republi-
cans in National affairs, interspersed
with lavish abuse of Malone and Wise.
In referring to the school question he
either did not know, or failed to state that
the Public School System was the product
Of the constitution framed and adopted by
a Republican Convention that it was
mandatory upon the Legislature next sue
ceeding the ratification of that Constitu-
tion by the people to put it into operation,
and that in 1851 was to be brought to
perfection. He failed to state that the
Legislature which enacted the law inau-
gurating the Public Schools, also passed
the Funding Bill of 1871, conceived and
framed by a Governor elected by what is
now the Democratic party, and passed by
a Legislature. elected by what is now the
Democratic party that tins Bill pro-
vided for the tax-reeeiyable coupons, and
that a Democratic Supreme Court, not
withstanding the Constitution dedicated
certain revenues to Free School purposes,
decreed that all taxes and dues to the
State, not excepting those set apart by the
Constitution for the Schools, were payable
| in tax-receivable, coupons; that these
.scut-worms' of the Treasury absorbed
the revenues of the schools, and by reason
of this the whole system. was brought to
the verge of ruin. No plan Or provision
was suggested or enacted by this Demo.
cratic Legislature to preserve this benefi.
cent institution for the education of the
children of the Commonwealth. Fifteen
hundred thousand dollars belonging to the
schools were diverted to the bondh0lders
bringing decay and death to the whole
system.
Not until the Readjusters came int
power was this ruinous policy arrested
They took hold of the question with hero
ic purpose provided the means for thu
schools. brought them into life and health
doubling the schools and the teachers and
pupils in a very short time. And it wa
not until the Bourbons again passed t
power that apprehension was entertained
for their continuance-the present audi
tor Withholding 100000, (which properl!
belongs to them. All the laws which are
now in operation for their protection art
of Republican enactment-the officers wht
administer the laws are Republicans, ant
it is to the Republicans alone that they
can look for that measure of support es
sentialIto their success.
As to the Blairs Bill. every informed
person knows that it lis Republican
measure, supported mainly by Republicans
and opposed mainly by Democrats in Con
gress, and that every Democrat who heart
Mr.. Ayres voted to elect to Congress from
this district gentleman who proclaimed
his opposition to it from every stump. ant
was indeed, the member who secured TIT
defeat of the measure in the last Congress
1t is simply trifiing with public intelli
gence for Mr.. Ayres or any other Bourbon
to assert otherwise than that the Blair Bill
was defeated by Democrats in the Hous
which had II Democratic majority, afte
it had passed the. Republican Senate.
/ Mr.. Ayers explanation O.. Hard Times
was novel and original, and probably nj
other man in the State would be Willing
to accept his solution. He claimed tina
there were $500, 100000 lying idle il
the Treasury-money drawn from the PEG
pie and the channels of trade, thus caus
ing depression in business and stagna
tion in all industries. Since Mr.. Hen
bricks formulated this original theory
there has been elected Democratic Pres
ident. The first report of the Democrati
Secretary of the Treasury, informed thu
public that there were at the close OF tn
fiscal year about ST., OO0, 900 available rev
enues in the Treasury, and the apprehen
sion is that under the operation of exist
ing laws this surplus will be reduced be
fore the 1st of January. Mr.. Ayers can
not understand, of course, that the pro
misses of the government are sacred
that every dollar of specie in the Treasur
is pledged for circulation now among th
people, and that really there is nothing il
the Treasury that the government ca
claim. 1t is merely deposit-pledge t
redeem the gold and silver certificates AM
greenbacks, which constitute the bulk o
the currency that is used for the commerce
and trade of the country Yet he argue'
that each man had been robbed Of 81 t
make up this four hundred million sur
plus, and that was the reason of "hart
times.'' No. Mr.. Ayres, there is no sur
plus in the treasury upon which to predi
cate your theory. Frustrated business AM
''hard times'' result from the distrust O
the business men of the country of thu
Democratic party. They know that ever.
measure that aided in bringing unparal
lelled prosperity to the Nation was op
posed by the Democrats in Congress, ant
if the policy their votes indicated hat
been adopted, commercial bankruptc.
would now be the heritage of the people
This is the cause of 'shard times'' ant
nothing else. 1t is a Democratic Ere,
Trade nightmare.
T Mr.. Ayers grew pathetic yer the public
lands, which he said were the homestead
rights of the people, ignorant of the fac
that the last Democratic President vetoed
homestead act, and that not until thu
Republicans got power was one passed