Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-09-16

nOpeQ Gncy WOulu lOllOW Gno SGduudlu III"
put into his hands by the Democratic party
in times when gentle peace with out
stretched wings hovers over the land. He
congratulated the audience on the auspi-
cious signs of success of the Democratic
ticket. What means this grand demonstraS
ton? He felt bound to the noble people OF
Augusta by many endearing ties Augusta
had given solid vote for him isffhe conven-
ton, and he felt bound to hsr as by ''bands
of iron and hooks of STEEL" He felt Sire
she would do her yhole duty on the,fd of
November
When, shGrt time ago, he,9as down at
the seashore lisfez2ing to what the wild
wayes were saying, he soke to 5000 peo-
Pc at Accomack G. 4. Frank s. Blair,
the Republican candidate for Attorney
General was theSe at the same me, speak
ing to an audience, by actual count, of 81
oo'ored, a1d 80 white people. Accomack,
ne nag /been told there, would give him
toVymajority. ''What," he asked, twill
Augusta do9" The reply was, ssShe will
follow Accomack.''
Gen. Lee said that every bteeze that
sweeps from our majestic mountains whis-
pers of victory. Wherever he has been
since he entered upon his canvass lin every
county he has visited-the Indications are
most gratifying and suspicious ola glorious
victory.
What mean those long professions in
Rockbridge-what means this outpouring
of the people here? Itmeans that the peo-
pie are at last awaking to the evils of boss
ism and Mahoneism that they have been
aroused to consider the question whether
| the people should control the government,
or the government control the people.
Whether the President had the right to
commission one man here and another there
| to do his will, and not that of the people
The people are to be congratulated on the
change in the national administration If,
as seemed to have been contemplated, an
| effort had been made to cheat the people a
second time out of the President they had
elected, there would have hessn bloodshed,
for the people have determined that whom
they elect shall. rule them.
+ ~ the time he was on the staff of Gen.
Hancock, attending the obsequies of Gen.
Grant, trying to bring the people back to
| the principles Of the Union-to cement the
sections-to Americanize and Nationalize
! the government-for we have but one ruler,
one set of laws, one destiny-at that very
time, the N. Y Tribune was charging that
he had been selected as the nominee of the
Democratic party for the purpose of incul-
eating sectional views, and inspiring the
people with rebellious spirit. Whilst he
was, figuratively speaking, waving the star
spangled banner, these extreme Republi-
cans were waving the bloody shirt.
That is what John Sherman, the bosom
friend of the Boss's candidate for Governor
in this State, is now doing in Ohio. This
class of Republicans make great cutlery
because such men as Lamar, Garland, and
Bayard, are in the cabinet. Their real OBJ
lection to them is that they are Democrats,
and not that they were ''rebels' in time of
war, for they put in office in their own par
ty such ''rebels" as Gen. Longstreet, John
| S. Mosby, and Key, of Tennessee. If
| Lamar, Garland, and Bayard, were to an
nounce themselves Republicans their loyal
| ty would not be questioned. The fact that
man served in the Southern army does not
l 1frO "a
of peace. Those who make the best sol
diers in war, make the most peaceful and
liberty-loving citizens in time of peace
THE PUBLIC DEBT.
| What are the issues in this canvass in this
State? The debt is not one of them, for
| that is cf the past, and we are looking to
the dawn. The funding bill Of 1871 got
more Republican than Democratic votes.
The Democrats were equally divided, whilst
all the Republicans, with the exception of
one, voted for it. After the people had act
ed on the question, the Democrats, recog-
nizing the right of the people to rule, acqui-
esced and submitted to their decision. The
State Convention of the Democratic party
in Lynchburg acquiesc ed-the Democratic
| Legislature did the same-and the same
policy was reiterated by the last Democrat
ic Convention in Richmond. We have now
a greater question than that of mere dollars
and cents-the question whether the people
of the State have right to the regulate their
| own internal affairs, as the Constitution of
| the United States provides, or whether they
are to be ruled bya power outside of the State
Observation-Disclosures Federal Judges shall
put their hands into the treasury and divert
the money to different purpose than that
| designed by the Taxpayers. If it had been
contemplated that such a construction
would ever have been put upon the Consti-
ton of the United States, it never would
have been ratified by the Convention of
Virginia. He said he would not discuss
the debt question further, but would leave it
to Maj. Daniel, who was lawyer Of ability
and had been in the Legislature, to whom
he would bow his farmers head.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
What are the issues +? The schools are
one. Mr.. S. Brown Alien had said in Allie
ghany that eff Lee were elected, goodbye
to the public schools - In letter written
by him in 1877, and which had lately been
published, he said that the schools were CO.
existent with the State itself-that when the
schools would die, the State would die.
The statistics show that there are now
more schools, more pupils, more school
books, and more school money than ever
before. The Democrats are the friends of the
schools; have established and fostered them,
and they are prospecting, as never before
under Democratic administration. He said
he would not like to apply harsh epithet
to the man who says he is not friend of
the public schools, but it recalled to his
mind the anecdote of the good Quaker who
did not wish to tell his friend Thomas that
he was ''big liar, and who said to him
ssThornas if the Govarnor c,or1J CO, 70