The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-10-01

BROWN ALLEN ADDRESSES A SPLENDID
AUDIENc AN EFFECTIVE AND TELL


ING SPEECH.
ii Monday last was big Court day Th
town was filed with people. Not for
long time has there been such turnout O
the country folks, and not during this cam
paign have the Republicans been in sucl
high feather. They were bright, hopeful
and determined in the morning, and aftel
the speaking were enthusiastic and jubi
liant. Promptly at IL O'Clock they poured
into the Courthouse, and before Brown
Allen had spoken fifteen minutes the room
was damned and packed. There were I
greater number of actual voters present
than when Lee and Daniel spoke, fol
every spot was occupied by man, whilst
at the Democratic meeting number Of
ladies and boys were present.
In the absence of the County Chairman
J. Yost introduced the speaker, who was
greeted with ringing applause as he adj
vaneed to the front. Although suffering
from hoarseness and sore throat, Allen
held the undivided attention of the au-
dience for an hour and a half. and the
hearty applause with which his address
was from time to time punctuated, proved
that his hearers were thoroughly appre
ciative.
The speaker commenced by stating that
he was glad of the opportunity of address
ing an Augusta audience, upon any occa
sion, but at this time it afforded him spec
ial qualification, as it enabled him to char
acterize as it properly deserved the con-
temptible fling of Lee in his Staunton
speech. Lee had stated here, that he had
been informed that Allen had said, that
should the Democratic party succeed in
this campaign every school house in the
State would be closed, and upon that basis
the gubernatorial candidate had a6vered
that if the report were true then Allen was
the biggest liar in the Commonwealth.
Every man with two grains of sense knew
that he 1.-THE speaker) had made no such
statement, and none knew it better than
FitZ Lee himself. But he had chosen this
indirect, sneaking mode. of striking an
enemy in the back, when he had avoided
every opportunity of meeting that enemy
face to face. At Lexington, before he
male the statement, and at Harrisonburg
afterwards, Lee had declined to- meet the
speaker and hear for himself what he had
to say, and he Allen) as poor as he was,
would travel thousand miles and give
$500 for the privilege Of meeting Lee in
discussion and telling him exactly what
he thought of such tactics.
Before this unjustitiable assault, tee
speaker had always referred to the Demo-
cratic candidate in courteous terms, but
he could now have no respect for man
who showed his unworthiness for the posi-
| ton he sought by resort to such cow
4 ardly practices.
In telling sentences Allen then con-
trasted the two State tickets, dwelling with
emphasis upon the services rendered the
State by the Republican candidates and to
the records and want of record Of their
| competitors. But, said he, this is
not so much contest of men as it is of
measures. The two parties now asking
popular suffrage are each distinctly iden-
titled with important measures of legisla-
ton. and upon those measures the people
are called upon to pass. The speaker then
succinctly and clearly reviewed the re-
cords OF the two parties on the debt ques-
ton. showing how the Democratic party,
after pledging itself to the Riddleberger
settlement, had so mutilated that measure
as to strip it OF it's strength and security,
and thrust the debt question, with all its
disturbing consequences, again into the
political arena. He then discussed briefly
the.hard times, tariff and the other prom
inent questions engaging public attention,
and showed how the prevailing depression
had been brought about by Democratic
stupidity and perversity.
: Reviewing the condition of the State
under the administration of the respective
parties. the speaker said that whilst it was
unnecessary to even attempt to enumerate
the false and foul assertions that had been
made against prominent Republicans in
the State, charging them with stealing
hundreds of thousands from the Treasury,
that this must be recognized as true
when the Republican party came into
power they found a treasury of $22, 900
with outstanding warrants against that
amount for $165,000. In other words the
treasury was over $4,000 worse than
nothing. When they turned it over net
only had hundreds of thousands of Demo-
| q off L,,< 10
had been reduced 20 per cent, the out
standing warrants had all been met, and
surplus of 81 500, 900 had been left to their
successors. That in brief is the financial
record of this party composed of thieves
and robbers" and the plain common
sense facts are the best refutation of the
mendacious charges preferred by these
| immaculate Democrats.
Mr.. Allen in turn then discussed the
free-school system, and the outrageous
acts of the last Legislature in unseating
sixteen lawfully elected delegates, and
giving their places to sixteen partizans
whom the people had rejected at the polls.
In adverting to the Anderson Electoral
JILL. uAuCl 10 plOpOnOO w COulu
in the Democratic party whether it re-
ceives the majority of the votes cast or
not, he illustrated the working of the law
by reference to the recent election for
Supervisors in Norfolk county, where by
an unblushing system of fraud the Repub
lican candidate was counted out. When
the election came to be investigated SO
bare-faced was the fraud disclosed that
the Democratic candidate, who had re-
ceived the certificate of election retired
from the contest and surrendered his office
to his competitor.
In closing, the speaker made fervid
appeal to his hearers to come to the polls
and cast their ballots against such party.
and then see that the ballots are counted
as cast.
When Allen had concluded, and after
the persistent cries of Ego on,'' Ego on. y
had subsidized, calls were made for j. Yost
who responded briefly, and was succeeded
by Mr.. Heber Ker, who was persistently
called upon and acknowledged the compli-