Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-12-28
THE SENATORIAL QUESTION.
Is 1t a Crime to Earn Wealth by Honest
Effort?

| Is NJ u NEllht - EAaEh "CAAA W II
Effort?
RAvENswOOD, w. Va, December 20.
To the Editor Of the Register:
Much is said of late about who shall
succeed our senior Senator, and some of
our own party friends appear to have
Joined in the opposition of our opponents
to the reelection of Senator Camden.
What private grieis they have, alas, we
know not" but the Democracy of Jackson
county takes no stock in such spirit of OPP
position. We point with pride to the good
name, the energy. industry and abilities
which elevated both our Senators To the
positions they adorn, not because we have
not many men in the State Us able and
worthy IS they, but because u sense of
Justice requires us 10 speak the truth, and
policy dictates that in offices of this kind
we should choose men who, other things
being equal, have had the largest expert
ence in the service in question. This pol
icy long shed lustre on the position OF Old
Virginia in the Senate.
But they talk about Standard Oil" and
say that Senator Camden is rich;'' well.
who would not like to strike OIL" and
the laudable desire to get money is not
confined to Mr.. Camden and his friends,
''by a large majority"
We thought that a man who had so long
attended TO his own affairs with such con-
slant zeal and ability rs to win success in
a field of enterprise here in our hills, where
thousands of others failed, might safely be
tr,stoJ 9TH Tho af.,;ro 81 tba Duhl;o opJ
we were not mistaken in our man. The
writer voted for Mr.. Camden for Senator
and has been often in Washington since
and can safely assert that no Senator of
his age and service stands higher, or is
more respected for his ability and sound
practical common sense than Mr.. Camden,
and therefore his influence is great for
good among his associates in the
Senate and elsewhere; so that he
has been able to draw to his
great public enterprises for the material
development of our State, men and means
from abroad. Men of capital nave conf
dence in his judgment, and therefore Joined
him in the several great works he has &C
cOmplished for the public good. Had he
not been a man of means, and one whose
doAAAlAcS AuSpAlCu liz CuullutuCc VI OtueT
men Of means, his usefulness would he far
less. 1t requires vast sums of money TO
build railroads, and only men of means can
do it.
Shall we teach our school boys that it is
vile to have money, and degrading 10 earn
wealth by honest effort, and point them
TO our successful men as examples to be
Stunned? 1t will be a dark day in our
land when the Democracy lends an eager
ear TO the wolf cry OF the commune.
My acquaintance with Mr.. Camden
dates back to 1850, when he came,
with many Others to Writ county, then
my home, to prospect for oil: and in 1861,
when the war broke out, it found him in n
miners camp, on the banks of the Little
Kanawha river, laboring to develop the
vast mineral resources OF his native Vir-
ginia; and, like a man of sense, instead of
joining in the mad excitement of the
times he quietly worked on, and attended
to his own business; and if all the other
men on both sides had done the same, who
will say that it would have been worse
for the Democracy and the country?
He helped to build up a large interest in
the oil production, and the great enter
prises that resulted therefrom, in dis