The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-11-18
Principles, not Men.

nent. All over the country there were
urprises to the managers of machine |
'olitics and a healthy manifestation of the
Of the cit izen voter. This
vas no where more pronounced than IN
Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky.
IN each of these States the independent |
roter was about. Sectional and race ap-
,eals, so forceful and effective in the past,
we're unheeded, and the ballot was used to
express the convictions of the men VINO
deposited it. The large and small "bosses''
we're utterly ignored, and for the first
time in many years proper appreciation
Of the rights and immunities OF Citizen
ship was shown. There was notable alb
sence of the drill and discipline of the
want of that arbitrary
which so CRATES upon the in
stincts of manhood, and that intolerance
of freedom of volition and action which
has made election results the mere edIcts
of close, selfish corporations, shaped and
engineered for the advancement OF lndl-
vidual ambitions, and not the welfare OF
the people. In this respect the results re-
corded on the I'd of November have
double significance. They give notice that
the people have been thinking-that they
have been reviewing the past, and have
measured the purposes and objects OF the
politicians and the extent OF the benefits
which have accrued to the masses. They
NJ, n
ture and appropriate their votes, and then
deliberately and contemptuously broken
when power was attained. The reforms
and bountles and blessings which were to
flow from Ring success, have turned into
the bitter ashes of disappointment. In
stead of reform we have had blunders and
mistakes, which in their magnitude have
reached to crimes instead of bounties
and blessings, we have had inaamed preju-
dice and passions, and wrongs and OPP
pressions which have confused and de-
ranged the affairs of State, and brought
fear and ugly threats to all the important
conditions of the Commonwealth.
Mr.. Barbour. one of the bosses, returns
from Europe to find as the fruits of his
partizan successes, the financial condition
of the State deplorable ; the coupons alb
sorbing the reven ues: the public schools
trembling with apprehension; the author
tiles he helped to empower, defying the
supreme judicial tribunal Of the Nation
and the people in revolt against his meth
Ic o,,l Ho hnVvluQr
does not seem to comprehend the revul
sion, and in spirit of bravado proclaims
that the Democratic party will live for
ever" and plainly intimates that he will
invoke the agencies to which, as boss, hi
has heretofore appealed to perpstuate par
titan power. He seems to have learned
nothing from the rebuke his bossism re
ceiyed in his own person, last winter, no.
the st i'll more expressive condemnation
that was inflicted few weeks ago. In hi'
rage he forgets the cause of the shattered
condition of his partizan machine, an(
seeks to hold the President responsible
for the disasters which have come to him.
self and his party, ignoring the fact thai
the fault of the President was in conform
| ing to his and his colleagues demands anC
emphasizing the boss business by enlargins
Its sphere of operation and surrenderins
I'd behests.
will find different condition
"a year hence to that O
~ that the peopI
Ee with hOcc ru1n-
promises and delusiye hopes
DOJ recognize, in State affairs, that eve
ry departure from the legislative policy o.
| the Republicans has been followed by EN-
barrasSIueIrle esua UPprUs1ir~ difficulties
The doht question has become ~y--r..--4~1
and confused to degree that excites thu
grayest fears. The public schools arr
threatened with impoverishment, an(
even the revenues for the support of gov
eminent are endangered by the improvideni
acts of Legislature brought into exis
tence through boss methods and agencies
He will discover that public sentiment il
in open revolt against the revolutionary
measures adopted by a legislative power
created by usurpation and fraud, and tina,
subordinating the public schools and the
election machinery to partizan necessities
has worn out popular patience and in
spired popular disgust. The people have
come to believe that there are other inter
ests to consult than the plans and schemes
of bosses and their satelites-that they
are thinking about their material welfare
the development of the vast resources Of
the Commonwealth, the ingress of capita
and enterprise which shun insane parti
zan legislation to perpetuate sectional ani
race prejudices and disregards the sancti
| ty of the ballot and the spirit of our in
situations, as declared by their found
ers. Mr.. Barbour's kind of Democracy
has been tried and found wanting in Vir
ginia to the sorrow and grief of the peo
Pile. 1t has inflicted evils upon the State,
which are absolutely appalling to the
| thoughtful, conservative understanding
and the popular mind is reaching to and
grasping the facts as they stare them in
| the face.
Nor are the people insensible or indiffer-
ent to the promises and pledges of modern
Democracy as represented in the national
administration. They were promised re.
forms and economies in administration,
and exposures of frauds and corruption
committed by Republicans, which would
attest the wisdom Of the change that was
demanded and effected, and contributes to
the elevation of the standard of civil-ser-
vice and promote theT public good. In
what respect have these pledges been re-
deemed? With the exception of the
qualification of an army of spoilsmen-
the turning out. without cause, of Re-
publicans, and appointing in their stead
Democrats, what has been effected :?
Nothing-absolutely nothing. Without
defined principle or policy as it affects
administration, the party in power has
been incapable of suggesting any change in
the legislation enacted by the Republicans
that would command even the support of
themselves, or be acceptable to the coun-
try. A majority of the Democratic mem
bers have antagonized the President on
the finance question and in their views of
the proper policy for the Treasury De-
partment. They have denounced his civil
..noeooo;o., o,I ,,roxzo1 fo1co To thu