The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-08-26
Look to Results.

Let DO man be deceived in the approach
ing election by political promises. Let all
who would cast their ballots intelligently |
look to the record. The only thing that is
certain is that which is past. If the
Democratic party has fulfilled its pledges
if it has redeemed the promises it made
if its administration has contributed to
the upbuilding of the state and nation and |
the prosperity of the individual, then it is
public duty to endorse it and strive for |
it's continuance. If on the other hand the
pledges it gave remain unredeemed IT the
promises it made were broken 1t the
effect of it's administration has been TO
paralyze business to excite distrust, and
to bring distress upon those whose labor is
their only capital, then it is plain, palpa-
BILE duty to use every honorable means
for the overthrow of party that has
proven so unfaithful to the trust COM
mitted to it. In other words if the cltl-
zen can conscientiously say II have tried
the Democratic party for nearly two years,
ard am well satisfied with the result, =
then in Justice to himself and those de-
pendent upon him. he ought to vote
for a continuance of that condition OF
affairs that has proven so beneficial to him.
If on the contrary, however, in looking
over the business of the past eighteen
months the record shows that the balance IS
on the wrong side of the ledger ; if work
has been scarce and wages low, then it is
his duty to himself and family to enquire
into the causes that have contributed to
the disaster that has overtaken him. Pol
itics are no longer purely sentimental.
Legislation does reach down into individ-
ual life. Whatever affects the state at
| large affects also the various sections OF
that state, and thence descends in greater
or less degree to the humblest homes.
It is idle to contend that the enactments
of law are not felt in every day affairs
that measures of public interest are mere
abstract questions, useful only as themes
for Congressional debates and neither de-
signed nor intended to serve practical
purpose. To illustrate this we need only
refer to single measure that has tec0me
more or less familiar to every intelligent
reader If the last Congress cost nothing
more, it has certainly cost the county OF
Augusta alone $125, OO0 which would have
come to us under the Blair Educational
| Bill. as it twice passed Republican SEN
ate and was twice killed in a Democratic
House. But for Democratic Congress
we would to-day have been in the enjoy
| ment of that munificent sum, and the
children of the county would be reaping
it's benefit. This measure alone would
have reached to nine-tenths of the humber
homes in this county, and. in the same pro-
portion to every county and state OF the
South. The result would have been that
the children of the poor would have had
the advantage of good schools, without
addional cost to our people.
Again The distrust and apprehension
brought about by the threatened passage
of the Morrison bill produced business
stagnation almost without parallel in the
history of this country. The manufac-
turers knew that Congress was dominated
by a majority of practical free traders that
if their aims and purposes were carried
out the duties upon importations would
be abolished, or reduced~to so low figure
that competition, under our system of
labor, would be impossible. Men, there
fore, who had capital boarded it in the
banks. Investments in mineral develop
ment and manufacturing enterprises came
to a standstill. The laborers who would
have been employed to operate these in
dustries were thrown out Of employment
or worked on shorter time at lower wages.
They were consequently unable to buy
more than the bare necessities of life, and
| the artisans who had heretofore furnished
them with little comforts and luxuries
| found no PURCHASERS IUr GIIeIT waIeo, anu
they in turn curtailed their forces and cut
down wages. The farmer who furnished
the meat discovered that men who were
working for a bare pittance could not
afford to buy beef six times a week. AS a
result the consumption of beef was cur
tailed, and the prices tumbled. The farm
| laborer was told that inasmuch as his en-
ployer was making nothing out Of his
products, that he was unable to pay the
former wages, and that he must either
work for less per diem or else work fewer
days. And so On through a II the ramifica-
lions of trade, of commerce and of pro-
duction. A general stagnation, traceable
to the one primal cause, pervaded all
classes and penetrated every section. 1t
turned energetic, Industrious mechanics
into corner loafers. 1t transformed COM
Portable homes into the abodes of want.
1t sent throughout the land an army of
tramps and it has filled the very air with
the mutterings of discomfort. The one
good accomplished is that it has set the
working classes to thinking for them
selves. They have had ample time for
reflection. 1t was time that hung heavily
upon their hands, but the lesson it taught
has not been without value. At length
and at last they are beginning to see the
fruits of their own folly. They are feeling
the effects of their own indifference. and
if we mistake not the signs of the times,
when the hour for action comes they in
tend to speak with an emphasis and act
with determination that will be decisive.
The verdict they shall render will have no
uncertain sound. And when they strike,
they will strike at the head and front of
the offending.