The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-04-01
Virginia an Exception

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Senate should bear in mind in consider
ing the appointments Of the President,
that Virginia is an exception to all other
States-made so by the representations of
the very hungry and very thirsty best
people, and the action of the President.
1t was openly announced that every Re
publican in Virginia who held office I'M
der the government should be summarily
dismissed, because they were all morally
and mentally unfit for public trust. The
threadbare, seedy scions of the first fam
ilies'' banded together in a raid upon the
departments and clamored for what they
considered their birthright under Demo
cratic administration. 1t mattered not
whether they came from the gutter. the
grOg-shop or the store box, there could be
no question entertained of their superior
qualifications for official position, as they
royalty laid claim to being of the "best
people, and wore the tag of the Demo-
cratic party. That was sufficient in the
eyes of the Congressional cabal which sat
in judgment upon the officers and appor-
toned and dispensed the spoils to the
faithful. The guillotine was put in mo-
ton and with indiscriminate and relentless
fury, almost every Republican officer in
the State was decapitated. Had the reason
assigned for this wholesale slaughter been
openly announced as political and that the
victOrs were entitled to the spoils, no one
would or should have complained. 1t was
what ali Republicans expected. But the
reason assigned and presumably accepted
by the administration was moral and men
tai unfitness. For the Republicans in the
Senate to vote for the confirmation Of the
nominations to succeed suspended officers
in this State, would be tantamount to an en-
dorsement of the atrocious ISLANDERS which
that would imply. The way to treat the
appointments in this State, in the place of
suspended officers, would be to reject every
one of them. 1t is die to the Republi-
cans of Virginia that it should be done,
and the Republican Senators will not do
their duty to their party friends and to
justice and right, if they do not do so.
-> ~---
General Master Workman, T. V. Pow
derby, the head of the order of Knights of
Labor has issued an address counseling
against strikes and advising patience and
prudence in dealing with the labor ques-
tions. He gives wholesome advice. In
deed the letter which wepublish elsewhere
may be read with profit and interest by all
Ill L,
gently, dispassionately and practically. 1t
points out plainly the greatest danger
which threatens the permanency and pros
perity of the order. The rapid increase
of it's membership within the past two
months has introduced an element of
weakness which it will be difficult to coun-
teract. The General organizing his army
for an active, aggressive advance. or a pro-
longed seige, does not count his strength
by the number of mouths to be fed. 1t is
in the skill. the tried courage and effective
discipline of veterans that he relies.
whilst the raw recruits, camp-follOwers
and consumers are but so many drains
upon his resources-so many impedimeDts
to the effective operation of his troops.
So it is in this labor movement. The very
magnitude of the organization is it's most
powerful antagonist. Its numerical force
will paralyze its effectiveness. With daily
and hourly increasing Numbers, it must of
necessity soon reach beyond the limits of
control and fall by it's own unwieldiness.
Mr.. Powderly takes staEd against the
introduction of politics into the order, and
he is right Between the two political
parties asking the suffrage of the working
man he should be allowed to choose as his
best judgment may dictate The effect of
legislation as it pertains to his own indi-
vidual interests should be his chief polit-
ical concern, as it is with other men. It
is from legislation, more than from any
other one thing, that real relief must come.
To remedy the evil complained of there
must be publication of the primal source.
Workingmen, as a class. have been the
tools and footballs Of professional politi-
Clans. Under the effect of appeals to
prejudice and passion they have elected
men to represent them who have nothing
in common with them. Their sympathies.
their interests, their aspirations, as class.
are antagonistic. The laws they make are
for the benefit of the representatives and
not of the people, and they will so continue
until men take practical view of politics
and throw the weight of their vote and in
fluence in their own behalf What is
needed now in the halls of the State Assem-
bly, and National Congress, is plain com
mon sense business men, to make plain.
common-sense business laws. We have
had enough of demagoglsm and party |
petism. Working people and society GEN i
orally have suffered by it long enough. 1t
oehooves every man who works with his
hands or his head to so far divorce himself +
rom party trammels that his vote will
count in practical way--count for his own
interest and the good of his class.