The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-05-09
mo More. an thou Lowest me. Hail.


1t is stat ed HAT Senator Quay, of Penn
sylvania is pressing tie appoint OF
MI GIlkeson, uf that State, for the va
cant J I'D seShip III the South. II AIDE SO oy
the death of Judge Settle, Of North Car
DINA. MIR. GilkesOn was recently can
didate for the tflice CT Solicitor OF the
Interior Department.. and was favored by
Senator Quay Senator Sherman had
candidate for The same place, III "A Mi.
Hart, CT Ohio who was appointed. The
Pennsylvania Senator was dispeased at
the result, AID said some very ugly things
about Senator Sherman, intimating that
an agrt emeIt bet ween them had been vio-
lated.
This tile personal con. roversy reveals
two thirgs Fist, that the two Srnat Ors
had arranged to control certain patronage
and ore of them was disappointed. Sec
ond, that falling tn co,nhani the posi-
lions claimed by the North, it is regarded
legitimate to invade thu South and appro-
pirate appointments relating especially to
Southern interests and rights, and recog-
nized by former administrations as proper
to be filled by appointment from the
South.
Upon the presumption that the conf
dent statement Of the newspapers as to
the candidacy for the vacant judgeship
in the South, is true, we think it about
time for Southern Republicans to speak
out. The South has been thus far prac
tically ignored in all the more important
positions Out of the fourteen South ern
States it has not heen thought proper
to give any prominent appointments. eX-
cept Two Or three second grade consul
ships. Tint is bad enough. 1t would be
Infinitely worse. were a Northern gentle
man 10 be selected to fill a vacancy III the
Federal Judiciary, made 50 by the death
of native of the South, the Jurisdiction
of which is exclusively in the Southel n
States.
We cannot think that Senator Quay
will press his friend for such a position
and much less could we believe that Il Q
President would so far refsc upon the
Republicans of the South as to yield to
the request should it be made.
The delay in making appointments to
the local offices aud the more fragrant neg
lect manifested in other appointments not
of a local character, have not been calcu
lated to enthuse Southern Republicans.
If they ale not to be recognized us hav-
ing equal rights in the party with the
Republicans of other States there ought
to be plain statement to that effect. A
considerable amount of ghoe-leather, as
well as shekels, would be saved by those
who have been lowering around Wash
ington for two months. waiting for
IS ,mething to tnrn up" by returning
home and attending to their legitimate
business, and trying to turn an honest
panny by the sweat of their brow. if their
opportunities for office are hot to be re-
spected. Southern Republicans. like all
ther Republicans. as we'll as Democrats,
want the Offices and want them badly, and
ought TO have their share, The South
W Il rally to the flag SO long as there is an
office in sight, and even when that great
boon Of patriotism is not within grasp,
they will send up shout for the starry
banner, in the hope that by some strange
freak of fortune, the lightning may
accidently strike them. Hope springs i'm
mortal in the human breast, as is emil
nently illustrated in the daily tramp from
cheap boarding houses to the Departments
and examining the corridors with Il NOV ing
ihass, awaiting nod or word from some
one near the throne or from the throne
itself. Curses, sometimes both loud and
deep, swell up from the tired and weary
pilgrims, but nothing dannted, they sum-
mon fresh courage for another onslaught as
each days sun glds the horizon and passes
to the meridian. indicating the hour
when the doors swing open for miscellane-
Gus admission. even If the wee small
hours of the morning have found them
engaged in an innocent game of ten cent
ante, to which only the irksome night was
disappointment. Flanagan struck the
key note and won Immortality, when he
famed out in the Chicago Convention Of
1880 the talismanic words hat are we
here for if not for the otlices?"
Inspiration itself could not have nj
uttered a more PATRIOTIC sentence. and
from that time on Flanagan mas been
cannonized and the sentiment so grandIy
declared. has been the shibboleth of SUI
fering patriots from all sections and of all
convictions. Take away the offices and
political life would be dreary and not
worth living. Were it not for the emo
lions stirred by the hope OF office, how
| could the weary seeker endure the ''shngs
Of outrageous fartanfsj" the torture of
empty pocket books; the unGuenched
thirst in sight of tantaliZing cocktails,
so near and yet so far; and the sickening
disappointment, when the daily paper
gives a list of the appointments with tie
! South left out.
1t is.cruel, and ''n0 more an thou lowest
me, Hal