Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-02-01
MEN AND THINGS AT WASHINGTON.

Since the election OF Mr.. Reed as
Speaker the Republicans in the HOUSE
suffer greatly for want of leadership.
The Republican majority is so small that
this loss Is felt most keenly at the present
time because the contest over the adop-
ton of the new rules and the case of the
contested seats requires both skill and
ability in order to insure success Mr..
Mckinley is the only one who in any
measure possesses the qualities requisite
for leadership. but unfortunately that
gentleman has devoted his time to a
study of the tariff question rather than to
the rudiments of parliamentary law. con-
Isequently he is poorly equipped for the
place. A survey of the Republican side
brings home the fact that we are in the
midst of period of transition from the
old to the new, and that the public men
who have figured as leaders for the past
thirty years have passed away and the
occasion demands q new generation to
fill their places. This offers an unusual
opportunity for distinction, as the House
is a far better field for the display Of
brilliant qualities than the Senate. and
the country as well as the Republican
party win look anxiously for some new
Richmond to fill the place once occupied
by Blaine, Garfield and Reed.
The sensation of the past week has
been the speech delivered by Senator In
gals on the race question. The previous
announcement that Mr.. Ingalls, would
speak drew a crowded audience, and his
speech has excited great interest in every
part of the country. 1t was mastery
effort, and its telling points are freely
conceded by those who differ most wide
| 4 1. = L =. IL IL 10
be regretted that he did not offer solu-
ton Of the most difficult question with
which the country has had to deal since
the close of the civil war. The remedy
proposed by him is a free and fair cleo
ton in the South. This seems very
reasonable on the surface, but we are
confronted With the fact that tho attain
ment of such an end is most difficult, II
not absolutely impossible, under existing
circumstances. The Southern whites are
determined that the negro shall not vote,
and they justify their opposition on the
ground that the result would be to
Africanize the gulf and cotton states and
thus overthrow civilization in the South.
The situation, briefly stated, is the con-
troll of elections by Winchester rifles on
the one hand and force bill ON the 9TH
err. The former means the overthrow of
Republican institutions by armed force.
and the other the humiliation of the
federal government through the nullifi-
cation of federal statute. All history
proves that a law obnox ious to the inteili-
gence and wealth of community is sure
to meet with resistance, and to fail of
execution, hence federal election law
would prove failure. This race ques-
ton is difficult one and can
oh
the exercise of mutual concession and
enlightened craftsmanship. 1t is useless
to say that time will bring the proper
remedy, for the continuance of the present
state of affairs in the South is sure to
produce conflicts between tho two races
which will be followed by violence and
bloodshed. Politicians. great and small,
endeavOr to steer clear of this problem
because they fear that a wrong position
once taken might ruin their individual
fortunes. The country needs men of
moral courage, and it will be more ready
; to forgive mistakes than to excuse the
moral cowardice which prompts the
evasion of public duty. The race ques-
ton can only be settled through mutual
concession inspired by patriotic desire
to promote the peace and prosperity of
the country. Are we doomed to look in
vain for some man who can lead the
country out of this great difficulty
Messrs. Carlisle and Mills have long
taken delight in styling themselves the
special friends of the farmer, and the
Mills bill was designed by its advocates
to destroy the policy of protection upon
the ground that free trade would benefit
the agricultural classes +: hence it must
be matter of chagrin to them that the
farmers who have appeared before the
Ways and Means Committee have not
asked for reduction of the tariff, but
have absolutely demanded a protective
tariff to their own benefit They wish
the tariff of twenty-five cents per bushel
on potatoes, four dollars per ton on hay
and five cents per dozen on eggs. This
would indicate that the championship of
Carlisle and Mills has been wholly
voluntary, and has not been at
the request of the agriculturalists for
whose interest they affect SO much con-
Germ. In this connection it is somewhat
remarkable that the English who have
expended so much sympathy upon us for
our supposed folly in adhering to the
policy of protection should manifest so
much eagerness to extend their business
acquisitions in country which persists
in turning deaf ear to their woeful pre-
dictions concerning the future of Ameri-
ca while she adheres to the protective
tariff. They are constantly purchasing
-four mills, brew cries, cotton mills and
other manufacturing establishments at
such rate as to lead one to believe that
they really considered protection prety
good thing, and are determined to secure
a share of its benefits. Fortunately for
America it has no foreign complications,
and it proposes to pursue such policy
as will best promote the welfare of the
masses of its people rather than to fol-
low III lines of trade and commerce
which produce but two classes in En-
gland. known to the world only as the
very rich and very poor. The American
policy should ever be one which secures
the well being Of the peasant as against
that of the prince ; Of the sturdy yeoman
who turns the sod to be warmed by the
sun of heaven, rather than the stately
lord who lives in princely magnificence
upon his domain Of the miner who digs
the unhidden wealth from the bowels of
the earth, as against the ironmonger who
sends his feet from the docks at Liver
pool to gather wealth in every corner of
the globe of the toiling laborer, whose
footsteps know no rest from sun to sun,
as against the exclusive class which en-
joys hereditary privileges and basks in
the sunshine of royalty.
G. w. z. BLACK.