Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1891-12-16
Tne Columbian Exposition.


view presented in your issue of Sunday
morning, touching the exhibition OF the
industry of all nations To be given at Chi
cago in 1898, to challenge the attention
of The legislature and people OF Virginia.
And first; permit me To say, that, while
should favor having a suitable repre-
sentalion there of the great resources oi
Virginia, | hardly think it would be
seemlv, or altogether comport with the
condition of commonwealth that has
asked It's creditors To scale down their
claims To about sixty cents on the dollar,
and receive thereon, for 4 period of ten
wears, an unnterested rate of two per
cent. per auuum, To appropriate from The
public treasury the large amount asked
for by the Norfolk convention. Yet,
would not be slickler about that, con-
sidering the benefit that might result TO
the State at large from a proper repre-
sentation of her products in such an ex'
hibition.
But the question arises Can the re-
moved and reconstructed Libby prison.
and the John Brown Fort, in any prop
er sense he constituted or accepted as ex.
amples of 'he industries Of this nation :
And what are the motives prompting the
removal from Virginia. and reerectlon at
the site of the exhibition, OF these memen-
toes of strife, suffering aud b boodshed 2
Why, obviously, in the first place 10
make money tor the projectors OF those
il-advised schemes; aud, secondly, TO
foster morbid feeling OF sectional ha-
tred
The old Libby prison, that served a
necessary purp Sc iii time OF war; Is to be
! exhibited rs Il constant reminder of the
alleged cruellies perpeIrated by "lhe
monster jeff Davis, and his subordinates,
upon Union prisoners. And this old
relic OF "lhe wicked rebellion is TO be
set up at the exhibition, wi h all the
slanders associated with it, TO serve as a
standing insult to southern people, espe-
cially Virginians?
And the John Brown Fort, where "lhe
martyr to freedom was besieged aud
captured by United Stale soldiers, is to
stand there as the apoIheosis Of horse
tibet and murderer-an oiiense to every
Virginian aud southerner who may de-
sire 10 visit the exposition And what
was John Brown IA man whose lanali.
cism took ON the form Of the most malig-
naut hatred Of the white people Of the
south Apart from bis well aulhentca-
ted robberies aud murders when Kansas
was fighting ground for the forces of
slavery aud freedom is it not true that
he was AN insurrecliunist aud murderer
in Virginia? Dld he not take possess.ou
of property and arms belonging TO the
federal government, on ground ceded by
Virginia to that Power; fight against
"the hag" that foated over II, aud in the
struggle, slay at least one soldier Of the
Republic? That is just what he did but
not all. lie killed unofending and un-
armed citizens, and the first victim Of his
midnight foray upon peaceful town, in
the quiet hours Of the Sabbath, was a
worthy negro man whom this writer
knew well ; and that for no other reason
than his refusal to take up arms against
the popuace with which he WAS identified.
And from that very Fort, where he
had incarceraled a number of leading cit
izens of the town as hostages, to protect
him from the bullets Of justly incensed
people, he shot and killed the venerable
Mayor of the town, Fontaine Beckham,
while peacefully prosecuting his duties as
agent of the Baltimore & Onio Railroad
Company, at Harper's Ferry Such was
John Brown and such the effect, in part
only, of his murderous assault upon a
quiet town, government post, in tn
Stiffness of the Sabbath night
And now, "the wicked rebellion, and
"the barbarsm Of slavery aside; what
place have these mementoes OF slavery,
instruction. aud civil war in an exposi-
ton OF the industries Of all nations ?
Slaves and their owners have alike been
emancipated from a condition that Meth
er class desire to restore. The civil war,
with It's attendant horrors, is thing Of
the past, and should even cease To be a
bitter remembrance. Why, then, revive
these dead issues in the form Of living
exposition where they have 10 proper
place to re an ofense to many that
would like to take part in that great
event!
For myself, would hesitate long to
vote one dollar OF public money to repre-
.. Nr;-,;,,;. at Chico,,n N the auihari