Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-10-07
Democratic party will decline to apollo
gize for placing Democrats on guard.

| did prosperity since she threw on the
| yoke of radical Republicanism, as the
ssjoke," the ridiculous absurdity OF the
| Huntington platform. The Democratic
party is gravely charged through It's
administration OF affairs OF retardlng
the growth Of the State. Ny friends, l
invite your attention TO our public IN
| situations, costing more than So, 900, OOO,
to our splendid system OF free schools
and educational institutions. to our un-
precedented increase in population ana
material wealth, to the astonishing In
7 crease In the States railroad mileage,
her mining industry and every depart
ment of commercial and Industrial &C.
tiyity, and ask that you follow me
while make some comparisons.
In 1871, after nine years OF Repuo-
lican rule, we found the State with q
free school system crude and inefficient.
We perfected the law. enlarged and
! improved the school work and gave TO
the State of West Virginia one OF the
best educational systems in the country
| The growth of our schools under Demo-
cratic administrations has been simply
wonderful. In 1871 we had 2.059 school
houses: in 1891 we had 4,s99. In 1871
the school population of the State was
172, 337; in 1891 it was 27l,332. In 1871
the average daily attendance was
but 51,336; In 1891 it was 1884,
9s7. In 1871 there were only
Gags teachers employed; In
1891 there were 5000 teachers en-
ployed. The value Of our school prop
erty ia 1871 was S1.064, TIT; in 1891 1t
was 50, ISL, 336. In 1871 we had an ir-
reducible school fund of only S27S, O69.-
90. and a general school aggregating
only STA, 500. 35; in 1891 the irreduciole
school fund had grown TO 1903, 2o3 49,
and the general fund to S36l, 4S7.S9 In
1871 the entire amount spent In eduea-
tlon was S577,71S.72, while In ls9l
there was expended 81, 800, 693.54. rms,
my friends, is the splendid record OF
our educational progress and granoly
yindicates the loyalty OF the Democratic
party to the bright boys and girls OF
West Virginia.
In 1870 we had 800 miles Of railroads
! in this State. This mileage was made
ND almost entirely OF the b. 81 .. rail-
road. completed in 1S54-55, under
Democratic administration OF the old
mother State. During the entire period
OF Republican rule in West Virginia,
from the organization OF the State TO
1871, less than 25 miles OF railroads
were constructed and put into opera
ton! What record for this party OF
boosted progress that now In the face OF
such a record charges US with retardlng
the growth of the State. On the
other hand, what has been done
| in railroad building under the
! Democratic administration since
1870? On the Dist OF last December, the
aggregate railroad mileage in this State
was 1,466 miles, assessed at SIS, 1885,
546.64, with many more miles OF new
road under construction than at any
other timein the history OF our State. Not
only this, but the new roads are chiefly
cross-lines, penetrating the interior OF
| the State and reaching and throwing
open to capital those sections richest in
! all the elements of material wealth, and
they have been and are being construct
ed by West Virginians, they are largely
The product of West Virginia enter
prise, muscle, brains and capital. In
| the face of these facts, my fellow citi-
zens, which party is the party OF pro-
gress. and which shall be charged with
! retarding the growth of your State?
! Does the fact that in nine years OF Re
publican supremacy less than twenty
! five miles Of railroad were built In West
Virginia show that any great amount OF
progress attaches to that party? Is the
ouadrupling Of our railroad mileage
| under Democratic administration TO be
cited as evidence that the Democratic
party is retarding the growth OF the
! State?
No less marked is our progress under
Democratic rule in other lines Of
industrial activity. We cannot give an
estimate, even, of the coal business In
this State when the Republicans were
running things, so small and insignifi-
cant were the operations. There was
no mining law. no mine inspectors, no
| reports to the Legislature touching this
| industry. Twenty years ago had not
| seen q coke oven in the State, and
doubt If any were built. How is it now?
In 1891 our mines yielded 1921, 430 long
tons of coal, as against 1858, $40 tons in
1880. an annual average increase OF over
10 per cent. since 1880. In 1880, 1853
miners and 1,173 outside laborers were
employed; last year our mines gave en-
| ployment to 10, 434 miners and 2, $50 out
! side laborers.
In 1850 we produced 121.715 tons OF
coke; last year 1,23s, AIS tons, and West
Virginia took rank as the second coke
| producing State Of the Union. Where
| is the evidence that the Democratic
party is retarding the growth OF the
| State? Our manufacturing interests
are becoming immense, ard there Is a
marked Improvement in every line Of
trade and business. Every section Of
the State proclaims the charge of the
Huntington. platform to be false and
b. pocritical.
The platform concludes, by denounc-
ing the Democratic Legislature for not
conceding to General Gof an Office TO
which they claim he was elected.
This charge was made in the Repuo-
lcan platform OF two years ago, and In
wolves, simply, the question whether
the qualified voters OF this State shall
choose their public officials, and thus
direct and control their own govern
mental affairs, or whether our elections
shall be determined by Illegal ballots
through organized fraud. The issue
was squarelY made In 1890, and Repub-
lican speakers, including General Golf
himself, Stamped the State from one
end to the other. and spent more time
upon this question than all others put
together. The people promptly met
and answered the issue at the polls, by
defeating every Republican candidate
who had taken an active part In the
contest; by sending solid Democratic