Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-02-25

VIII never pay q cent "a 1''
thanks To- the protection of the first
Republican Legislature in West Var
/ GINA for twenty-five years. The prop
osido1 made by the Governor, to tax
The cars Of the great Pullman monop-
/ DIV I'm this state. as they are in others.
was killed on behalf Of the corporation
I bv tie Reuubuoan bosses. There was
no oDpoHton to it. 1t was simply
smo.aered byre-rofrence to a commit
zee after passing it's second reading,
and was never heard Of afterwards.
/ Another proposition Of the Governor TO
tax telephone. telegraph and express
companies. which was acknowledged
to be proper and right and which had
been so decided by the courts, having
been embodied in a bill by the AtJor-
new General. was. like the bin to tax
Ithe Pullman company, quietly smOth-
cred BIZ the friends or tools Of the cor
Dorations who "ran" the Republican
1 caucus and disposed Of legislation at
/ Charleston.
The effort to shove the State into the
| trap prepared by the Wall Street syn
dictate holding the Virginia debt cerJi-
/ Gates. to commit this State to the one
third basis by n meeting with the Flr-
einia Commission. which was empow-
cred to act only on that basis, was fus-
I trated only through the publicity
which the Register gave to the attempt
/ to- XIII the Edmiston resolution declin-
ling TO meet the Commission. That at
tempt to saddle q debt of millions and
millions upon The people Of this State
and their posterity. and the school
book scandal are too recent and too no.
torfous TO cau for special reference at
this time. Tt is sufficient to say that
none of the parties to- those affairs can
/ escape responsibility for either The at
I tempted outrage or the disgrace put
uDon the State. Neither is it neces-
sary to- refer at length TO the stupid re-
fusaI to pass q law for better discipline
and general Improvement Of the mill
tia. as dravn uD 10y competent
/ board &. experienced soldiers. though
appropriation mad been made to carry
it out Likewise we pass over the re-
fusaI to amend the LIBEL law so as to
prevent blsclmail of newspapers, the
refusal to- protect the game of the State
I from threatened extinction, and the
/ refusal TO- establish an industrial re-
formatory for 5irls. Who must now be
sent to Jail TO associate with habitual
criminals. or be allowed to run at
/ large.
The solitary thing Of value the Leg
islaturs did from start to finish was to
prove the utter faIsity Of a quarter OF q
century of Republican campaign howl
ing about Democratic Acknowledgement
of the State institutions. Committees
were early appointed to make the anti
clpated and Ions promised exposures
and i'm due time they came back with
| their reports. And every report was
/ to the effect that each and every one Ct
the institutions had been uniformly
wei managed by the Democrats, and
that the quarter Of q century Of hOwls
I i'm the Republican press and on the Re
/ publican stump about them was raise
and misIeadirg"
The greatest farce Of the whole ses-
sion. however. was the opera boufe
attempt Of the Republicans to carry
out their oft-repeated pledges to the
people 10 reform the fee system root
and branch. They went to Charleston
with flourish Of trumpe-s declaring
their intention TO cut off the fees Of
every Official from the Secretary of
| State and the Auditor TO the SheriGs
and county clerks. But a change had
/ come over the spirit OF the Republican
reform dream since the election returns
had seemed TO indicate that these fees
kould be pocko,ed 10y Republicans in
the future. The more they thought it
over the faster their reform ardor
cooled and the more they pruned down
the reform bin in committee. When
finally presented it had. been Whitfield
/ down so as to effect two Democratic
officials and they were to be allowed TO
retain half the fees. Then. even this
remnant of the insincere and ridicu-
lous BLUM at reform was abandoned
and the whole thing kicked out and
thrown on the political ash-heap with
The rest of the broken promises Of the
| Republican party.
The State heaved a sigh Of relief
when the final adjournment Of this
body was announced. Led and con-
trolled by self-seeking and incompe-
tent demagogues, it Will long rise up to
plague the Republican leaders. giving
the lie to- all their promises and pre-
lenses. Senator Whitaker well said
of it as the session closed: "The Re
publicans had control Of the Legisla-
ture for the first time in twenty-five
years. and now we have frittered away
the time of the session and done prac-
tcally nothing for the people of the
state. Had lIr. Whitaker said "ab-