Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-02-09
| ETTERS OF A
LOOKER-ON
CHARLES Town. w. VA,
Feb. /. 1905.


CHARLES Town. w. VA, |
Feb. l, 1896
To the Editor the Herald.
1t requires no prophetic ken TO pre-
dict that the election of Stephen B.
Elkins to the National Senate is dis
tined to make an important epoch in
the political history Of West Virginia.
This prediction, though bearing, as it
undoubtedly does, much of promise
for the State future, need not be con-
strued as implying any extremely |
disparaging judgment against the
party which has just lost its long
lease of power 1t is true that the
leaders as well as the rank and file of
this defeated party have been from the
first bitterly partisan; that they have
been accused of having retained the
reins of government by means most
questionable if not plainly unlawful;
that the executive chair was a mere
sinecure; that the meeting of their leg
islatnres was for the most part sol
emn farce played to the tune of how
it;-but, on the whole, it
may with truth be said that they did
about as well as could be expected of
any party guided as they were by il
liberal political principles and follow
ing always un-American ways and
methods.
With what more may they be cred
tied in their long account with the
people of West Virginia ? Will it tie
said they administered the government
economically? Let it be admitted.
Yet this was nothing more than they
were bound to do 1t was just and
right; LET them be praised. They did
not overburden us with debt. 1t be-
hooved them not to do so; the situa-
| ton restrained them;-for this also
let them be praised. A political party
should always be largely commended
for not attempting what it cannot do
Honor then, to whom honor is due;
and especially in the present case, since
we have just seen the sad effects of
reckless reversal of this safe and sure
Democratic policy in the Cabinet and
Congress at Washington.
Again it is said, in palliation Of its
shortcomings, that this party, domi
nant in the State now nearly quarter
of century has carefully fostered our
school SYSTEM. 1t is true. So they did;
and that in the face Of much opposi-
ton, much plain preaching, and much
outright disappearing in their own
ranks against this safeguard of lib rty,
first instituted and established among
US by Republican administration
They preserved what they could not
destroy, still following the Democratic
maxim of nlaxims, to wit: Do nothing
that cannot be done. Hence the public
schools remain to us. Let us praise
the Lord.
If, then, our great and good Demo
cratic Johnnies achieved all these mar
wells of craftsmanship, why was it that
the good people of West Virginia arose
in their might and hurled them from
powera In what did they offend In
what particular did this long line Of
easy paced governors and steady-go-
ing Legislators fall short Of their whole
duty, and thus fail to make their call
ing and election sure? The answer
is simple enough. They were too
easy paced, too steady going to suit
this "hustling" age. Their political
creed was a mere echo Of the past,
voice and nothing more their hide
bound sectional policy was a malady
beyond the reach of the most heroic
treatment of veterinary art Yet they
we're blind to the true nature of their
ailment; nor did they dream of seek
ing remedy Instead of this, they
have all these years ceaselessly droned
their drowsy cry-the cry of the stu
pefied Lotus Eaters-"I.et us alone
| Let us alone!"
We have taken them at their word;
we have let them alone most severely
We could not afford to wait Oh their
slothlike movements All the world
is moving. Onward is the mind
quickening, energy-arousing watch
word. West Virginia has at last heard
the bugle note calling her to join the
march of modern progress. She now
realizes the bright future before her
when a rapid business development
and an era of wealth-creating activity
will place her in her true position
among the family of States.
Many of our Democratic fellow-citi-
zens foresaw this inevitable change of
front, and the pressing necessity for it,
as the result of the recent election
proves. But the leaders of the party
why was it that they were so blind
to coming events They wete for the
most part wise and farseeing men,
men of trained intellects-me deeply
versed in public affairs-some of them
statesmen of national regulations.
What was the matter; what allied them
Don't you see it? Need you, or any
one, be told that these slow going
gentlemen were sick-sick even nigh
unto death of that most dreadful of all
diseases, old fogyism What matters
it if they insist on calling this old
fogyism healthy conservatism
West Virginia doesn't see it; she no
longer desires to be let alone; she has
learned that to be let alone means for
her to be left alone-to be left out in