Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-01-24

prompt resentment Oh EVERY ncp.
utable Citizen at the Polls To-Day.
The Situation Demands a Change.
With characteristic hypocrisy, stud
led unfairness and a total disregard for
either fact or common-sense, the In
telligencer the thick-and-thin organ OF
the local ring, whose mal-administra-
ton has brought discredit upon the
name of Wheeling, yesterday informed
its readers with the gravity of an owl
and the disposition of a Duzzard that
the only means to municipal reform
was through the reelection of Repub
lican officials. And this to men of
sound and disposing mind! 1t was at
once confession Of bad management,
which embodied the truth, and prom
Use Of reformation, as intangible,
as unsubstantial and as light and airy
as a dream.
The Intelligencer's affectation of the
belief that reform will come through
the reinstation of the ring in Office
would excite smile were it not a ser
ious matter The Intelligencer knows,
as every intelligent citizen knows, that
on this very election day, and with the
ring organs plea for a further lease OF
power still echoing through the city,
the laws will be violated with the full
knowledge and consent of the very
officials for whom the organ pleads.
The law says the saloons, for instance,
MUST CLOSE TO-DAY. They will not
cease to do business from the rising of
the sun to the going down thereof, and
the police are aware of the fact, and
the Intelligencer well knows it, also.
Yet knowing it, the ring paper, in its
editorial columns, deliberately and for
partisan purposes, and without an iota
of regard for the moral status of the
community or for the public welfare,
advises its readers that the way to bet
ter things lies through another two
years Of the sort Of thing which
brought about a Committee of One
Hundred! The idea of reformation
is as preposterous as the claim of its
possibility is false We of Wheeling
did not want a Committee of One Hun
dred. We deplored the necessity for
it as we'll as the fact of its existence,
for where such a committee is called
into being there is something wrong.
But We have the Committee with us,
and coincident with it is the assertion
of the Intelligencer mat the Augean
stables can cleanse themselves and that
a little of the hair of the dog is good
for the bite. The Intelligencer's logic
is, that inasmuch as we Of the ring
have given the people bad govern
ment, therefore we are capable of do
other trial. His Satanic Majesty, on
reading his favorite newspaper yester-
day morning, must have sighed over
the depravity Of a portion of the hui
man race, while every local enemy Of
lawlessness and every believer in a
blind, deaf and dumb police force must
have rejoiced with exceeding JOY as
he perused the columns of the daily
apologist and defender of contempor-
aneous vice.
The Intelligencer "believes that it
would be costly experiment to vote
the Democratic party into power, as
it has always shown itself to be incap-
able and untrustworthy. Here the
shade Of Ananias must realize that in
the flesh he lived in vain, and that his
reputation as the champion prevari-
Gator rests upon an unsubstantial basis.
The present Council, as the last, had
an overwhelming Republican majority.
And both of these bodies endeavored
to the extent of their ability to fasten
upon the people loan ordinances which
would have cost the people a million
dollars in the end, and have led to ex-
travagance in its worst form. The peo-
pie, led by the Register, turned those
measures down and compelled a con-
tinuance Of the policy of paying the
city's obligations and of living within
the city's means. For that the party in
power deserves no credit: but it is
pretty safe to say that if returned to
power it will not be twelve month
until there is another loan PROPOSE
ton, with all its costly attendant evils.
The Intelligencer, in this same edi-
torial, says it is 'for public decency."
How, then. can it support and advo-
cate the election of a chief of police
and Council both of whom are, if
actions speak louder than words. op-
posed to public decency. Council
licensed what are called the fake ho-