Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1904-09-09

DISTINGUISHED, and it demands that the
friends of these unhappy ten thousand
avenge their wrongs by voting against
Mr.. Wysor, the Democrat, and for Col
onel Slemp. the Republican nominee
for congress.
Now, as u matter OF cold fact and
common sense, the Republican knows
that no white man i'm the district has
lost his vote except by his own fault.
III man sleeps on his rights and neg
lects to pay his taxes or To record his
deeds he may lose his land and all his
property. II he fails to secure a mar
rage license his children will be illegi-
mate and unable TO inherit from him.
however clean and honest his marriage
and intentions may be. The law ex-
poets every man TO have sense and
energy enough to know and protect his
rights. Here in Richmond some OF the
wealthiest and most prominent citizens
Of the community have lost their votes
by the same neglect, Indifference or
carelessness thathas deprived the "hum-
bic citizen" Of the Ninth district. 1t is
not matter of class or section. 1t Is
not matter OF broken pledges OF the
Democratic party. Every white man
in this State who was not a convict had
the right TO register and TO vote. The
requirements OF the law, the places.
dates and terms, were published in all
newspapers from time TO time and as
plainly and distinctly rs words could
express them. Men who neglect 10
read newspapers or who forget wha:
they read or who do no; take enough
Interest In themselves and in public az
fairs TO Inform themselves what It is
necessary for them TO do 10 vote, have
no right to expect any sympathy or TO
make any complaint. They suffer from
their own neglect or stubornness as
every man must expect to do.
1t Is a common and cheap political
trick to appeal to class feeling and to
to try to persuade poor, ignorat man
that he is victim and has been wrong
ed by some person or party. We hardly
expected the Tazewell Republican TO
fall into this, even in the heat and
stress OF a campaign going against it.,
for our contemporary usually is dirni-
fed and conservative. Yet as the is
sue has been made it should be met
squarely and with good temper and
with exact attention to the facts as they
appear on the records.
The Democratic party, to relieve
some sections of Virginia of the danger
OF negro rule or of the more serious
danger and decentralization of cheating
the negro to prevent negro rule. made
new constitution. This DISTINGUISHED
great mass Of negro voters. but SO
far as white voters were concerned
merely asked them to comply with
certain easy, plain, requirements such
as every man can meet, however igno-
rant or poor, and to pay certain taxes
which 1t Is the business and duty of
every citizen TO pay anyhow. That Is
all. Nobody has be Disseminated
against. The law applies to all classes.
and sections alike. Its working shows
Its fairness. AS we mentioned above
some OF the richest and most eminent
and Intelligent men in the State have
lost their votes under the new law
simply because they were too law or
careless to understand the law or to do
what they were required to do or had
feeling that they would be above the
law somehow and that it would not he
applied to them. 1t has been applied n
ali alike.
Instead OF snivelling over their
troubles and talking about the Con-
iederate army and calling on their
friends to avenge their wrongs the
thing for the men who have lost their
votes for this election to do is to recoo-
nize the TACT that they have suffered bv
their own careleseness or incidence and
to make up their minds that they will
do better hereafter and see that thew
are on the voting books. They have
nobody to blame but themselves. ano
we think that the great majority O,
! them wiz have sepse enough to recos.