Year: 1868

Ing disinteRrauon OF the democracy
have Inspired, our friends should moi
forget or underrate the Importance Of
the State election next Thursday. While
the success OF Grant is OF vital moment
to the nation. the success of the Repub'
licans In the State is vital to West Vir.
ginia. The latter, though of secondary
importance, more Immediately and di'
reclly affects our people. The two
wings of the Democratic party, which
Gen. Schenck described Saturday night
as having been kept apart during the
war only by the Union army, have
come together in cordial coalition here
as elsewhere. They demand that the
administration OF the State shall be
taken out of the hands of the Union
party and given to them. They say the
Union party administers its affairs ex-
travagantly and corruptly, and will not
allow one wing OF their party (the re-
turned and unrepentent rebels) to vote.
In consequence of these things they
tell us taxation Is burdensome and i'm
migration backward. This embodies
the whole charges which these Demo-
Gratis and rebels bring against Repub-
lican administration in West Virginia.


It Is true that the returned rebels are
not allowed to vote, and that is the
only true charge they make. We have
SO often exposed the pretence that our
State affairs are conducted extrava-
gan;ly and corruptly, that it Is un-
necessary to repeat the facts here. Our
intelligent citizens all understand for
themselves that our State government
is run on less money than any State in
the Union, and that Its rate OF taxation
is the lightest. All the talk 10 the con-
trary by Democratic speakers and pa
pers is the grossest effrontery and false
hood, and designed to operate on those
who may happen not to know, or who
do not care to inquire what the facts
are.


Now, we ask our readers. Democrat
10 as well as Republican, to consider
that while tue Democratic party of the
State finds fault with all that has been
done, they have nothing definite in the
way of a policy to.otfer instead, in the
event OF their accession to power. This
may be because they would expect soon
to extinEuish the State by re.uuiting it
with old Virginia. But let US suppose
this either not contemplated or not
practicable. While they have not au-
thoritatively laid down any line of
policy, their leaders have left us
in no doubt as to what their policy
would be on certain leading ques-
tions. And let US say here to the mod
crate and reasonable Democrats in the
Panhandle counties,-those who while
differing and separating themselves
from the Republicans, do not have
any genuine sympathy with the pur-
poses of the rebels-(of course we could
not hope TO get hearing from those
who do-) that they have not possibly
considered as much as they ought what
consequences would result II the party
they now cooperate with should get the
ascendancy inthe State. Have you fully
considered what elements, what leaders
and consequently what policies will
have the ascendancy in the party itseli
In the event OF its success? Would 1t
be such men as Daniel Lamb, or Capt
Wilson, or Andrew J. Sweeney of this
city? By no means; for three-fourths
of the party are men from whom these
gentlemen and all like them are widely
separated by their real convictions o
public policies and measures and by
their social views and affinities. Tht
strong, positive, and predominant ele
ments of the party are made up of {
wholly different class of men, but few
of whom are to be found in this imme
diate section. These are the men who
give the party its vigorous fighting
qualities now, and they are the men who
would rule its counsels il it had any tc
rule. The mildly conservative gentle
men like those we have mentioned, who
are trying to help these fellows into
power would find after they succeeded
they had kindled fire they could mo-
control. They would be overruled and
ignored. Whatever the party had 10
bestow would be given to positive anG
representative men-original Demo
Gratis, not old Wings, and most likely
to original rebels.


The first thing of course for the
Democracy to do would be to annul the
registry law; the next would be to gel
rid not only OF the Constitutional provi
sion on which it Is based, but OF the
Constitution itself. A Constitutional
Convention would be the remedy and
this remedy would be applied without
loss OF time. This would have a ten
dency to tighten taxation. The whole
Constitution would be remodeled, OF
rather wholly different one after the
virginiS model would be substitut-
ed. Thus at a blow would be swept
away our township system our common
school system, our equal taxation the
prohibition of contracting State debt.
And the other corresponding features
Of our present system. What the
Democracy would give us instead
1t is hard to say but as they want
ever Iything "as it was" we esuppose IL
would be something as nearly like
the old Virginia regime as they
could make It, with the old
County Courts, log school houses &c
Such a change of organic law would
compel a complete corresponding
change in the statutes. All would be
chaos again. A system OF internal i'm.
provements by the State Is pet scheme
with the Democratic leaders, and two
years ago they made it an issue in the
canvass. The existing constitution