Year: 1878




,knightliest knight. Surely I would not
when the poor man .ba5 sby noble effor
lifted himself from the cabin to the palace
regard him the less sbecatse: he has added
so much TO his own usefulness and to The
power OF the. State. .;.t ~ 2.


There Is and ought to be no strife between
the poor and the rich. Lab aborjmakes wealth
then lives upon it, And the :ehortSto cause
antagonism is fraught with evil to both
This is true in political economy; it is fal
more vital in politics. It always has and
always will end in The ruin OF free govern.
ment. [Applause.l iSt.5tt
There fs no room for such x
PARTIES IN WICHITA.


a more gentle rule never held sway in any
country. Our statute book does not con-
tain single law that presses llarshly upon
the lowly and poor. On the other hand, II
is full Of laws for their good. We have
poor laws, homestead laws, laws to pro-
tect the wages of the laborer from
levy. We have hospitals, asylums for the
deaf, the dumb, the blind, and the insane,
whose blessings are open to all whom Gods
finger has touched; bat only to the poor
without pay. We have free schools whose
teachings the poor. enjoy without price
where the humblest can learn how to walk
in those paths Of distinction which are
closed to none who are able to gil the high
places in the State. There is no use for
such parties in Virginia.


But we ought not to forget that behind
law there must be force. II men were good
and wise they would be law unto them
selves. Government must take theplace Of
lack Of goodness and wisdom that both
may flourish. But government, whilst it
might have the beautiful form Of law,
would be useless, il not worse, without
power. The problem is, where that power
shall be, and how organized. In a despot-
ism it is mainly in the shape of Standing
army; in republic it ought to be in civil
officers and citizen soldiery.


The importance OF this latter cannot be
overrated. Coming from among the peo-
pie, they learn the lessons of obedience, and
carry them back TO their own homes and
firesides, and make them felt in every walk
OF life. Covered by the standard and in
sigma OF the State. they feel how the whole
happiness and peace of society rest upon its
arm. Loving their families none the less,
they love the State more, and look upon it
as the "Mother OF their peace and JOY"
Let us have this


CITIZEN SOLDIER
everywhere, to be seen on fitting days and
times. It Is not show Of military power
like that OF standing army. 1t is the ever
present and careful guard Of the States
interest and honor; 1t is the ever-standing
sentinel upon its battlements, watching not
for pay, but for love, and proving how the
safety and glory Of a good Commonwealth
can be entrusted to its own people.


With such an ancestry, such history,
and such government, what hinders Vir-
ginia? The same genial sky overhangs
her; the same grand rivers flow through
her territory; the same harbors, where the
ships of the world may ride; the same
variety and fertility of soil, from the sea to
the mountains, as when she won the name
OF the Mother Of Statesmen and States. I
know that the hand OF violence rent her in
twain, and that the ravages OF q four-years'
terrible war have left cruel marks. know
that many Of her best and brayest fell, and
that poverty now abounds where once
fourished refinement and wealth. know
that in the fairest and most fruitful regions
seasons of drought have parched up the
labor OF the husbandman or destroying
floods have swept it away. But believe
that there still exists that loyalty to honor
and that devotion to law which enabled her
people to bear these things without shrink
ing. 7 believe that her people are still earn
est and true.


What, theu, binders Virginia? For years
she struggled in the war, and then in the
tolls Of reconstruction. The war is over,
and her relations with the Federal Govern.
ment are again fixed under the Constitution
and the laws !; and none have been, or will
be, braver to stand up to them. What,
then, hinders Virginia?


The excitement which aroused and
troubled the people in the late canvass an.
swers; for nothing was heard on every
hustings and courthouse green but the
sole absorbing question-the State debt
What Of it? States have been in debt be-
fore, and have been honest and have sur.
yived.


IsITAJUST DEBT,


and has the State received consideration for
it! have never heard it claimed that il
was unjust and without consideration. Il
was made before the war, and is now repre-
sented by public improvements, without
which Virginia would be in slough o
despond: with which she is ready to enter
into rivalry with the strongest OF her sister
States. She gave her bonds for it at time
when her word would be taken and hel
credit pass in any market in the world. AnG
upon that word and credit means were got
which were spent in opening up her vast re-
sources.


Why, then, should we not pay it? The
honor Of State is above price. 1t cannot
be measured by money. The character o
O Commonwealth marks her place among
nations, and is the guide Of the individual
growth and destiny OF her citizens. The
law is schoolmaster, and it will determine
whether the citizen Is to be vicious or Vir
tuoHs. A generation or so OF bad legisla
ton may change people from high.
minded and honorable race into deprayed
and dishonest men. Nothing so soon ac
complishes this unhappy end as disregard
of solemn compacts. Upon their sanctity
the whole framework Of society rests, from
the sacred bond that ties the family to The
strong and subtle cord which binds in har.
mony otherwise iarring elements il the
unity Of government.


This should guide every one who is callet
to take part in the councils OF the State
Especially is this true in republican form
OF government like ours. Without virtue
it cannot survive-force must soon take the
place Of reason; and the man who think:
he can use such tricks to gain petty enc
will find, WIEN too late, that everything is
lost. The hope and only hope Of a republic
is the recognition OF the sanctity OF con.
tracts and the binding obligation and su
premacy OF law.


Our duty, then, as good citizens, is to de
wise means to


PAY TIE DEBT;


not to find ways to avoid it. 1t will hardl,
pay it to criminate some former Legislator
by general charges of bribery and fraud
II any one has dared to taint the halls o
legislation with these crimes let him b.
brought to trial and punished with the ut
most rigor OF the law. Nor will it an,