Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-09-27
RICHMOND, TUESDAY, SEPT. y, 1872.
TO THE PEOPLE.

RICHMOND, TUESDAY, SEPT. 81, 1912.
TO THE PEOPLE
II 10 time that YOU should turn your serious attention
n the Abduction Plot OF 1870 and to the course of the
Wing organ upon that subject. After having been
gully of the folly Of publishing the Correspondence
AFTER trvinp 10 escape from the consequences OF his
own in vain to give II the air oil
Loar-,hen defending il, and then seeking 10 escape
from his own folly defending II, lie hos been branded
with preyaricalion and challenged to deny the au'hen
tcity OF the plot He stands mute, IN the presence Of
the Public He knows the letters TO be authentic, and
the Mint q, e uepuine-and in fact it is too late to deny
It. He has defended it by sophism, and thus STANDS
endorser for the course Of his Principal 10 tins state
of the case, whilst plot is avowed' when Is Is re-
u,arkable for its arocity it's ioy-and when, car
ried into execution, as Mr.. rieasahls oe.s w.
ha We been the case, would have drenchrd Tue lana ~
blood il becomes every honest man TO investigate and
ac for himself II is impossible for the Wing paper TO
slur over transaction of this description. No amends
have been yet made the People, no censufe mas ye.
esca ped the Richmond Whg-ln fact Il has Just'iled
the scheme And il now becomes an orderly ana en-
lgh,cned people express their opinions upon the
matter.
The source from which ,hese developments proceed,
l. of no ordinary character IL Is not The mere OPINION
of common man. 1t not "Tom, DICK or harry
hut man. who was the organ of the Wing fa1ty IN
$780, the principal guide Of the Party-the man, who
was lately selected in his retirement TO conduct the
Clay paper in Washin gon--and the paper, which re-
Gently defended it, stall the principal Wing organ 10
Virginia All lis lodging has failed 10 cover up The
transacton--and we arraign it before the Public,
as not merely the promulgaor but The defender OF one
of the most alarming plots, which has ever been
brouph, before the country IL 10 marked by the Ut
most boldness and violence II assumes The preroga.
tive of putting every thing at hazard at the maddeneo
will of few infatuated parlizans. II would put the
peace of the country in the hands of three, or three
and twenty men, who, CALLED by disappointment and
defene ed in the election, would have become at once
witnesses, Judge and jury--kldnspped the Chief Ma
gsrate of the nation, and plunged us into all The nor
rors of n civil war.
The cooler Wings denounce the scheme. The wing
PRESS else where, either deny or discalm It, But the
organ of the Wing party, Virginia. has Proiessed To
defendit. And the only question which now remains,
is not whether the plot be ue-no whether IT be afro
cous-no, whether the Wings approve it-but whet her
they who continue employ the same organ OF their
party do something TO the people, to clear Their
own skirts Of every possible mpuation ana TO compel
their organ 10 make The Gmende honorable 10 an nd'g
nant State.
does not stand out by ITSELF and that II is in some Keep
ing with other acts of the Wing leaders We have
no file of the Richmond Wing before US; but many
Democrat can call to mind the mutered threats
which were made in the Fall of ls40 by some ot the
Wings. They had played game too deep, 10 lose II
with mpunty They had furnished too much the
glory of the country by their electoneering arts, TO
WELD the victory in patience. They had bull too many
log cabins, drank too much hard cider, caught loo
MANY cnons, covered the land with too many orators
displayed too much mummery, resored 10 100 compii
cuied machinery raised too much money from The
banks and from capitalists, laid too many pipes IN oh'o
Pennsylvania and New York, Piled too mueh corrupt
on TO consent that all their arts and oil their aD'r
should ha ye been exhausted in vain. In The mlnos OF
many an ardent Wing, force would have been but the
fitting end of all their tolls and when they could not
I'm we elected their own candidate carried oil ours
We must do the author Of the plot the justice TO say
that his design meets some counterpart IN o.he[ ae
cIaratons of his political friends When Mr.. Clay
once publicly proclaimed IN Da'n'ole, 'na' ne
"would rather see Har, pesence, and famine visit,
np our land, than TO see General jackson eiecteo
President we read the account OF tine
buck shot war-the Gentworth frauds IN New YORK
the fery declarations Of Messs Preston and Graves
in Vroinia-the withdrawal of Henry Clay and his
Croue from the Senate of the U. S., lest D. S..
judge should be confrmed-the breaking up OF !!he
Ohio LEGISLATURE but the other day, lest consttn
~ c.essa-.nd ,ha ~, .,. If. If 1000 1900
day in the H. Of Representatives, in case Mr.. Tyler
should veto a bill-what We to conclude, but that
many Of The Wing Lenders are dsorgan zers, md the
contemners of all order? The Washington ExposI-
tor has placed these presidents III SO strong point
of view, that we beg leave to republish The passage
"Some of the Wings, who give credit to the state
ment, pronounce Pleasants mailman and q fool-n
madman for entering into such scheme and fool for
disclosing it, This harsh sentence upon one OF their
leading parsans with an i'll grace considering
the threats Of consequences quite atrocious which
they uttered or circulated with apparent approval in
Is40 in case Mr. Van Buren, should be elected by the
votes Of the people, and the violent measures TO gain
political power which they have uniformly advocated
and sustained.
"Did thew not sustain the FRAUD AND FORCE
by which their pn,snns attempted TO preserve their
control over the Legislature and Executive Of Pennsy
vana? Is there anything more atrocious in kidnapping
President elect, than in thrusng nsurPers into office
by fraud and maintain them there call out bands of
military 10 butcher an indignant people?
ais there anything more arocious in II, than 10 put
down the right of the majority 10 govern by force of
arms subject whole State 10 martial law, and fill its
prisons with men charged with treason, for no other
sen than that they have exercised rights which the
Declaration of Independence pronocnces nalienabe!
ais il an atom more atrocious than the threatened
measure 10 suspend President Tyler from his consttu
tional functions, by an impeachment, without the
slightest cause except the assertion OF his constitutional
independe a separate department of the Govern
ment:
ais il whit worse than the concerted scheme Of the
more desperate Whgs at the late session of Congress,
TO leave the Government withouta revenue, and thus
throw the country into anarchy'
"Nay what was this plot but the contemplated full
fment of the Wing prophecies and threats Of that
very year:
"sWba, said Senator Preston in speech at Rich
mond, Virginia, in ls40' "If Mr.. Pan Buren, cannot
be Displaced through The Laot boz in November neri, J.
one, rcddy 10 rtsort 10 such means as Goa ana
Nature harc put tcithin my reach to force Change
"What said j. Z. Graves, in n speech at Portsmouth,
Virginia. "D not fer The hope Of redress through
the JnlOt Loz in November nert, ,coufd here, so hep
me God, upon this holy altar luke oath this night 10
take up arms and march oM you 10 Washington, and
pat do,cn the present dynasty by force"
"What said another member of Congress- 1--WE be
lieve from the Richmond District,) the close Of
the session of Congress 1902 "Igo for the peaceful
remedy until NorsmLer: and not then successful, go
/ for arms
"These, and many more declarations of the same
character were made by leading Wings, and circulated
through the Wing presses And what was this scheme
of abduction, but The first step in Tie execution Of these
threats Violence not intended says Peasants.
The seizure Of Mr. Van Buren, would, OF itself, have
been an act of violence But if not considered by
the kdnappers could they suppose tina, the people OF
this country were prepared tarney to subm, to the
Richmond triumvrate and their twenty desperadoes?
We believe there would have been spontaneous up
&C, he naool, of al hch pouId NJ once