Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1852-06-09
THE STAUNTON SPECTATOR.
STANTON: ~-
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE o, 1859.
Governor Johnson.

The late exercise of Executive clemency by
Governor JOHNSON in behalfof the slave HATCHER
has got his Excellency into peck of troubles, from
which his friends find it impossible to extricate
him. In common with most persons, we have not
regarded this act as an indication of sympathy with
aboitionsm on the part of the Governor, butt GER
tainly manifests degree Of mental imbeclllty
which units him for the station he occupies. His
two messages to the General Assembly-the one
giving his reasons for committing the punishment,
and the second virtually retracting all those rea-
sons without assigning others-present the Chief
Magistrate of this Commonwealth before the world
in very unenviable, if not humiliating attitude
The whole affair seems like a just visitation upon
the Democratic party, for the course they pursued
during the Gubematorial canvass. To defeat SUM
MERs-one of the safest men in the Stste-they
called him Abolitionist and everything else that
was calculated to prejudice the popular mind a
gainst him. BY such means they secured the e.
lection of the present incumbent, and among the
first of his official acts is one calculated to do more
injury to the interest and safety Of holding
community than all the Vaccinations Of all the
Aboltionists in the country.
The report Of the Committee on Courts Of JUS
tice ON the Hatcher case and the Governors Mes
sage,wee before the House of Delegates on Tues
day the st inst, and was finally acted on at late
hour of that night. A substitute offered by the mi
nority of the Committee, was adopted, ayes rs
noes 48 and the vote being taken on the two res
olutions proposed by the minority separately, the
first was agreed to by "a to &c, and the second by
| l04 to 8. The preamble to the resolutions exam
ines the Governors reasons for committing the pun
ishment of Hatcher, and dissents from the grounds
upon which they are based. The resolutions are
as follows:
Resolred, by the General Assembly, That while
the Governor, in the case ofthe slave Jordan Hatch
er, had the power to order communication of the
punishment, and the Senate believes exercised tina,
power conscientiously, yet in his message of the
| llth of May, assigning his reasons for the commu-
tation, he expressed views which, in the opinion
of the General Assembly, are erroneous, and would
if acted on, be productive of mischief.
Resolced, further, That the General Assembly
doth declare its concurrence in the views of the
Governors explanatory message, of the 18th Of
May so far as it can, without expressing an opin-
ion as to the conclusion to which the Governor
came, that the record of Jordan Hatcher's convic-
ton presented case fit for the interference of the
Executive.
| Thus has Democratic House of Delegates been
compelled to administer quite a severe rebuke &c
their own chosen Governor. The Senate did not
act in reference to the subject with the same pro-
priety. When the House resolutions came up in
that body on Wednesday, u substitute was offered
to the effect that the Legislature is satisfied by the
second message ''that the Governor understands the
true relation between master and slave, and that,
at most, he has only committed an error of judg-
ment." The resolutions and substitute Were then
laid on the table, by vote of 20 to IL and 50 the
matter was disposed Of finally.
With the people, the Governor fares no better
than in the House of Delegates. A public meet
ing was held in. Amelia on the Goth ult., and the
following resolution was adopted unanimously "a
mongst others:
Resolved, That having forfeited the confidence
of the people, the most satisfactory reparation that
can be made is a surrender to their hands Of the
trust he has betrayed, that it may be conferred on
one more worthy to exercise it,
Meetings are proposed, also, in Albemarle, Ches-
terfeld and Henrco,