Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-02-03
The Defeat of the Conference Elects
Black Republican President.


The Defeat of the Conference Elects Il
Black Republican President.
The only possible hope for the defeat OF the
Black Republicans in the fall, is founded upon
the united vote of the Southern States. With.
out unity ut the South, the conservatives OF the
North have no rallyns point, and fanaticism
will sweep over the entire North without an
obstacle to resist it's onward and triumphant
march. Virginia, the leading State of the
South, by defeating the Conference, will have
inauguratcd distr'.st between tho planting and
the farming States will have divided the cleo
tora vote Of the South, and given 10 our
Northern enemies an aSy victory. South
Carolina and Mississippi having deputcd
commissioners 10 visit Virginia and ask
conference. at which they may learn
our views and we receive theirs, having had
their kind offers refused, their sympathy re-
jectcd, and their counsels spnrncd, will not
be likely to aid Virginia in defeating an enemy
who must conq,ier and exhaust US before they
can reach them.
by every tic of sympathy, interest and feel
ing with the flruing States. Shal! I!r-
ginia step forward to disturb this unity and in-
troducc suspicion and dis!rust where now ex
lists sympathy and love: Why multiply the
chances OF Black Republican SUCCESS Ly re-
pelIns the kind offers OF your own friends, and
rejecting their proiftrcd counsels upun quss
tiOns that Virginia alone can present. to tie
conferences? Because this measure has dis
union patronage, is that any reason why 1t
should be deserted by the friends of the Union:
Is il not rather reason why the friends Of the
Union should rally to it. and, taking charge oi
it, make it subscrvicnt TO the preservation Of
Southern unity, the conservation of Southern
rights, and the maintenance OF the Federal
Constitution Because there are disuniuniSlS
in the State rights party, is that any reason
for abandoning the creed? unqucst;onably
not! Then purge the measure Of its unpopu.
lar patronage, and, meeting South Carolina in
the spirit Of her request, send sound, conSer-
vative men to the conference. instructed TO
consult upon measures for the preservation OF
the Constitution from the inlraclious that have
already been made upon it, and which arc
threatened in the future. The fears that the
conference may inausurate dlsunion are futile
and childish. No conference or convention OF
States can ever effect diSunion, o. even take
steps that lead to il, But the folly OF rejecting
the convention confines the question OF tlisunion
to the States, and there some act may, and III
our candid opinion will, bring about that re-
suit. South Carolina in the conference, and
surrounded with the conservative sentiments
of the Southern States. is far less dangerous
than South Carolina at home, brooding over
rejected kindnesscs, superadded 10 injurious
aggrcssions.
The election Of a Black Republican will be
an easy matter when Virginia has divided the
Southern vote, and by that division destroyed
the last hope Of Northern conservatism.
Let the conservative men Of every party look
at the prospect Of success in the next electoral
college. That body will be composed Of sos
votes necessary to IN election l52. The South
united polls l2O-lcavng % Northern votes
necessary to success. But will South Carolina
have any motive to cast her vote with Virginia
if the Legislature spurns her simple request oI
conference. In that day ofour trial will not South
Carolina respond 10 Eirgina-"L hare called,
and ye haze refused; {harc stretched cut my
hand, and no State regardcd-ys hare set at
nougAt all my counsel and aeouH haze none o.
ing conference-I(South Carolina) yiN laugh
at your calamity I will nock aohen your Jear
comeM lehen your Jtar comeM (next fall
as desolation, ind .yogr destruction comtM as
a uhulpind' WAen your distress and anguish
comeh upon you, THEN SHALL YE CALL Upon NE,
But WILL NOT ANSWER; THEN SHALL YE SEEK
ME, But yE SHALL NOT FIND Me- for ye would
have none of my counsel to avert the danger,
nor my conference to prevent. the calam
i.y. Will not the qcisaom Of Solomon pre-,
vail, to save our confederacy from .he rush,
ness of Southern diyisiong We are com.
mandcd to withhold not good from them
to whom it is due, when it is in the pow,
er Of thine hand 10 do it.. Say not TO thy
ncighbor 60" else thy neighbor refuse to come
when thou calicst Should South Carolina, de-
string tisunion, fail to rotv for the conservative
candidates, jorty Northern electoral votes will
be required; should Georgia, seeing sister
cotton State rcpulscd by a farming. State, re-
fuse, it requires fifty Northern votes; should
Alabama, distrustcd by Virginia, fail To come
to our rescue, it requires iifty-nine Northern
votes; should Mississippi, whose commissioner
with South Carolina'S, will be rcpulsed, refuse
to aid people, who thus wfully and discour-
teously reject their kind sympathies, itreqnircs
sixty.threc Northern Votes. But where are the
first thirty Northern votes to be found, when
this rejected conference has disheartcned the
Northern conservatives and enGrgised North.
ern Mnatieism By cvm!frming tic charges q a
dip!def South'
Every man knows that the prospect OF victo.
~ is one Of the greatest aids to its accomplish
ment, that hundreds of thousands Of floating
votes are always given to that cause whose pro.
spccts are the brightest The United Sonth
gives this prospect the l20 electoral votes of
the South will attach to them thousands OF
Northern votes; they will furnish the rallying
point for the great floating vote Of the North.
But the Sou,h, divided, wrangling and quarrel
ling upon points Of courtesy, disirrss implanIs'
cd between Southern States, discord introduced,
Uhe fated consequences Of rejected confercnce,)
and the prestige of success is gone, and victory
fnal and fatal will crown our enemies.
To us it seems the folly OF madness ITSELF |"
strike down by one fatal blow, the hard,earncd
labor Of thirty years. For more than a quarter
ola century, the statesmen Of the South, with
presccnce almost supernatural, have seen and