Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1865-1872, 1867-11-01
ALL HAIL. VIRGINIA.

her example, and Virginia responds 10
their action. The Copperhead desiruc.
tives OF the North have hoped for differ
cut results, and have done all In their
powe- 10 secure the defeat Of feconsiruo
ton ut the hands of the voters of the
South. Thus far they have utterly failed
aud their i'll success gals them terribly.
In the case of Louisiana they consQled
themselves by saying that the negroes
were in the majority, and The Shiies had
no power TO avert tho catastrophe. Ala.
bama was almost equally balanced, but
there reconstruction was endorsed by a
majority Of many thousands, proving con
olusisely that white men MS we'll a. blacks
were tired of being made the footballs of
Copperhead agiiators In the loyal States.
and tired. too, Of the state of the anarchy
to which Copperhead strategy has SO long
condemned them.
In Virginia, the registered voters out
numbered the blacks nearly $4,000. aud
here il was confidently believed by the
enemies Of reconstruction that the policy
of Congress would be rejected by The
people. Again they have been dissppoint
] ed. A large number Of white men Of
Virginia have voted for convention
the first step toward restoration. The
comprehend politicians are dumbfounded
Mt the result They thought the people of
Virginia would be willing to sacrifice
themselves again for their benefit. and
their disappointment, has filed them with
rage and CONSERVATION. Ii j. unaecounta-
bic to them that the white voters OF Vir
ginia would not do their bidding, and to
break the force Of their defeat they assume
that the whites would have voted down
tho proposition TO hold constitutional
convention. but that the military commau
der 80 gerryma ndered the election dis
tricts as 10 give the black minority the
power to control the white majority. One
OF the organs Of the party Of dispoionisis
airs it's wrath in the following style:,.
"One ofihe worst aspects of the military
administration Of the Southern Districts
is the airocious eerrymandering perpeira.
ted by the con nundors in order that the
negro preponderance may be made more
certain. In some Oft the States, such as
South Carolina aud Louisiana. where the
negro majority is erwhelming, this course
on the part Of the satraps was perhaps
deemed unnecessary. as black supremacy
was certain at any rate. But 10 all the
other States, where the number Of blacks
and whites is abou, equal. the districts for
the election Of delegates to the eohsti.
tutional conventions have ben so arrang.
ed as TO give the blacks and Radicals n
majority, no matter how large the apgre.
gate white and Conservative minority.
Allusion has already been made to the
swindliug apportionments Of the delegates
IN Virginia, Georgia and Alabama. II
now appears that Pope has manipulated
little Florida in the same yillainous man.
ner"
This is all dishonest gable. The vote
for or against convention is submitted tc
the people Of the whole State, not by dis.
tricts, aud the apporiionment Of delegates
can have no influence one way or the 9th.
er. Unless majority Of all the votes
cast in the State urc given for con,en-
ton, and unless u majority Of the regis
tered electors vote, the law provides thai
none shall be held. he election of dele
gates, therefore, amounts to nothing i
the affirmative vote for convention is less
than a majority.
The obstructonists have been beaten ia
Virginia, not in consequence of the APP
porilonment of delegates, but by MAORI
" vote Of the people of the entire State
:, III the apPoriioDment was unfair to thu
opponents o. reconstruction. that would
be the greatest passible incentive to then
to vote against holding u convention, une
thus render the apportionsen' abor'iyc
The lame ducks may as wei own VI
that they have miscalcula,ed the readiness
Of the people Of Virginia to be their cats.
paws, and accept their defeat philosophi-
cally. Sandering General >cho6eld and
the other military satraps" won't help
the case particle. We advise them to
prepare, TOO, fora like resultin the Carolinas
aud Georgia. III they could not deiea,
reconstruction in Virginia, State lying
under the shadow Of the capital and pecu
liarly subject to the influence of the ad
ministration at Washington, what reason
able hope can they entertain of securing a
more favorable vote for themselves in
States further South.
The South has learned something oil
the value Of topperhead advice, aud i.
learning more. A majority of Its white
voters are undoubtedly still willing tC
heed the ruinous councils Of their worst
enemies, but there are many who will no
whose disgust for Copperhendism and it:
lying pronIises fnd tit expression in the
late address of General BarriDger, once d
fighting rebel, to the people of North
Carolina. lie appeals to his fellow citi-
Gems to accept the congressional plan Of
reconstruction, aud thus cautions them
against depending upon the promises oi
their old deceiyers:
"The young, the IGNORANT aud the rash
cling to hopes never to be realized. They
catch at every straw that floats upon the
troubled waters Of the political ocean
The treacherous utterances OF the Copper
head press, which has ever fed aud fatten
cd on the iollics Of the South, aud which
has ever led us TO death aud destruction
are again gathered up. People forget
1861, when, at the FIRST shock of arms, the
'mudsils' were TO rise; 1862, when Nc.
Clellan in his rage aud despair was to
seize the Government; 10 1868 when the
Northwest was to resist in sS6i, when the
Peace Democracy was TO triumph; ia 1868,
when Mr.. johnson would crush Radi.
calism; and, finally, in 1866, when the
Philadelphia Convention was 10 sweep the
country. behold the result of all these
propheciesl And yet, when u Southern