Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-02-26
From the Richmond Times
Negro Suffrage Inevitable if Sherman's Bi
Recnmes a Law

The DEMONSTRATION bW' Is framed avtth such
ingenious m,alignancy that aohether noe adopt
the constitutional amendment orpreer to continue
IN oar present unrepresented condition. s0e cannot
au0'd negro suffrage
IF this bill becomes law, at the Virginia
elections, in May next for Governor, Lieuten-
ant Governor. Attorney General and members
of the General Assembly, every male negro IN
Virginia abore the age Of t,oenty-one aoM be
entitled to cote. Nor are aoe permitted to alto0
tltis election to go By default, for the Alecaadria
Constitution provides that these elections shall
take place IN May nert We are denied the
privilege of seeking refuge in purely military
despotism by the abolition OF this provisional
government, for it rests with the Federal Gov
eminent, and not with ourselves, to determine
whether this State government shall be con-
tinued or abolished.
Whether, therefore, we adopt the "constitu-
tional amendment, with negro suffrage, and
Congressional representation annexed" or
prefer to continue as we are, we cannot, If
SHERNIAN'S bill becomes law. avoid almost
immediate negro equality at the ballot-pox
The Alexandria Constitution says we shall
haze certain elections in the spring. and the
SHERMAN bill says that at those elections, all
male negroes twenty-one years OF age shall be
allowed to VOTE
We lose no time in pointing out to our read
ers the horns Of the dilemma upon which this
bill impales us. 1t allows no refuge from negro
suffrage, and there is no escape except through
the agency of the Supreme Court
The monstrous features of this bill should at
once receive the attention of the ablest lawyers
of the General Assembly, and steps should be
taken to have it brought under the fire of the
Supreme Court. where it will be thoroughly de-
molished.
The Boston Post, in an editorial article on
Mr.. Eliot bill, takes occasion to reveal the
state of civilization in the Northeast:
Newspaper offices have been mobbed-in-
dividuals seized and tarred and feathered, rid
den upon rails, and executive influence interpos-
ed to shield the culprits from the punishment
the court decreed Robberies and murders have
been alarmingly prolifc-garroters, bank rob-
bers and burglars have piled their vocation as
vlgilantly here as in Louisiana, and with as much
impunity; but this is goring different OK, and
Mr.. Eliot and his radical friends are not at all
alarmed by the fact. The murders all around
Auburn, Me.-speak depravity the South
cannot exceed while the robberies in New York
and New England are unprecedented in magni-
tude and numbers If crime be the gauge
whereby to decide upon the right of self govern
ment New England would be in imminent
danger Of territorialism at once But it is all a
trick-a mere subterfuge to prolong power and
patronage in the hands of the Radical party by
shutting out one-third of the territory and one
third Of the people Of the United States from
any representation or any voice in its govern
ment
GENERAL GRANT.-The Washington CORE
spondent Of the Baltimore Gazette speaking of
the substitution of the President for General
Grant in the Sherman bill, says:
II have positive information that this altera-