The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-05
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1867.
nannlnr sovereigntr in virginia.


before our eyes. In the founding OF States it
IA of the highest importance that there should
be suoh general participation Of the people
In the work of primary organization as shall
rive to the constitution and government which
may be framed a truly popular character
The day for oligarchies, in this country, has,
we hope, forever passed. 1t is a wise feature
of the Reconstruction law, that all the steps in
the work contemplated by it require the sane
ton of maiority of all the registered voters OF
the State. Thus, majority of all the voters in
the State must first vote for Constitutional
Convention before one can be held; and in the
second place, when a Constitution has been
framed, it must be adopted by majority of all
the voters in the State before it can have any
validity.
Much has been said in regard to the recent
election in Virginia, and conservatism has
poured out the vials of its wrath upon the
result, as though there had been some great
outrage committed upon popular rights; but
we imagine that careful examination of the
vote cast will show the somewhat remarkable
fact, that larger proportion of the people of
Virginia have participated in this movement
than ever before united in any governmental
act in that State; and that the holding of a
Constitutional Convention has been sanctioned
by larger majority than any party in Vir-
ginia was enabled to command in ordinary
elections before the war.
We find from the official statement of the
recent vote as given by General SchO6eld in
his General Order for the assembling of the
Convention, that the total vote was l69, ,229-
107, ,342 being for a convention and 81, 1857
against it; so that the majority in favor of a
convention was AZ, ,455. This is by far the
largest vote ever cast in Virginia. In the
Presidential election of 1860 the total vote
of the State was only 167, 223, or 2006 less
than on this occasion. But it must not be
forgotten that in 1860 the State had not been
divided, 80 that the figures just given include
the votes of West Virginia also. Fortunately,
we have before us a table of the votes cast in
Virginia in 1860 by counties, so that we can get
the exact figures for what constitutes the pre-
sent State. The whole number in what is now
Virginia was ll5, 167, or only 1926 more votes
than were cast in the recent election for con-
vention. In other words, at the recent elec-
a convention was nearly as great as the whole
voting population of the same counties in 1860;
while the total number voting upon the ques-
ton, for and against, was 54062 greater than
the total vote in 1860.
A most wonderful contrast is also afforded
between the popular Endorsement given to the
present movement for State Government in
Virginia, and that accorded to the so-called
government which it is intended to supplant.
The conservatives have been vociferous in
their demands that Virginia should be ad-
mitted to the Union under that spurious Gov
ernment; and when the Thirty-ninth Congress
assembled, eight anxious Congressman were
waiting at Washington to take their seats as
Representatives of ''the Old Dominion" The
refusal to admit these private gentlemen to
the seats they so much desired to occupy, is
one of the great 'outrages" that passionate
Democratic orators are so fond of laying to the
charge of Congress. Let us look at the votes
which these men represented as compared
with those given in the late election. The
total vote cast at the Congressional election in
Virginia in 1865, under the Pierpont Provi-
siOnal Government, was only "A, 525 Com
pare this with the 107, 342 votes cast for Con-
vention, and the total vote of l69, 229, at the
recent election. Which looks the more in
accordance with the principles of republican
government? Which is the more truly demo-
oratioP Which is the more consonant with
the spirit of our institutions and the genius OF
the Constitution Which would seem to
afford the better guarantee of stable and
peaceful State Government
These are very important facts. They show
that the new government whose foundations
are now being laid in Virginia, is government
OF the people. The masses are taking part in
It, 1t Is not the work of a few individuals,
the plot OF clique, the device of an oligarchy
seeking supreme control in the State, but it is
movement OF the great body of the people,
and carries with it power OF popular sanction
suOh as no other government in VIRGINIA has
ever had. Fifty hossand more po,iao c;t;,en,
haze participated IN this fundamental act of C,at,
organization than haze eUer before in thar S,an
Joined in any governmental function. II ponnlo,
government means anything, if it is not a mer,
oatohword in the mouths of demagogues ;
the vor popui is ever the zoe Del, surely tbes
facts In regard TO the reconstruction move
nOnt in Virginia are most significant and iu
portant They are in harmony with all tha
Is most distinctive in our form Of government
Il. s.,,I,r nod NTith ha rift .