Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-11-01
I.a<.sca, views OF tl.o Virginia tzIec,Io Z,
TIE ELECTION FRAUDS ACKNOWLEDGED

"A
TIRE ELECTION FRAUDS ACKNOWLEDGED.
From the Cleveland (Ohio) Herald, (Rad)
# the Geographic accounts Of the cleo
ton in Richmond are correct, and 30 sat
isfactOry explanation is given why the polls
were. III some instances, kept open beyond
the prescribed time, the Radical victory is
one Of which the Republican party has lit
lie reason to be proud. It were better for
the convention movement to be defeated,
and the State kept under military rule for
another twelvemOnth, than that it should
be carried BY means savorinG of artltice OF
force,
The e. elton to the convention of such
extremists as Hunnicutt and his confrercS
of itself bodies no good for they will be
apt to put forward measures so violent and
prOscriDtive as to lie offensive to the great
mass Of Republicans themselves. The in
tlammatory harangaeS Of hunnicutt TO the
negroes during the past few months, and
his reported violence III the election, serl-
ousIy damaged the Republican cause III
Virginia, and stamped him Il demagoguo
Of the worst and most dangerous stripe
The dis0rllerly conduct OF the negroes at
the IoliS was Il natural result OF such APP
peals, and went far to Justify the solid OPP
position Of the whites to a measure that
looked to subjecting the State to negro
rule.
There may be another side to the story,
which is not yet told bat on the present
sh0wingit would be better--if the Virginia
convention has been carried by bare ma
jority. obtained by such practices as are
alleged in RichmOnd-that the convention
be declared Defeated or the entire election
proceedings, in Richmond at least, be set
aside as Illegal. Congress, which sends
committees to investigate the election pro-
ceedIngs in Kentucky, and to ascertain
whether Maryland has a fairly devised con-
stitutlOn, can scarcely accept constitution
for Virginia about the origin of which clings
even a faint Of dishonesty, or a suspicion of
violence.
From the Springfield (Mass) Republican, (Rep.)
It looks very much as if reconstruction
in Virginia would be something the party
will not care to be held responsible for !;
bat there may be enough reasonable men
III the convention to restrain and control
it. The vote was very full; although many
Of the freedmen had forgotten their regis
tration names, before the voting ended, a
voter was found for nearly every name, and
it is not likely that many votes were lost
anywhere. Hunnicutt and his lieutenantS
deserve credit, at least, for the perfect dis
cipline Of their forces. Not as much can
be said for the intolerance with which they
had inspired the negroes, and which made
them treat as enemies, worthy OF death,
any c0lored man voting against them. The
fact of a majority for reconstruction Is sat
isfactOry, however, because an experiment
Will be made to that end, with at least a
possibility CT success.
The New York Times speaks Of the elec-
in, Lon l1 no
as g the steady and resistless food-tide of
public sentiment at the South, which flows
Oh to reconstruction. There is more
poetry than truth in this, we are reluctantly
compelled to believe. 4 mere handful of
white men in the great State of Virginia,
and many of these Northern residents, have
voted for reconstruction. To talk of the
public sentiment of Virginia, with the
whites counted out or against it, is not to
say anything very satisfactory. So in Ala
bama, with 1913, 100 voters registered, but
lG, 500 white men voted, and less than TO-
600 OF these voted for { convention. Re-
construction is called q success in both
these States, but it is not the sort of sue
cess we have labored and hoped for, nor
the kind that can bear satisfactory fruit
1t is radically detective, in that the intelli-
gent population, the population that has
hitherto controlled public affair.", is almost
a unit against it. Instead OF q reconstruc-
ton, it is rather a ne, creation. All that
constituted the former States has disap-
peared, and Il new people, unused to Iiber
ty and lf-goVernment, have come into
control. They should have come in, in
deed, but the white clement should not
have dropped out, and been arrayed in an
tagonism. Here is the great defect and
the source Of what may prove fatal danger.
1t viii require the Wisest and calmeSt states
manship to bring true reconstruction and
peace to the South and the country out Of
these unfortunate complications.
From the PIttsbu-g Chronicle, (Rep)
Important as it undoubtedly is that u
convention should be held in Virginia, as
in other Southern States, to facilitate the
reconstruction of this still disunited cOun-
try, the reports we have of the mode Of
conducting the election in Richmond can
not gre our people much satisfaction. Public
opinion will, Of course, remain somewhat
in allegiance until General Schotield makes
a statement relative to that election. AS
the matter now stands, ii we may give
credence to Geographic reports, polls were
opened and closed anikb0M any regard TO Tie
regulations prescribed for conducting elections,
and apparently rather with view to suit
ing the convenience of the black voters
| than with reference to obtaining a fair
| expression Of the opinions of the people to
be affected by the election. In other
words, the Geographic dispatches depict
that election as political triumph OF the
IL L T.. "a ~