The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-03-19
An Ohio Radical i'm Richmond-Whaf
he Saw and Heard-What he Thinks
OF Underwood, Hunnicust, and the


orrespoudence Of Cincinnati Commercial
! RICHMOND, Va, March 3, 1865.
On entering the hotel last evening, afte,
the theatre was out, saw an excited
group of twenty around the stove, some
seated and others standing. Two member:
of the Virginia Constitutional Convention
were the nucleus of the party. One Of
them-a slender, mild-looking man of thir.
ty, with long, light hair-sat impassively
on the chair, while before him stood an
angry fellow-member, man of swarthy
face, and much more powerfully built than
the brother delegate at whom he was pro-
jecting hot words and shaking his scornful
finger. "Do you mean to tell me-" hissed
out the furious Virginian, "that you in
tend to vote for negro suffrage in the Con-
vention? ?" 81 intend to vote as see it,''
was the reply, uttered very quietly but
with a direct, defiant glance of the eye.
"Well, if you do, by Cd I'll denounce
you" ....
"Ah, very we'll. Denounce me if you
choose, but be good enough to remember
that there is such thing as the code of
honor"
"That be id. / have no fear of you,
sir. Vote for niger suffrage if you dare
If you do, by God | won't associate with
you. Your own brothers will cast you off,
and be ashamed to be seen in your CON-
pany. That's my sentiment 70
The young man at whom these words
were hurled with accents of contempt and
threatening gestures spraDg to his feet,
walked to the counter, and calmly asked
the clerk for some writing paper. Duly
furnished with it, he laid the sheet on the
hotel register, and, with no show of excite
ment, proceeded to pen challenge to
mortal combat. His friends crowded
round, and endeavored to dissuade him
from his purpose, but, to escape their
intercessions, he walked away and
seated himself at a desk behind the
counter, where he finished the cartel.
In the mean time the aggressor had
stalked of to his room. What fate the
challenge met with I have not been able to
ascertain, but l saw the two delegates in
the Convention to-day, the swarthy one
glowering at all mankind, and the light
haired young man looking very thoughtful
as the debate on the suffrage question pro-
gressed, weighing in his mind, no doubt,
whether he could afford to vote to enfran-
chise the negro, as his conscience dictated
and become thenceforward (though him
self Virginian) an object of disdain and
persecution, target for social contempt,
an object to be sneered at by men and
hissed by women.
elf you vote for niger suffrage, by
God won't associate with you"
This is what republican form Of 60
vernment means to-day in Virginia. This
is southern tolerance of free thought and
free opinion.
OF all the southern conventions / have
seen, this one in Virginia has interested
me most. happened in on it just as the
debate on suffrage and disfranchiscmcnt
was drawing to close, and when its tenn
per and divisions of sentiment were clearly
10 be discerned. 1t is composed of l05
delegates, Of whom 81 are cOlored men.
The latter did not strike me as favorably
as those of their race in the Louisiana and
South Carolina Conventions. they have
any conspicuous talent, have not seen it
displayed. The one who enjoys the most
notoriety is Lewis Lindsey, rather good
looking but irascible and impetuous mu-
latto, once the slave Of John Minor Bolts.
" Knee deep" Lindsey is his favorite So
briquet among the Conservatives, who so
nick-named him after the speech in which
he declared the negro race would wade
knce-deep in blood 10 defend their new
privileges. There are about thirty-ti
Conservatives in the Convcntion--a dcci-
dedly inferior lot of men, probably Sc
lectcd as practical joke on reconstruc-
ton-a corps picked for absence Of stand
ing and talent. This Conservative element
is TOO weak to place its impress on the new
Constitution, so they content themselves
with rasping the Radicals and decryiDg
the Convention in which they are not un-
willing to sit and draw pay.
The Convention holds its sessions in the
State capitol on Shockoe Hill, in the room
Of the House Of Delegates, a neatly-ap-
pointed apartment, hung with very large
oil paintings OF Washington and Lafayette.
The desks are arranged in a semi circle,
and small galleries occupy the tianks. The
chair in which the presiding officer sits is
terribly trying affair. ITS design is so am
bilious that no one but Jupiter himself
could rcpose in it and escape sinking into
physical insignilicancc. The back of the
throne is about five feet high, and looks
like an exaggerated Dutch hand-organ.
Judge Underwood, President of the Con-
vention, happens to be duck-legged
man, with decided stoop in his shoulders,
and long, neglected hair. The contrast
between the man and the chair is ludl-
crous. The Judge, at best, does not pos
sess striking pysique nor an intellectual
head. He is not an expert in the parlla-
mentary manual. He becomes easily
question, and amendments to amendments.
AS chairman he is not success.
With such leader as Hunnicutt, tenn
perate debate and moderate voting are
impossible. However honest in convlc-
tions and loyal impulses, he is an unsafe
man. Hunnicutt has commanding IN
huence with his fellow Radical members.
Pity it's, tits true.
The fact is the more to be regretted be-
is the least secure from passing into the
hands Of the Democracy. On the old re-
gistration lists there are 1852 whites and
l04,772 blacks. A new registration IS
going forward, and all over the State the
whites are displaying zeal that promises
i'll for the success of the new Constitution.
If made too iron-clad, it will weaken II
even with the negroes. l am fully salts
fed that the freedmen want simple polltl-
cal equality and personal protection-,no-
thing more. They have no present thirst
for Office or emolument. They ask only
safety and fair play, and may the best race
win. The article on suffrage that Will De
passed will disfranchisc from $4,000 to ~
900 white Virginians. This is innovation
with vengeance. If the people OF VIZ
ginia are ever again to be intrusted with