The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-04-20
The Constitution-The Address of the
tivel Members of sthe&Con-

vention.
In the ED;spatch of Saturday we Ipub-
lisbed the Constitution just sent forth to the
world by the negro Convention. There
were some errors-of our making, Of
course-in the copy thus hurriedly pre-
sented 10 the public; but we do not deem
it necessary topoint them out. In its SUBJ
stance, If not in its very letter, the work
is as 1t then and there appeared. To-day
we publish the address Of the Conservative
members Of the Convention to the people
of Virginia; and we ask every man to read
It carefuily, and learn the extent to which
party malignity and negro insolence have
gone in the attempt to throw this honored
Commonwealth into the hands Of a race
totally unfit for the task either Of making
or administering the laws-totally dis
qualified for taking even the humblest part
in the work Of governing State-and 50
manifestly unprepared to perform the ou,
ties which they purpose to undertake tna'
our children will discredit the Annals
which chronicle the facts and acts OF the
present day. To read the Constitution Is
to see the evidences Of diabolical hatred
towards the white race. These evidences
are made palpable by the address aiioaeu
to. It needs no praise. 1t is unamoltlouS,
unpretentious, plain story, narrative -
facts and proves that its authors appre-
c;ata the situation of our people. we
propose, nevertheless, to show that even
this address fails to point out all the hide
ous features of the proposed Constitution
and ell the reasons why it should be IN
dignantly rejected. And perhaps the nrs'
section, in point of Importance, is the one
which follows: ..
"CHuRcH PRoPERTY.-The rights OF &C.
clesiastical bodies in and to church pro,
nerty conveyed to them by regular deeo
of conveyance shall not be affected by the
late civil war, nor by any antecedent OF
subsequent event, nor by any act OF the
Legislature purporting to govern the same'
but all such property shall pass to and De
held by the parties set forth in the original
deeds of conveyance, or the legal assignees
of such original parties holding through or
by CONVEYANCE and any act or acts OF the
Legislature in opposition thereto are null
and void"
This seems to be harmless provision.
But it is not. tbs intended to transfer a
large amount of property in this State
from the hands of the rightful owners into
the hands of the northern Methodist Epis-
copal Church-the most dangerous body of
partisans in this country. 1t is intended,
under cover of legal technicalties, to de-
fraud the persons who hold the equitable
title to this property. The reader will re-
member that before the division OF that
church in 1914, the Methodist Episcopal
church owned much property in this State
that after that division there were two
churches-the legal title of the one being
the Methodist Church, and Of the other
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
that the Baltimore Conference, which
extended from Fredericksburg to the
Maryland line throughout northern Virgil
MIA, and throughout the Valley of Virginia
from Winchester to Bristol, adhered to the
former church, up to the time aohen the late
arar commenced; and this being SO, that the
church property was Of course all held in
the name of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and not in the name Of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, South. The preach
ers of the Baltimore Conference who reside
and preach within the boundaries named
above have, since the aoar, joined the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, South, and all their
parishioners Tor at any rate, nine out of
ten of them) approve of the transfer Of
membership. The Legislature of Virginia
passed law declaring that the members
of these charges should have the legal
title to this large amount of property,
since it is VIGOROUSLY their own. Now,
this Convention, made up Of northern
carpet-baggers, ignorant negroes, and trail
torous Virginians, has undertaken to pro-
vide in the section above quoted that the
property in question shall 60 to the north
ern Methodist Church--not because that
church has any moral or equitable right to.
possess it, but simply because it is Radi.
cal machine-a church whose preachers
are political puppets worked by the scoun-
drels who "run" the Radical party. The
design is to secure foothold in Virginia
for this scheming, dangerous political or
ganization, or church, if so you please to
call it. There are no names given, and no
pretence of justice is set up. It is aplain
declaration that because certain sec
clesiastical body has the name in law Of
" Methodist Episcopal Church" it shall
have the property which rightfully belongs
to men who have withdrawn from that cor
rupt organization and joined the "Metho-
dist Episcopal Church South" It is an
attempt to play the game of Beast But
LER-to steal under cover of legal techni-
calities. This section alone will be sufi-
cient to unite all the people west of the
Blue Ridge in opposition to the Constitu-
ton.
The Bill of Rights declares that this
State shall always remain part of the
Union, and that all attempts to withdraw
from it ought to be resisted by the
whole State. The men who put in this
consolidation declaration had not sense
enough to leave out one directly in the
teeth of it which our fathers inserted in