Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1868-03-26


made by which this right of suffrage has
been granted or exercised by this class to
any extent worthy of mention.
Upon the principle then that the last
will and testament should govern, upon
the idea that such last will expresses the
last mind and maturest Judgment of til,
testator, [ ask, with whom is the historical
argument? And when you consider the
insignificant numbers of this race then,
with their augmentated numbers now,
ask if it does not apply with tenfold more
force and power?
z. Again, answer, in regard to the
O,O00 ignorant whites of 1860 so often
paraded here as reason why still more
ignorant people may be entrusted with the
high and sacred right of suffrage, %
That this number included ,oonaen as well
as nae's-that the former are at least equal
and perhaps superior, in number to the
latter This then would reduce the whole
number of electors in the whole State of
Virginia, as it then was, to 30, 000. Then
take off one-third for West Virginia, and
am not certain that it ought not to be
half, and you have about % 900 left =
This then would give the proportion Of 10
norant population about one to FIVE or six
according to the present registered vote.
the total number being some 120, 600
Now how do you propose to improve this
c'nfessedly Objectionable state Of things :?
by educating and qualifying these %, 900
to discharge properly and intelligently their
duties?
Is this the mode by which you propose
to correct the misgovernment of Virginia :?
No! you propose reformatory movement
by which more ignorance shall be introdu-
ced to the exercise of this right to govern:
by which iO5, 900 more ignorant, litter
ate inexperienced, propertyless men shall
be added to this number! What is the
effect: What the result? Why, simply,
that you thus make the ignorant, inexpe-
rleneed, non-property- holding class the
majority, and give them the control of the
State, with all its vast interests AMI rights
OF persons and property. How will the
relative proportions stand? Why, simply,
thus: deduct the % 5000 from the 1870
ooo white voters, and you have 81, 600
left; sdd the los, 900 to the % 900, and
you have 128,O00, majority of 81 900
IN the State against intelligence, expert
ence and property!
VI. [ object to this system, in addition.
because it endangers the stability of the
Government The changes are SO great,
SO thorough, SO radical, the managers and
regulators of the scheme SO untried and
inexperienced, that it were strange if it
was otherwise. Hence the injury to the
State credit. Hence the depreciation of
State bonds. Hence the stagnation of
business. Who will invest? Who will
trust to any line of business policy in such
an hour OF uncertainty as this? Hence
the depreciation of lands. Hence the in
disposition of those from abroad to be-
come purchasers. They want these oues-
lions first solved. They want to know
whether the negro is to rule? They want
to know whether he and those who CO.
operate with him are to be entrusted with
the management, By government, of the
east estate Of laryinia, real and persuade
ihey want to see whether government
Is to be organized here in which the
non-p'ope'ty-holders, and, comparatively
speaking, the non-taa-payers are to be the
governing and dominant class, and the
opposite class, the property holders and
taxpayers, are to be the subject class. -
Ihey want to see whether this class is to
be entrusted with the management of the
landed estate of Virginia, (within her pre-
sent boundaries, } valued in the census Of
1860 at 1887 900, 900, and the personal
property interests assessed at upwards of
Sol ,O0G, 900 in 1866, and after the close
of the war
The returns of the year 1867 show that
OF the capitation tax the negroes paid
SoI 24o 81, while the whites paid $751;
3'S 81 that the tax upon personal pro-
perty, of which the negro had but little
that tn, was taxable, was $120,541 o.
The license tax, of which the negro could,
IN the nature of things, have paid but lit
tie, was 1851 ,555 81; and the real es
tate tax, of which only small amount
could have come from this class, 1887
Ill 50! In word, the whole aggregate
OF taxes for the year was $1,702, O7O q,
OF which, l think it safe to say, rot over
Sl0O 900 was paid by this race now pro-
posed to be enthroned in power!
Can such government be wisely con-
Quoted? Can it have the confidence of
the people? Will it not, in the nature of
things, inspire dislike. hatred and oppos-
ton! Is not the inevitable tendency a
war OF races, result to be most earnestly
deprecated by every lover of his country
VII. | protest against it especially as
unjust to the great Valley, from which I
and many of my associates come. That
section, including South West Virginia,
contains 80 counties, rich and fertile. in
not one of which is there negro majority,
and from not one of which, I venture to
say, should this Constitution be adopted
will there be negro representative or
representative of negroes The lands en-
braced in the area mentioned were valued
in ls6O..at $1O4, 247 1856. or about one
third the entire value of the whole real es-
tate embraced in the present limits of Vir-
gina. The presumption is that she pays
one-thIrd of the entire taxes of the State,