Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-09-19

THE people of Virginia will beplaeed in
a p~ositfon to which there is no parallel in
history. The suffrage will be IMMERSED,
and will be exercised by not only all the
whites, but by the eighty thousand ne
groes, of whom but very few can under
stand anything about the political ques-
ions that Will be presented for their de-
cision at the pells.
Upon who then viii fall the response
bility of directing the policy of the State
of virginia. This is a question Of ire
mendous Importance, that should arrest
the attention of every true son of the
commonwealth, whether native or adop-
ted. The answer is, hat the steering OF
the ship will be in the hands of the more
intelligent of her crew these must direct
the rest who know not their right hand
from their left.
The above is the pathetic lament Of
the Norfolk Journal, in view Of the
coming re-admission Of Virginia to
the Union, which Will be accomplished
in a few short weeks. Alas! for the
good old State, the mother of Presi-
dents, and the land of WASHINGTON,
JEFFERSON, MADISON and HENRY.
son whom" asks the Journal, twill
rest the responsibility" And the
sorrOwful answer is, that, to the fifty
thousand white adults who cannot
read, is now to be added eighty thou
sand others still more ignorant, and
that too of a eredulous race who may
be easily led by the base and design
ing. "The steering of the ship"
should be " in the hands Of the more
intelligent of her crew" But will it?
That is the question, which, for good
or evil, is now to be decided. 1t has
been accepted as an axiom that repre-
sentative bodies are no better than
the constituents they represent. What
then is to be the character Of the legis-
Iators and other officials Of Virginia, if
they are to have the virtue and intel
Iigenee which the electors of Virginia
possess, diluted by this fifty thousand,
and by this second dilution of eighty
thousand more? The State has paid
dearly for peace, if that peace will not
bring prosperity and intelligent gov
eminent. The larger the proportion
of ignorant voters, the greater the diff
fculty, and the more fatal the Uneer-
tainty Of obtaining good officers.
What is to be expected of a voting
population of two hundred and fifty
thousand, fifty thousand of whom
cannot read, and eighty thousand
more of whom neither read nor pay
taxes? VIII the gentlemen of the
State descend to the hastings, Or will
sharpers harvest the votes and the
spoils? We think that Virginia, and,
if universal suffrage prevails, Tennes-
see also, viii be good States for rogues
to emigrate to, where they can cut it
fat"
But the Journal thinks the whites,
because of their superior intelligence,
| will rule the State. That is a good
reason why it should be sO-but IS it
good logicP On the contrary, is itnot
true that the control of our cities, our
towns and counties, is in the hands of
prep0nderating numbers alone, and
that as a rule the religious, the virtu-
Gus, the educated and intelligent, go
in the minority, to the wall? If yir-
tue and intelligence in the people is
the very substratum and only hope Of
republican Institutions, are We to eX-
pect the existence of such Institutions
when controlled by equally ignorant
aud vicious majorities, to compOrt
with the common welfare? Happy,
indeed, will be Virginia, if it shall 50
turn out that the more intelligent
shall control " the rest, who know not
their right hand from their left" But
| il would be safer and better for the
State if such a necessity for control
were omitted. In Tennessee, where
we are free TO Ieglslate as to this mat
ter, and where we have sad experience
! of the evil Of negro suffrage, we trust
the milestone Of that eighty thousand
ignOramuses will be taken from our
necks, as soon as possible, by the re-
quisite legal and constitutional means,
and not otherwise.