Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1869-02-09

Hoard at the best hotels, and have an eye Out
] for the new conner. who visits Washington tl
look at the capital. Their judgment is uner
| ring They can detect an office-seeker or q
lobby agent; at glance, and give him "a wide
/ berth, and the neat, delicate manner in which
they approach and capture their victim is
worth a study.-Don Psatt, ia Cincinnati Com
naercldt "A r..s,.f4a.. ess. s..s 4sgt.
Horrors Of Reconstruction.
One would suppose that the most ardent ad-
mirer of radical reconstruction, would find in
the experience Of those Southern States which
have passed the magic ordeal, such flood for
| thought as would at least suggest-a doubt as
to the reality of those blessings so, commonly
regarded as inseparable from that condition.
Those beatifc visions of happiness and pros
perity which the truly loyal so rapturously
describe, might be regarded as mere fgments
| Of the brain if contrasted with the horrors
daily occurring In those communities which are
now the blessed recipients of Congressional leg
| islation. .AE 2 =,
| Without pausing to portray the delectable
condition of Brownlow's domain, where daily
outrage and nightly violence mark the era of
returning peace and alnity without lingering to
note.the yacillating steps with which the era
| ven Holden essays to follow in the wake Of the
bolder but not more malignant rulers of Ten
nessee. or to describe the outrages, the arsons,
| the murders, the rapes, which with unyarying
rnonotany attest the blessings which, in every
reconstructed State, flow from governments ad-
minstered By s'loyal citizens, we would, ia all
candor, ask of those gentlemen whose new born
zeal in the cause of reconstruction has hurried
| them forward with reckless speed to the attain
nent of their desire, whether the narrowing
scenes now daily occurring Ill reconstructed
| Arkansas, will not suffice to disturb their
| equanilnity and demand pause in the hurry
and precpitaucy which mark the character of
| the Late movement A whole community
! placed under martial law by carpet-bag Gov
ernor, dram head courts martial, military exe~
cution and armed occupancy of whole sections
| Of the State-these under any circumstances
embrace an array Of evils, before which the
human mind instlnctlyey recolis with horror
| and disnlay but how greatly are these feelings
| intensified, how immeasuraby are these hor-
| rors increased, when we remember that the
military who lord 1t over Arkansas to-day
and live at free quarters upon her citizens, are
composed mainly, if not exclusively, OF NEGRO
soLDIERs--of ruffians recruited for this very
service by reason Of their anxiety to participate
in the carnival of rapiue and blood promised
! by the loyal partisans OF reconstructed
government When we read in the reports
daily coming up from that unfortunate State,
of houses burned, property destroyed, citizens
shot and deienceless maids and matrons lav-
| i>hed by brutal negro soldiery, and when we
| know that absolutely no redress Is afforded tor
| these fendish atrocities when we find an off,
| Ger of the army, sent out for the purpose of
| examining into these outrages, coolly reporting
| that martial law was required to protect the
| loyal citizens, and that under its potent influ
ence quiet is being rapidly restored In those
,orlxr
lnitted, and especially when we find this official
| referring to acts of violence committed on wo-
men and murders on men as "a few examples
| of insubordinaton and lawlessness on the part
/ of the soldierly, who In many localities were OF
| necessifg composed exclusively OF negroes the
| soul absolutely sickens at the reflection, that
a0v community in our land should be thus
| shamelessly abandoned to the mercy of such a
set of cutethroats and banditti. And yet this
| is done, in RECONSTRUCTED State-these
scenes are enacted where Congressional poll
| cy'' has had its perfect work, and restored
sovereignty" is proudly cited as evldencing the
wisdom and efficiency Of Radical statesman~
| ship. .1s .33scsas sa .a91s 8a e4s
: Does any thinking man suppose that similar
scenes might not occur In Virginia, when re-
constructed on the same model plan ? With a
carpet-bag Governor, who boasts of being ac-
tuated by the spirit of John Brown, placed
at the head of affairs, with negroes controlling
every election, and debating public policy in a
large portion of the State, how long will it be
before a militia system similar to that of
Arkansas will be seen here, and martial law
be made the potent agency whereby rebel
sympathsers are brought to terms, and con-
servatiye citizens converted into loyal lea~
guers?' 5s.ga.
Virginia to day is in condition absolutely
enviable, when contrasted with that of any of
the reconstructed States. Under the govern
ment Of the military no such narrowing scenes
as disgrace humanity, and make of Arkansas a
| hell upon earth, can occur here, for military
rule here means white soldiery controlled in
the main by gentlemany officers, not negro sol
diery under the command OF malignant scala-
wags. and bounded to their hellish work by a
greedy and vindictive carpet-bag Governor.
Reconstruction under the Congressional pol
| icy has as yet borne no fruits in other States
which should tempt Virglnians SO eagerly to
seek in it for the panacea of our ills. Resto-
| ration to the Union has in no instance been
accompanied with the blessings which were
promised as the necessary accompaniment OF
negro suffrage Let Virginia then adhere to
her former policy-let her act in accordance
with her oft-repeated declarations of undying
opposition to this peculiar feature of Radical
policy and whatever may be the consequence,
we shall at least have preserved not only our
consistency" but our honor, although some
may, with reprehensible fppancy, ridicule the
| former and, with more culpable folly, sneer at
the latter. -Lynchburg Neus. .r4
Many men, says Tillotson, pass fifty or sixty