The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-17
SOUTHERN REPUBLICANS PROMOTING
CANCELLATION AND PEACE.

be no omisapprehension of the position he occu-
pies in the Tennessee contest He means
that the battle with the Stokes section of the
Republican party shall be Fought out squarely
with no resort ON either side to false pretenses.
The main issue separating them relates to the
proscriptive measures which are among the
relics of the bitter conflict with Rebellion
And while Stokes proclaims purpose to up
hold the disabilities enacted when the pas
slons of the conflict were at white heat.
Senter with equal emphasis avows himself
convert to the magnanimous policy indor5ed
by the Chicago Convention, and approved by
General Grant in his intercourse with Vir-
ginians and Congress. There is nothing hesi-
tating OF dubious in the course pursued by
the Governor upon the subject. He puts the
only proper Interpretation upon disfranchise-
ment when he describes it as "a temporry
necessity growing out of the needs and
the situation of the time' and adopted with
no expectation that it would be long con
tinued.' He sees in it now the cause of rest
lessness and discontent' and in its history an
influence that 'engenders animosities, dis
cord, and strife He ascribes the desire for
its perpetuation to "a selfish partisan ambi-
ton to gain Office OF a selfish partisan fear of
losing it'-an explanation so evidently ra-
tional and just that it applies with happy
suggestiveness TO the proscripuOnists of Mis-
souri and West Virginia, as well as of Ten
nessee For himself, Governor Senter dis
Germs in a policy of conciliation the proper
path to peace and safety. In his Judgment,
he says, the time has come ''when the limi-
tations and disabilities which have found
their way into our statute-books, as the result
of the war; should be abolished and removed,
and the privilege of the elective franchise re-
stored and extended so as to embrace the mass
of the adult population of the State" These
are sound and prudent utterances whatever
the motives that prompt them, and it is satis-
factory to know that the candidate who is re-
sponsible for them has the support of local
Republican journals and a powerful portion
of the party. His election on this basis
would give to the State a contentment and
prosperity never attainable by partisan harsh
ness and intoerance and we are not surprised
to hear that in the canvass he is sustained by
an influential class whom the events of the
last few years had driven into retirement.
Republicans of Mississippi, we are glad to
note, are preparing to reconstruct that State
on platform identical with that raised by
Senter in Tennessee. The Mississippi Ex-
ecutive Committee. in n call for a Repubh-
can State Convention. invite the cooperation
of ''all who desire the adoption of the new
Constitution, with every harsh feature omit
ted" A platform circulating in the same
connection affrms the desirableness of recon-
struction on the most liberal terms compatible
with Federal law, and of ''the removal of all
political disabilities on account of past politi-
cal offenses, as soon as the State shall be re-
constructed upon a republican basis" These
are not the whisperings of an enemy IN dis
guise. Their harmony with the State Repub-
lican Committees call is proof that they reflect
a widespread and settled conviction. And
| their significance is further enhancedNby close
| Identification with the administration of
| General Grant and the policy of Congress-
and by determined opposition TO ''the party
and the sentiment which created the war and
| opposed reconstruction.
The broad ground occupied by Republicans
in Tennessee and Mississippi stands out in
| bold contrast to the proscriptve policy which
in Virginia has its representative in the Wells
ticket. The same elements and motives that
are combined in Tennessee in behalf of
Stokes are at work in Virginia in support of
Wells. ga selfish partisan ambition to gain
office" operates in conjunction with "a selfish
partisan fear of losing" Office; and the two,
united make up Wells strength The sensi-
BILE suggestions of Senter, and the generous
propositions of the Mississippi Committee,
have their Virginia expression in the Walker
ticket, which aims at purging the local consti-
tuition of disfranchisement and political dsa-
bilities. and electing an Executive and Legis-
lature deserving the respect and confidence of
the State.
AS the first opportunity of testing the rela-
| tive strength of the movement for terminating
| political disabilities and the movement for
| perpetuating them, the Virginia campaign
| possesses unusual interest. The habit of out
side Democrats is to represent the division as
one of color, and the result as typical of the
| supremacy of black or white in the political
affairs of the State. But we trace no evidence
| of a separation so defined, and the attempt to
create it proceeds from no real regard for the
welfare of either. 1t seems probable that
| Wells will receive comparatively few votes
| apart from those of the negroes but there
are many localities in which the latter promise
| to swell the vote for Walker. Such result
is natural and greatly to be desired. A rigid
division of races at the polls would be q
calamity too serious to be acquiesced in
cheerfully and the moral strength of the
Walker party in no small degree depends upon
its ability to secure cooperation where antag
onism has been confidently predicted. This
effected, one chance of the failure of the con-
ciliatory policy alone remains; and that is the
chance arising from apathy on the part OF
white citizens, or the disgust which some
affect because clauses to which they Object
are not to be submitted separately a
the election. The extent to which thii
contingency affects the position of parties
will be known when the registration
now in progress shall be completed. If il
prove formidable reality, it will be anothe
instance of the power of prejudice and pas
sion, and of the folly which impels men tC
throw away substantial good because it does
not quite come up to their standard of perfec
ton.