The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1869-01-28

a dress IF Hon A r. II Stuart and Cen
.'o.tn EcAo3s to thea. Felton, Gitieens Of
-iayusts. Coaat,y or tie A,eo Noeemenj.-
TIE. CaQst House crQegae,3 to ais ut
nostcefntiy.A '-'- '-4-' ~ '-
We present the following as an imperfect
synopsis Of thesrcmarks Of Hon. ~ IL II. Stu
art a;.l Gen John Eyllols We had suppos-
ed that these gentlemen had prepared notes
of the different points they intended to dis
cuss, and had hoped to obtain them: to aid Us
i'll making fair report Of the substance Of
their spcechcs--on applying to them we as
certaincd that they had spoken entirely ex
tenporaueously, and we are. therefore compell-
ed to rely on memory, aad very imperfect
memoranda i'll reproducing the substance Of
their remarks on the principal topics which
they discussed.
Mr. S. commonced by say ing, that Ike his
fricnl Col. Baldwin, he lill been in the habit
of speaking 10 the p3oplc II Augusta, from
time to time, during the last 30 years on great
political questions. Eight,ycars ago he spoke
" 'aNii liUiii lhN HfOt NitNiS ilC iiSu HtOo0;
eyplainin. what secession meant, and alm0n-
ishing them Vi The terrible Consequences which
would result from it. On that occasion he
had been denounced by some Of the hot head
ed and inpetupas young men as an 'salarmist"
and Il submissinnst," aud some had gone so
far as tothruulen " turn him out OF the hall
But now,sal we're prepared to acknowledge
that his predictions had be- n fulfilled to the
lett '. .,s..,-a, I..., -oa-s1 II e5s 7. .,a
After the serrender of Gen. Lee he had
again spokea to them on tile Stll Of May 1865,
couuselling the abandonment Of, the contest
and a, prompt return to the Union, Again he
had been nounced and threatened with per-
sonal violence In a few weeks however the
passion and excitement iof the hour passed
away andthe whole community acquleseed in
the wisdom-of. tie coarse which he had sug
gesteI. 3ssa9g asqs Juoas. sfsaaJes-
An occasion had now occurred on which he
deemed it, his duty agaiu to speak tc hiscoup
trymsn 20 Lie knew what he had to say would
not be acceptable to many, bat he felt that it
was due t. himself aud the peob lie among whom
his lie had been spept, and who had so often
honored him with their confidence to speak to
them frank " and freely in regard to the dan
gers bNwhch they were surrounded. fro "a
He said that Il littleamofe than month ago
it seemed to,Ainl as it The sh, p Of state was
fast drifting to DISTINCTION. Sac was in the
rapids aud approaching the catarac5 lie lis
tened anxiously for some voice to sound the
alarnl1-he look I'd earnestly for some strong
arm to save. lie listened. and he looked in
vain 4 He hoped chat some note Of warning
would come from the metropolis of the State.
He hoped that the Central Executive Com
mittee would seek to avert the impending ca
DAINTY but he WAS doomed to disappointment.
lie then determined to raise his public. voice
to sound the alarm. He did SO ard invoked
the prompt action OF the Executive Commit
tee. No formal response was given to his APP
peal, but he learned that tlaeCemmittee recar-
ded their0tunctious as purely lexecutive-th
they had puwer merely to carry Tout the policy
ind'catedin the platform OF 1867, and that
they dlseIain1ed all right to modityo or change
that poiicve notwithstanding the change of cir
cumsrances. ssG s-nl.9,t Taila 3a5 u -'+;s sHr
The danger was imminent. The time for
action was shart, The House of Representa-
tives ofthe II. S.7had passed bill few days
hetoresuhmitting the Underwood Constitution
to vote ct the people,. Congress was to re-
assemble on the 4th Of Janulry, aad there
was every reason to believe that within one
week after that day the Senate would pass the
House bin. And Mr.. Stuart said he had no
doubt. that but for the intervention Of the
COMMITTEE Of nine" the bill would, ere this
have been passed. a@.i" e2tf3.3a ee'
The danger, Mr. Stuart repeated, was iifmi-
nent. 1fanything was done it must be done
quickly There was no time to call a conyen
tion-sno time to consult the people Prompt
and decided action nrust be take to arrest the
evil and the people must be consulted after
wards. What was to be done must be done
within ten days, or it would be too late y
Under these circumstances FIVE gentlemen
who casually met at Ills office on Christmas
day talked the matter over, az! concluded
that theexiocncies were SO grave and so urgent
that they would on their own responsibility
inviteabout so gentlemen to meet them in
Richmond on 3lst of December TO confer in
regard to the condition Of Virginia and decide
what should and could be done to save her
from ruin. g They according sent notes to SO
gentlcmen--all men Of character and position
in all parts Of the State and Of all shades Of
opinion Mr.. Hunter, Mr. Seldom, Mr.. Tuck
or. Mr. Conrad Mr.: Janney ard Mr.. Flour
noy-OId Democrats. and Old W|ligs-Seces
s'onists and Anti Scccssionists were invited.
1hey would have gladly invited more, but the
tine was 50 short that they could communi-
cate only with those on or near the rail road.
The object Of these notes was 70 induce Il g
gentlemen to come to Richmond. No invita-
ton was sent to gentlemen residing in Rich
mond because it was PRESUMED they would be
in the city and make known their views
On the 3lst Of December near so gentle
men met in Richmond and remained III coun-
ell two days. The resolutions which that
conference adopted have been published and
need not be more particularly referred to.
The conference appointed a committee Of
nine to 60 promptly to Washington to try and
defeat or modify the bill there pending before
the Senate. The Instructions to that com
mttce were to do the best they could, to pre-
mote the interest Of Virginia.
Notice was promptly given to the committee
Isl assemble in Washington on the 8th Janu-
AIRY. They did SO and at once went to work
The opponents Of what is called the 'sNcw
Movement" charge that the commt.e are in
favor Of universal suffrage, and recommend
that it be introduced into the constitution
Al. oo,,IJ 10 tI,,, ~