Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1869-06-22
Letter from Hon Alex H. STEPHENS.


war he says:
Whatever may be the ultimate results Of thi
war, SO tar as the fate of constitutional Hbert
on this continent IS concerned, the responsible
" OF lts inauguration can never be justly an
truly charged upon the seeding States.
Eher object IN separating from their forme
associates, with whom they considered they hat
been united IN federal compact, was not onl
to remain IN peace with them, but to preserv
and perpetuate the principles Of that constitu
ton which had demonstrated such woudrous re
suits as a bond Of union between sovereign
States so long as its principles had been adher
ed to, but which they apprehended, under er
roneous construction, if not checked, would
soon lead to consolidation and despotism.
1t they were right in their position that our
was federal government, then the authoritie
at w ashlngton were the aggressors in inaugu
rating the war to prevent the exercise of the
right of withdrawal if they were wrong in thei
position as to the character of the general gov
ernment; IT it. in fact, was not federal in it
nature aud character, but was government
with consolidated sovereignty In the centra
mead, then they were the aggressors In render
Ing the inauguration OF the war necessary tor the
maintenance Of central supremacy The whole
matter of right or wrong in the beginning o
the war, as well as its disastrous consequences
depends upon the great question, whether the
general government was a federal republic or not,
and what, under the constitution, was the true
s'orthodox State rights principle" to which
Judge Nicholas refers, but does not eniighten
the public upon. In other words, it depends
upon the true answer to the question. where,
under our system, does sovereignty reside? Is
1t lodged In the general government Or has it
passed to the whole people of the United States
| as one aggregate mass, or does it still remain
| fhn <l1ooo
political organizations?
| The letter concludes thus:
And now, Messrs Editors, do you ask Gu
bono Why SO much written upon the dead
issues OF the past, when questions Of so much
magnitude OF practical character press upon
the public mind? If so the reply is twofold =
First to vindicate the truth of history, which is
itself high duty on the part of any one who
has 1t in his power to do it, and in the second
place, to show the people of these States, in
this vindcation, not only the true cause, the
real ''causa causans" Of the late war, but the
real cause of their present troubles. The fede-
raj machinery for the last ten years has been
abnormal in its action. 1t must be brought
back to the Jefhfersonan doctrines, and made
to conform in its workings with the organic
princip of its structure before there can posi-
bly, be return Of the days of peace, harmony,
prosperity and happiness which formerly mark
ed our course. There is no other hope for con
stltutlonal liberty on this continent. Judge
Nicholas may d! cam dreams" about another
constitutional amendment, providing new
mode Of electing the President, but the remedy
lies In no such device as that 1t lies simply in
bringing back the government, In its admins
trasion, to original first principles. This is to be
done not by secession, however rightful and ef-
icent remedy that might be- That is aban-
Irrt TO ho buf u;n
Of any kind except the force of reason and the
power of truth. 1t is to be done, if at all, at
the ballot boz. Free institutions are more gen
orally lost than established, or strengthened by
a resort to physical force. They are eminently
the achievement Of virtue, patriotism and rea-
son. That our institutions, and even nominal
form Of government, is now in great danger the
prudent. sagacious and wise everywhere virtual
ly admit. An able editorial in your own paper,
not long since, put the pertinent and brave
question, "Wither are we drifting?'' 10 this
question take the occasion, for one, to give a
direct and positive answer. We are drifting to
consolidation and empire, and will land there at
no distant period as certainly as the sun will
set this day, unless the people of the several
States awake to proper appreciation of the
danger and save themselves from the impend-
ing catastrophe by arresting the present ten
dency of public affairs. This they can properly
do only at the ballot box. All friends of con-
stitutional liberty, in every section and State,
must unite in this grand effort. They must Sc
riously consider and even reconsider many
questions to which they have given but slight
attention heretofore. They must acquaint them
selves with the principles of their government
and provide security for the future by studying
and correcting the errors OF the past
This is the only hope, as l have stated, for
fho of nal
form of government. Depend upon it there is
no difference between consolidation and empire !
No difference between centralism and imperial
ism The end of either, as we'll as all Of these,
is the overthrow of liberty and the establish
ment of despotisnl. give you the words of
truth in great earnestness-words which, how
ever received or needed now, will be rendered
eternally true by the developments of the fu-
ture.
Yours, most respectfully,
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
THE VALLEY. The Valley apparently will
not suffer like the East by the operation of the
Underwood constitution and its county organiza-
ton article But this advantage Of the Valley
over us is only apparent, as will be obvious in a
moment. The taxes under this constitution
will fall almost exclusively on the whites, and
the Valley counties, having largely prepon
tremendously Augusta will pay double the
taxes that Pittsyvania will have to pay, al
though Augusta has only three members ofthe
House of Deleg tes, and the fraction Of sena-
tor. while Pittsylvania has four delegates and a
whole senator 1t is therefore in this point Of
view particularly the interest of the Valley that
the Conservatives shall secure the Legislature
which will lay the taxes. This is as plain as
the nose in a mans face Unless the Valley
counties are willing to be taxed to death, let
them do their full duty in this election
But again: if the Radicals carry this election,
and get the control of the State government, 1t
will be their policy to strengthen the negro ele-
ment in that section. How will they do it?-
| They will quarter as many negro oi1lcers as pos
sible in those counties The Legislature will
give them Radical county judges, Radical cir
cult Judges, and the Radical courts will give
| them Radical commissioners in chancery, and
| whenever the Governor or the Legislature or
the judiciary can make their influence felt, they
will make it felt for the purpose OF strengthen
ing and sustaining their party In that quarter.
| Let our Valley friends remember West Virginia
| and Missouri. Enquirer and Erdmaner
| There never was more perfect organization
| than that which the Radicals have banded In
this State. A few venal, shameless white men
have organized the poor negroes into leagues,
and bound them by oaths, to support the meas
ures and candidates of the party. Every spe-
cies of terrorism that can be imagined is exer-
cised over these poor deluded creatures, to hold
them in firm concord with the wicked wretches
who care nothing for them except to get their
votes The negroes seem to be lmpervlous to
arguments of any kind. They only know that
the leaders Of the leagues require them to do
thus and SO, and they bndly obey the word of