The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-10-11
The Northern Press on Virginia At
fnirs---The Radicals of the Lesisla-
ture DenouncetE.-G0yerr Walker

J. From the New York Times tRepub!lcanl.
The adherents Of Ex-Governor Wells, in
the new Legislature of, Virginia. have not
| entered upon their labors in wise or mode
rate spirit. They adhere to the opinion
| that the test-oath should be eXacted: and
having been ovcrrulcd by Attorney-Gcneral
Iloar, they now protest in formal phrase,
and with threat Of which they should he
ashamed. They "reserve to Themselves"
it seems, "the right at any time to secede
from the present Legislature and organize
by themselves legal and loyal Legisla-
ture.'
Legality and loyalty have no place in the
| factious policy here proposed. The Legis-
latilre rs now organized, for defined and
| lawful purposes, is organized in conformity
with the views expressed by the legal ad-
wiser of the Federal Government. Prior to
| the presentation Of his opinion on the sub
icct, there may have been room for argu-
meDt as to the course which General Candy
might consistently pursue. We were unable
to recognize his alleged right to impose the
tcSt-oath :. but had the Acknowledgement
decided that that oath should be cxactcd,
no advocate Of the more liberal interpreta-
ton of the law would have dreamed OF fur
ther opposition. sr
Had any friend of Governor Walker
talked Of rcScrving the right to secede and
organize another Legislature he would have
been branded as q foolish and an incurablc
| rebel. What, then, arc the extremists who
now utter this identical threat but foolish
| and intractable obStructivcs? No amount
of !ip-lovalty can .iustifya proceeding which
has its origin in reckless partisanShip, and
the influence Of which will certainly be
lnischievouS.
So far as it is possible to judge Of the pre-
vailing disposition Of the Legislature, we
| see nothing to shake confidence in the good
| faith and good sense of the majority. The
message transmitted yesterday by Governor
Walker affords evidence of his desire to
complete the work of restoration in the
rcadiest and most acceptable manner. He
recommends the ratification Of the fifteenth
| amendment, and, moreover, urges the cleo
| ton Of United States senators rs an avail
| able method of demonstrating to Congress
| the desire Of the Legislature to avert all pre-
| texts for delay. The advice is .judici0us.
| The choice Of sound, unohjectonable sena-
| tors will, in fact, he credential which Con-
gresS cannot disregard; not because the
| law specifically requires this aS 4 prclimi-
nary Of rc;idmission, but because, with this
accomplished, the last speculative excuse
for exclusion will have been removed.
From the New York Commercial.
Governor Walker asks the Legislature, in
the first place, to ratiiy the fourteenth
amendment, and commends the fifteenth
| amendment to them, the principle of which,
| he declares, was accepted and adopted in
the recent clcction-tho principle being
''thc civil and political equality Of all men
before the law" This is a principle Of the
| Republican, and not Of the Democratic
! party, and Governor Walker. in giving his
adhesion to it, and in demanding the adhe-
sion Of Virginia to it. shows just how little
the Virginia election was Democratic
| success.
| In good, strong words. worthy Of Eir-
giDian whose ancestry goes back to James
| town, the Governor remarks, dc.
| From the Baltimore sun.
The message OF Governor Walker, OF Eir-
,.nia, to the Virginia Legislature, Il sketch
Of which was published III the Sun OF yes
| terday, is Il concise and busineSs-likc docll-
mcnt, free from distractions and supcrllll.
Gus words, and ut the same time clear and
comprehensive.