Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1869-12-02

ton of which has been made b
telegraph, was written by Judg
Johnston, United States Senate
elect from Virginia, to Governc
Walker, upon the receipt of hi
credentials. We give it entire, o
account of the good advice to til
Southern people by a Souther
man that is contained in it, Gu
Gazette.
ABINGToN, November II, 1869.
His ErceIleRcy Governor Walker:
| have the honor to acknowl
edge the receipt Of my credential
as United States Senator from Vii
ginia.
When the war ended it was no
only q matter of necessity, but 0
practical wisdom, that the South
ern States should regain theirplace
in the Union at the earliest posi-
BILE day. That they could prospe
in the anomalous condition il
which they were placed was impos
sible. The uncertainty Of the futur
repressed enterprise and deadenet
industry. A settled State Consti
tuition and defined relations to til,
General Government were essen
tial to the complete progress
and quiet and well being Of thcsC
States Believing fully not only
that we in Virginia could not pros
per, but that our continued exclu
sion from the Union interfere(
with the business ofthe whole coun
try, | have been anxious for an ear
Iy compliance with the Recon
struction laws, and that the State
should itselfinaugurate some move
ment similar to that which resulted
in your election for the purpose,
and not wait, like Micawbcr, fol
something to turn up"
The questions at issue between
the North and South were settled,
and settled for ever, by the war
Slavery was extinct, and nobody
wanted it revived on any terms. -
The claim to the right Of secession
was abandoned, and it is not only
not probable, but not possible that
it can be again asserted for the
State of Virginia, by vote almost
unanimous, has adopted a Consti-
tuition which declares
"That this State shall ever re-
main a member of the United States
Of America, and that the people
hereof are a part of the American
lation, and that all attempts from
whatever source or upon whatever
Jretext to dissolve said Union, or
o sever said nation, are unauthor-
zed, and ought to be resisted with
he whole power of the State"
The 10Th Amendment, which T
rust will soon be adopted by States
nough to make it part of the
Of the united States,
ill end question which has a2i-
nted the country for half centu-
y, | entirely approve of the prin-
iples of that amendment, and as
,e have invested the freedmen
nth the right to vote, let us give
i'm fair opportunity to vote I'M
erstandingly, He has civil rights,
nd it is to our interest that he
hould know their value.
No questions are now so impor-
mt to the whole country as those
with the national debt
nd national finances. The repu-
ation of the national debt would
} the destruction of the Govern
ent Exact and complete good
ith should be observed with the
lblic creditor. All the obligations
the Government should be strict
fulfilled. Nor is this SO hard to
}. The public debt, which, to the
lpoverished South, looked n little
lile back so stupendous, is already
comparatively triaing di- s
ensions, 1t is seen that it can be
silly paid. The spectacle is now ,
Of immigrants coming to
is country, both from the CONT
nts of Europe and Asia, at a rate |
It much less than half u million q {
ar Most Of these bring capital |
labor, and some Of them both. - I
II population, besides, is lncreas, t
! with great rapidity; every mile
railroad that is built, every acre
forest that is cleared, or of swamp
Id reclaimed, every mine that is :
ened or mandatory erected, y
ds to our resources and increas. =
our capacity to pay our public !,
BIT, whether State or National. .-- :
e present financial policy of the .
neral Government is diminish 7
: our expenses, and the only =
ngs to be considered now are .
W to pay the debt soonest and =
tho manner least burdensome '
the people.
That we are approaching appar-
,ly so near to the oonsummation :
reconstruction we are greatly in
)ted to the kind offices of Presi. :
1t Grant, The State was in a
emma; it wanted a Constitution,
the one made for it had at least G
, very Objectionable features i"
0 felt that we were suffering in
material interests by staying out
the Union, and yet to go in I'M
the new Constitution, with all I
provisions, would have been |
rse.
This Gordian knot was happily
by the Presidents first message 81
and the prompt re-
'nse of that body, Up to this n
c the conduct of the administra.