Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1870-12-20
The Richmond Election Radical Out


The election for member of the House of
Delegates of Virginia, which took place in
Richmond City and Henrico county on FRI
day week, resulted in the election of Colonel
Guy Conservative over Landon Boyd (negro,
Radically by about five hundred majority
This was Conservative triumph entirely un-
expected, and caused great rejoicing. Mr..
Winston +. Rogers, one of the judges of cleo
ton, at the second precinct in Jefferson ward,
was arrested during this day, on bench war
rent issued by Underwood, charged with sub
stitutins Conservative ballot for the Radical
ballot of colored voter. When the officers
took Mr. Rogers off, voting at that precinct
was suspended, of course, and it so remained
for an hour and half when, having been ad
mitted to bail, Mr.. Rogers returned to reopen
the polls. Of this outrage the Dispatch says
editorially:
The browning act of usurpation and wrong
has been perpetrated at last. The tools
of Federal tyranny have taken possession Of
the ballot>hox in this city. Yesterday, as will
be seen from the report in our local columns,
voting place was closed in one of the wards
of this city, judge of election having been
arrested, whilst in the discharge of tho duties
of this Office, by one of the instruments used
for such disreputable purposes by Judge I'M
derwoods court-a deputy marshal or a COM
missioner, we know not which, of that miser-
able apology for court.
1t is useless for us to attempt to character
ize as it deserves this insuferabld outrage
upon the people of Virginia We are power
TO as
this. We call upon the people of the North
to open their eyes before it is too late to the
gulf of despotism which yawns before them.
They, too, have had to submit to the supervi
sion Of their elections by Federal soldiers !;
but the outrage WAS confined to cities, and to
elections for members of Congress, The next
step will be there, as it has already been here,
the overawing of the voters at elections for
members of the General Assembly, and finally
the doing away with all elections as unneces-
sary.
When we told our Northern fellow citizens
four years ago that the States had been de-
prived of every right, and that soon they
might look to see the Federal Government
controlling them, as it had then undertaken to
control us, our warning was laughed to scorn.-
But this prediction has become history. Fed
eral bayonets stand around the ballot box in
New York as they stand around the ballot. box
in Richmond So, also, will it be in reference
to this last unspeakable wrong. The ballot
box in every Northern State is just as liable
to be closed, and the officers in charge as
liable to arrest, as those in Virginia,
We trust that this outrage will be altered in
Congress. Let Senator johnson and some
one or moro of our members Of the House of
Representatives make the halls of the Capitol
resound with their eloquent denunciations of
this shameful attempt to deprive the people
of their liberties. If Underwood has con-
nived at it, let him be impeached. The Sen
ate would hardly dare to justify him in such
infamous conduct. Surely every decent Sem
ator would be glad to have SO good an oppor-
tunity for riding the bench of such charac-