Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1870-03-18
The long talked of Radical conferenc

The long talked of Radical conference, |
for the purpose Of uniting the discordant
Republican elements Of the State, was held
in Richmond on Saturday last. Messrs.
Porter and Platte, members Of Congress,
Senator Lewis, Ex-Governor Wells and
other Radicals played a conspicuous part in
the meeting. Messrs. Mckenzie, Booker
and Aver, of the lower House of Congress,
sent letters expressing their hearty concur
renee in the movement, while Senator john
ston and the other Representatives, Messrs.
Gibson, Mines and Ridgway declined to
have anything to do with it.
After much discussion it was determined,
by resolution, that the Executive Committees
headed by G.. K. Gilmer. G. H. Porter and
Gen. Wickham should appoint five from
each Republican committee in the State,
who should be authorized to invite the ad-
herents of the different Republican factions
to meet in Richmond, on the 9th of April
next, to ~reorganize the Republican party Of
the State.
During the discussion Messrs. Wells and
Porter expressed themselves in a very con-
ciliatory way, which considering the circum-
stances, was quite polite, Porter, though at
Que time, branching off to assail Gov. Wal
ker, and through him the people in the State
-Lz 1911 e.. III ,1o,kol I., Go,ocpop
1t was left. however, for the gentleman,
who was elected Lieut.. Governor on the
ticket with Governor Walker, to denounce
the men who voted for him. Who would have
thought that Jno. f. Lewis could play SO
ungenerous a part towards his friends and
supporters? And yet it is reported, that
the Hon. Jno. F. Lewis, who holds the po-
sition of q. s. Senator to-day at the hands
of ''Rebels." expressed himself as 3'deplor-
ing the day when Rebels should get con-
troll of the State, and plying the Union
men when that occurred"
How many Radicals voted for him for
the position Of Lieut.. Governor? Judging
from the vote in this section, there must
have been very few, for they voted here, al
most to a man, for Harris the colored nom.
inee gu the ticket with Wells. How many
Radicals were in the Conservative caucus.
which proclaimed him the nominee of the
Conservatives Of the Legislature for the po-
sition of U. S. Senator I? Surely there were
none, or it would have been blazoned to the
world long ere this. Was it the Radical.
or, according to Congressman Platte, the
"Rebel" majority in the Legislature which
elected him U. S. Senator? We donbt not
Mr.. Lewis will agree that it was the :'Reb-
el' majority. which he seems so anxious to
crush by marshaling the Radical cohorts,
and without the aid Of which he would have
remained a quiet tiller of the soil in Rock
ingham, instead Of being heralde1 as, ply
sically, the taUest man in the y. S. Senate.
Then are we wrong when we say that III
denouncing the "Rebels" he denounced his
friends-those who gave him the only polit-
ical prominence he ever mad, and perhaps
ever will have?
tt was an act Of the direst ingratitude,
a SANDER upon the majority Of the people Of
Virginia, and without a parallel. He, alone,
has kicked the prop from under him which
elevated him to position. IF the fall should
extinguish his political existence it wiK be si.
a just a desert, and, Judging from the gen.
eral condemnation it receives at the hands
Of the many of all shades of political opinion,
he will descend into his political grave,
'tunwept, unhonored and unsung."
Mr.. Sumner presented a bill in the Senate
on Monday last. to strengthen the reserves
Of National Banks and to provide for the
resumption of specie payments. by the Gov
eminent, on and after January LIST 1871,
which was referred to the finance committee
The bin is as follows:
Section i. Be 1t enacted de-, That from
and after the passage of this act, it shall be
the duty Of every national bank to reinforce
its legal reserves by the substitution Of coin
at the rate of one per cent. per month upon
the whole amoun Of liabilities, for the re-
demption Of which the reserves are required,
and provided such substitution to continue
until the whole amount of legal reserves
shall become coin and thereafter every ma
ssonal bank shall hold in its vaults an amount
of coin equal to the amount of reserves
required by law.
The second section directs the Secretary of
the Treasury to give notice of the intention
ofthe government to resume specie payments
not later than January l, 1871, and there
after all payments by the treasury to be
coin.
The third section prohibits the further
printing Of United States notes or fractional
currency, and all such notes or fractional
currency as shsll be presented for redemu-
ton in consequence of mutilation or other
Disagreement shall be redeemed. cancelled
and destroyed.
This caused Gold to decline in New York,
on Monday, to 1115 but it again rose to
112a and closed at 112.
Unless Congress passes a new law to levy
a tax on incomes, the tax at present being
assessed, for 1859, will be the last to be as
sessed Or paid, the Income Tax Law having
expired by limitation on Dec. 81 1869. It
is the demand of the people, throughout the
entire country, that the Income Tax should
cease. and we hope that Congress will heed
the demand and not enact q Gew Income
Tax Law.
The Richmond Wing in an article on