Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1870-08-09
To the People of Virginia. Z

To the People of Virginia. 81.
The Conservative members of the Legislature
have in conference resolved chat the organization
of the Conservative party, maintained during
the last gubernatorlal canvass, be revived and
perfected for action in the approaching fall cleo
tons, and to that end have constituted tsThe
Central Executive Committee of the State sof
Virginia to continue in Office until superseded
by regular convention Of the people, -rI In as
suming its responsible duties, the committee
deems the occasion suitable for some brief rehec-
tons on the condition and future prospects of
| the Conservative party.
| In the chart laid down for. the committee it
will be seen that no new political combinations
! are conceived, nor is any new political policy
| avowed. We only resume the work of the Con-
servative organization as it was 10 1861 and
| seek to perfect it. We aim to perpetuate the
triumphs of that year. to consolidate the
strength then acquired; to secure in the hands
which then won, and now hold it, the political
power of the State ~. + s-s.YH 300 err 8
l.. In a conjuncture like this it may be of use to
review the past and draw from, it, as we may,
encouragement and hope for the future The
opening days OF the past year were heavy indeed
for our beloved State. Thick gloom covered her
| like the pail thrown over the dead. Turn where
the eye would, darkness was on the face of the
| deep" Military power was supreme. Her
| Government had been stricken from existence,
and by the blow, as by the shock of paralysis,
her very animation seemed suspended. Her
sovereignty, which for centuries had bound up
in suspicious union the blessings OF freedom,
law and order, had been suffered to pass into
new body politic-her former slaves, allied with
| set of wretched Adventures, seeking profit
from their ignorance and suggested crimes A
convention, sprung from this source. and fifty
representing it, had decreed the political slavery
of the mass of her white population. Taxation
secured in such hands would have been organic
ed robbery, and Government itself standing
conspiracy against the public peace. Civil law,
which for time had been permitted to speak
with bated breath, was now wholly silenced. =
All the officers of the State, elected or appoint
ed by the will of the people, went cut of their
Offices at fixed day, and the people were thus
left without law, because without officers to ex-
ecute the law. Power seemed to have passed
beyond recall into the new dlspensaton, which,
defiant and secure in organized strength. stood
ready TO infict on its old possessors, divided in
council and almost apathetic from despair, the
fate, of all the most intolerable, to live in slavery
to their former slaves Anarchy or the bayo-
net seemed the only alternatives to the threat
ened iniquity. gse-Ils3 5s8
But with the incoming of a new Administra-
ton new policy towards the States then ex
Guided from the Union and lying under military
restraint, was Swallowed forth. General Grant
had already declared the opinion, that these
States were entitled to be restored to civil gov
eminent and to readmission into the Union
His special and first message to Congress held
out the first sign Of Cancellation first olive
branch, over the yet unsubsided waters of civil
strife. 1t recognized the political enfranchise-
ment OF the negro (noW an accomplished fact in
all the States,) but to the whites was yielded
the opportunity to secure for themselves the
control of the State forever-the power to levy
and expend ltsrevenues, to provide for it whole
some laws, to devel0pe its resources, to change,
if so advised its organic law, and In all respects
to shape its future; added to which would be
readmission into the Union and escape from the
| bayonet, the carpet bag the League vs
A Convention of the members of the Con-
sentative organization assembled In April, 1869,
under these novel circumstances, greatly chang
ed from those which attended the original dele
CATION of its power. The notable characteristic
of its action, was its total abnegaton of author
ity to decide upon the new and nomentous
questions which confronted it. The Convention
felt that it no longer represented the sentiment
of unconditional opposition to the Constitution,
for it could not be blind to the growing inclina-
ton Of the popular mind to accept it in its pro-
! posed altered form. 1t was acknowledged that
a new political departure must be taken that
the people in their original capacity must be
consulted On the issues now for the first time
tpresented Never was there popular appeal.
with which old parties and party questions and
names had SO little TO do. 1t was the uprising
of a race for its own redemption. OF this move
ment the ruling conservatism of to-day was I'm.
Sprung from that race, it exists by its iat, and
embodes It's expressed will. u
1t is inseparable, perhaps, from the human
disposition to overrate the evils of the present,
which are sensible and felt compared with those
which are past, and of which the memory has
become obscured. Norevolution, however sue
cessful, ever brought with it the unmixed good,
!; which 10 the ardor Of hope it was expected to
achieve. The triumph of Conservatism in Vir-
gina is no exception to the general law 1t has
not, in some unexplained way, relieved the peo-
pie from the pressure of debt, nor repaired as
by miracle the desoations of war. 1t has not,
unaided, built up our railroads and canals, nor
, developed the hidden wealth of the field, the
forest, and the mine. Hercules, as Of yore, will
aid only those who put the shoulder to the
wheel. But we were strangely lnsensible not to
acknowledge such blessings as the restoration
OF civil law in the place OF irresponsible military
power; the pure and equal administration OF
justice by judges of our own choosing; the reign
of general quiet and order; the enactment OF
laws and their enforcement by Legislature and
an Executive freely elected in word, the
autonomy of a selfgoyerning people. Were in
cenuVeS waning TO value Sucn advantages at
their proper WORTH We need only survey the
condition of those unhappy States which, in
their struggles with RadIcalis,n, have been less
fortunate in throwing off the incubus Of that
gross and trucuent domination. The story OF
one of these is the story ofall Vice, ignorance,
and corruption usurp the State. Adventures,
sordid and shameless, whom, In great part
their crimes have expelled from other COM
munities, with the aid of an inferior race seduc-
ed aud debauched by their teachings and ex-
ample, exercise authority which is without a
show Of common interest with the Common
wealths they assume to rule. Public credit,
gone public debt heaped mountain high taxa
ton inordinae and insuppor able; prohigate
waste Of public money; liberty, property, life,
insecure; systematic libel and detraction, de-
signed to provoke the commission of crimes,
that they may be proftably punished; popular
elections suppressed by fraud, chicane, or force;
persistent misrepresentation at Washington of
the wishes and purposes of the people, that they
may be kept or brought again under military
rule; such, with little variation, are he incidents
which have marked their experience for five
weary years In North Carolina, as is well
known, the government of the State is in Rad-
cal hands, and there the Government is this
moment engaged in an effort to prolong its pow
err by sitting and overawing the voice of the
people In State election. which, left free, would
pronounce its doom. ''The State judicial pow
er, it is proclaimed, though III the hands of
energetic, learned, and upright men. has not
been able to bring criminals to justice - and
upon that false and shameless pretence whole
counties are declared to be in astate of ''iusur-
rection, and are overrum by military violence
| Al e. L.. LII