The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-09-10
Correspondence of the Richmond Dispatch.1
BUCKINGHAM COURTHOUSE, VA.,

BUCKINGHAM COURTHOUSE, VA,
September 8, 1873.
The Radicals bad posted cards throughout
the county OF Buckingham announcing that
Colonel Hughes and Mr.. Ramsdcll, their
candidates for Governor and Lieutenant
Governor, would address large mass-lneet-
inr at the courthouse on the Sth instant,
and had taken very great care to spread
the good news in every direction: ana
particularly among their colored lrlcn1s.
According to appointment. Colonel hughes
and his flgleman, RanlSdell, came to time,
but doubtless with the hope and eXpecta
ton that they would have the whole
field TO themselves, with none to modest them
and make them afraid. But the ConSerVa.
| tiyes of Buckingham were not caught sleep
inc upon their post. by some arrangement
it was agreed that Captain i. w. Mckinney
should follow Colonel Hughes in speech OF
one hour, and Ramsdcll follow captain
Mckinney in a speech of an hour, and Mr..
Berry follow Ramsdell in speech OF hait an
hour. Colonel Hughes was not limlteu III
his time, and consequently spoke for Two
hours aud forty minutes. lie said inc lte-
publican party had cOnti lied this Govern
ment for thirteen years, and Wsuld Ilheiy .'o
so for the next hundred years. l nat the
| Eirsinians were obliged to act with one
| of the great national political parties.
| Then he argued for hour to prove llat Ills
! was good party--said that Uncle sam was
q benefcent old man, disposed to be kind to
his children-but the Conservatives were
making Virginia 4 perfect hornets nest. lie
said his party was in favor of developing
the country and relieving the poor people OF
their debts that he had drawn the amend
mcnt to the bankrupk law giving the home
stead exemption to blnkruptS. spoke OIL
the difficulty he had in manTuverlng the
amendment through Congress, and endeai'
orcd to excuse the bunglngly-uraWn ACT
by saving that he had to so frame it in order
TO have it passed. Then he charged that the
Conservative party was opposed to relief,
and stated that the Conservative caucus III
the legislature refused to elect Mr.. Coglll 10
fill the vacant seat in the supreme Court OF
Appeals of Virginia because they a>ccrtalhed
that he was Il relief man.
When this statement was made Genera
George J. IIundIey said he was member OF
that Conservative cauclS, and knew the lact
that the statement was wholly false.
Colonel Hughes then said the argument
did not 90 very tar any way. -,
General Hundlcy then asked him II he dla
not know that Mr.. Coghill was beng prose
cIllcd ut that time by himself rs Ihllea
States attorney for some political SIN.
Colonel Hughes did not remember IL Dut
when he WAS told by General llunuley tlli't
he knew the fact he acknowledged that lie
had prosecuted Mr. COghlli rs United States
attorney. but did not remember the time !;
that he only did it from sense OF duty, ana
soon dismissed the procecding.
Colonel Hughes proceeded TO douSe the
great issues in this canvass from The DcSih-
ming to the end of his long, tilmsy, Hat
speech. He excited no enthusiasm whatever,
but actually cooled the ardor OF some OF his
colorcd friends, who said they had voted for
such fellows is Hughes long enough.
Captain Mckinney, i'll the brlei time gwen
him. Ibid Hughes and Ramsdcll full JUS
ticr." rs some of the coloreu people salu'
lie thought these Radicals in Virginia were
on their own hook; had no connections even
among the Yankees that would claim them !;
thai they were no part or parcel OF the Ma
tional Republican party, but parcel OF
THEY cs and p,undarers, who had come mere
because they were not allowed to stay else
where. He said they could come down here
and ret into some fat office i'll shorter time
than it took Colonel Hughes to convince
himself that his was good party. lie READ
from the Richmond Examiner to show what
Colonel Hughes had said of his great party,
in which Hughes had called them Il hell
existing, hell-deScrvin@ crew. plundelerS.
thieves, &c He then took up Wells, Cha
hoon, and Yankee Allen, tue great lights OF
the party, and showed up their record :
Wells prosecuted by his brother, Yankee
Allen, for robbing the mails; Chahoon pro-
nounced 4 pcnitcntiary convict by the Court
OF Appeals for robbing the dead and the lit
erary fund of poor Old Virginia.
He then took up the monSrcl crew that m
tested the counties of Prince Edward and
buckingham. and told the negroes that these
people had removed the best clerks. shcrillS,
and magistrates that the world had ever
known hy their military edicts. and had put
ola Tapscott in the chief Justices chair
in the county of Buckingham, where
Major Yanccy and Colonel Bondurant had
sat for ncarIy Il generation. TapScott was
convicted Of stealing hogs while he WIS
chief Justice Of the county. lie also re-
minded them that Pratt, the New England
clerk, would have been indicted for perjury
bv Il grand jury of Buckingham but
for Il military order directing the prosectl.
ton to be "Squclchcd." "Grcat God, sald
he. "wherc shall ! Stop:' He mustered Il
regiment of their perjurers, robbers, thieves,
and plundererS, who were knownto be such
by that audience. Captain Mckinney hurled
some of his tiercest blows at Ramsdell, the
carpet Dagger, and when this is said, Rams
dell's fate is known.
1t was thought by the most intelligent in
the audience that Hughes's speech would
secure large Conservative majority.
The Conservatives were very enthl!sl-
astic-certainly more so than they have been
since the Walker campaign. NJ. NJ. G.