The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-04-14

sne .1,s,, s,,nposas tir1ti1 thus arraying chem
a aaiyas rev ir,ftaasd thevery example aeaiDs
S Ssgh;c,,' tsiey waged ON DISCRIMINATING war he
,,in,sssa the shadow for the substance Of
t,;atarical. truth. If tile Conservative par.
- 80 has efTectually. resisted any evil it Il
tbat Of the disastrous discovering Of The
community into Earring and hostile classes
;nsnired by the fatal war-cry OF black
AGAINST white" or of ."white against; black .
At the same time, and from the same deyo
tion to principle and to peace, 1t has resisted
the tyranny and wickednes5 Of any inter.
meGdling with the social relations Of the PEG.
ole. of so 1egislatiDg as to impair or TO touch
the social independence of any race or class,
under the pretence of comforting civil rights,
so called.
The Conservative party has broken down
all race combinations In the past, and 1t will
assuredly never countenance within Its own
ranks any efforts for their renewal. No such
narrow ideas can ever hem in its organism.
mo pent.up Utica contracts its powers"
It not only seeks to promote the peace and
welfare Of the State by establishing the har-
mony and cooperation Of the races. 1t is
the reimbodiment of those true principles OF
government which in earlier days gave to the
States and the Union their purity and real
glory. 1t would confirm to the States all
their original, constitutional rights and pow
ers; 1t cheerfulIy comedies to the common
government the full measure of it's delegated
authorities; it steadily resists the tendency
OF the hour towards Capitalization; 1t holds
ours to be governments of and for the peo-
ple. amenabIe to the people, with no powers
EXCEPT such as are derived from the consent
of the governed; it fosters harmonious and
cordial relations between all the States as CO.
equal members of restored Union, and be-
tween the States and the common govern
ment: in O word, its voice Is clarion
blast which summons all men TO rally under
the standard OF constitutional free govern
ment. ;
National parties have been so impressed
and shared, or msshapen, by the violence
of arms, that they can only be adapted to the
new era of peace and we'll regulated govern
nent by being either materially modified or
altogether reconstructed.
THE POLITICAL ELEMENTS
are In process of transition. While many OF
them are yisibly floating in uncertain waters
and drifting around us, the Conservative
party of Virginia stands on dry land. 1t
stands on constitutional ground, broad
enough and firm enough to receive and hold
all true men Of all parties. The necessities Of
the hour incline true men, OF whatever past
party affiliations,t to draw together on common
ground. 1t is great company receiving
continual additions. Sooner or later such
accretions must crystaiZe in the perfect
structure of great national, constitutional
party of Conservative ideas--the ideas of JEFF
ferson. Of Mason, of Madison, and of Monroe.
I should not do justice to the whole of the
subject matter suggested by your letter with
OH. referring to one ground Of misconStruc-
ton to which our party is subjected BY few
in our midst. One article in the platform of
the party, as emphaticaly reaslrmed by the
present General Assembly, disclaims all pur-
pose of captous opposition to the present
Federal Administration and naniGests de-
sire for friendly relations on the basis OF
principle by pledging our support to It's
measures so far as they may be just in design
and promotive of the harmony of the whole
country. This article declares at once our
supreme allegiance to principle and our de-
sire to do exact justice as between ourselves
and all others by cultiva'ing harmonious re-
lations with the common Government and
every department of it, and by going pre-
cisely so far and no farther in that direction
than our plainly avoWed principles Will lie.
us go. The Conservative party, like every
other party, includes extreme men. Ihey
are more noisy than numerous. They are ex-
trenli<ts of two classes, the antipodes OF each
other. and the great body of the people re-
pose silently between them, sympathlzlng
with neither. The one class treats this artl-
Gle as Il mere void and meaningless general
itv. and avowsa generala aud determined hos
tilty to the present Federal Administration.
The other seems to cOnStrue the same article
as committing us to the unreServed and I'm.
qualified support Of the course OF that Ad-
ministration, and of the supposed views OF
its executive head, generally and in adj
vance. The one would place us IN rela-
tons of pronounced antagonism, hostility,
and defiance to that Administration,
while the other would convert Us into its
blind partisaus. The one would deal out
indiscriminate ceusure. the other indlscriml-
nate praise of the whole policy and conduct
of the Federal AdmiDistraton-bothi good
and its bad, its right and its wrong. Inc
policy OF the one would deprive lis of all
the benefits OF pacific and conciliatory rela-
tons with government which is our Co
yernment--wi welding many powers within
the State either for good or for eYll--and
it would embroll Us in uncalled-lor
and mSchieyous discord, collision, and
bitterness while the other would be
prone to deplore our action in resisting
even the errors Of those who may happen TO
administer the Federal Government. The
one would forbid all Interchange of clyilltles
between those who may happen to be charged
with the State and the Federal ADMINISTERS
tions; would have the former rudely ana gro
tesuuely to repel even courtesy rendered Dy
fr1rn ~
sncb courtesy into an unmanly surrender or
State pride aud personal Independence, and
would have an angry and impossible gun OF
between the two, while The policy
of the other class of extremists would tend,
however otherwise designed, to beget sucn
an unlimited entente cordiale, such complete
identity Of action, on the part Of the State
and the Federal, rs would
virtually surrender the independence Of tue
one to the other. The one policy promotes
Earring and injurious dlscords; the other
tends to the centraliz ltion Of power aud It's
absorption Of State authority.
We ARE FOR PRINCIPLES, NOT FOR MEN.
All acknowledge the patriotic motives as
well as the distinguished services, both in
war and in peace, of some of these eXtrem-
lists. But neither class Is right; both are
wrong. The masses of the Conservative
people of Virginia arc represented by neither.
Our party adheres with inf1eXibic fidelity to
all who are and to all who shall become our
allies upon principle. Weare suprelnsly for
ideas and principles. We are not for mon,
and can never be joined to the personal for
tunes of any man. Without regarding the
past we are ready TO strike hBnds with any
and all who meet us on the ground OF THE
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