National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-20
THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN
49,. q THE SOUTH

fOVeIuOE heLnpcIp VI thBhutns uos wiz
ten significant letter regarding the Peters
burg charter, which has been Published
very extensively throughout the South, and
has attracted deserved attention. In 1t he
boldly asserts that the Conservative party,
of which he Is an acknowledged leader,
accepts the situation forced upon the people
of the South by the war amendments to the
Constitution, with theintention to submit to
them as honestly as do the people %of the
North. He insists that the war did not de :
stroy, however 1t may have invaded, any
''of the rights of the States. or of the peo-
''ple, or any Of the vital principles Of
American liberty" eve have passed
'fhe epoch" be adds. (which mooted the
emancipation and enfranchisement of our
'1ate slaves, the removal of the element
(Which broke the homogeneity and har-
''mony of the States and sections, but our
SELVES have lost no single article of our
CELEBRITIES which as freemen we inherited
''from our fathers. The area Of the com
''mon liberties has been enlarged without
'invalidating. for the future, the title, the
tenure, or the quality Of the freehold. !"
We ask for no better republicanism than
this, coupled as 1t is with declaration that
the emancipation of the slaves, with the
consequent bestowal upon them of rights
and privileges as citizens, is accepted as q
fundamental condition underlying the ex-
'istence of the State as q national member
''of the Uniun;" and that in "view of the
actual results, 1t would be as wise TO at
tempt to turn backward the course OF time
''and events as to quarrel and repine over
'the unalterable past"
But we are compelled, Gin view Of actual
results, I" to doubt the Governors yeracity
when he claims that the laws of Virginia
are calculated to carry into effect the spirit
Of the war amendments, or that any very
general desire Is manifested by the whites
of the State that the equality of color OF
race guaranteed by those amendments shall
be practically recognized. On the contrary,
the feeling of the oyerruling majority Of
the voters who elected him to Office finds
expression In the declarations Of. such jour
mails as the Petersburg Nous: shat the
'fhree last amendments TO the Federal Con-
s'stitution. acquired by coercion, destroyed
'fhe fundamental principles upon which
'sthis Government was formed, and that
.efhe rights of the States and the people
'.now, as contrasted with those guaranteed
''in the original Constitution, are no more
''alike than Is pure African negro CON-
pared with pure white man. The great
founders of the Government II now liv-
ling, would never recognize such an in
''strument as their offspring. nor sanction
cit either, except as we do. from neces-
'sity."
It is possible that Governor Kemper may
represent in his letter the views Of large
element Of the true Conservatives of the
South-of men who use tho word Conserva-
tive as party title In Its true meaning. If
he does, he is In position to make himself
felt more directly and ef1caciously for the
benefit of the blacks than he has yet done.
His veto of the Petersburg city charter bill
was an act in this direction but the results
which followed. including the burning OF
his effigy, and violent denunciations Of the
act in every part of the State, must have
taught him that other than the true Con-
sentative elements to which we allude are
able to assert themselves In contradiction
of the position he has assumed. We
do not doubt his integrity as q political
leader, and give him all credit that may be
due for his evident desire to overcome the
pernicious influences which are at work to
destroy the equitable condition guaranteed
by the amended Constitution, but until we
find the colored race represented In the
jury-box; until we find that the blacks are
in every respect the equals before the law
of the whites. we win not hesitate to charge
both him and his party with willfdl incon-
sistency.