The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1875-03-11
sTAUNToN, VIRGINIA. THURSDAY. MARCH H. 1875
bit You cannot efface the history Of the last fiji

bit you cannot effacc the history Of the last fl
/ teen years.
/ You may dam up Niagara or level the Rock
/ mountains, but you cannot make the soldier
widow forget her tears, you cannot make TIL
soldiers orphan forget his father Or make hin
| believe that his father did not wear the Uniol
| blue and die in a noble cause.
| You may forget to be grateful to the defend
ers OF orr free III stttltions, bit generations t
come il this nature shall have future, will no
| forget Gettysburg, the great and historic battt
| of tie war It will become Mecca Tor the los
ers OF liberty from all lands DEPEND a'pon t
time at last sets all things even. The peoplt
will and do remember Appomattox Court
| House and Gen. Grant. Men may try to de
fame Gen Grant, and call him tylant am
butcher, but when the prrialice anti passion O
the day shall be dissipated, he will be renen
bercd US Gen. Ulyssus s. Grant, the great re-
belliou His name will be honered III ferss
and in song, in bronze and IN marble. ana VIII
90 down the stream Of time as one OF the great
men OF his age. US. Grant, the General Of
the United States Army, and y. 5. Grant,
President of tile United States, will find ms
right place in history, and his name Will DC
honored and revered when his traducnrs 3 %
calilmnators will be unknown, anti tae Worla
will have forgotten they ever lived. Gcntlc
men need not be alarmed either about the fame
| OF Phil Sheridan, or where he Will rank among
the great soldiers OF his country. ! aohpt no'
the time will come when it will be universally
Recognized that lie rendered good service in
New Orleans, and that he was and is lit to
breathe the air Of 81 free man.
Sheridan is roandly abused for using the
word ssbanditti'' in lis New Orleans dispatch.
Perhaps it was wrong for him to use this word
in speaking OF men WHO were and mad been DE-
flying the United States laws and authority,
even to the shedding OF blood and the destrnc'
ton of life; but then he had ancient preee-
dents. and he had q right to suppose that
Wasbington's example would not be reprobat-
cd. In this however, he was mistaken. Some
men are losing their reverence for washington
ana all respect for MIN Us military authority.
President ,vashington's proclamation, dated
August 7, 1894, in regard to the whisky lnsur-
rection in Pennsylvania, uses, the following
language:
ssBy circulating vndictive measures against
all who should otherwise, directly CT indirect-
", aid iii the execution OF the said laws, or
who, Welding to the distates Of conscience ana
to. a sense OF Obligation, should themselves
comply Herewith by actually injurng and de-
stroying the property Of persons VINO were uil-
aerstood to have so complied; by lnfllctilg cru
ell, hunailiating punishments upon prlvaoe citl-
Gems Tor no other cause, that appearing , 70
ut, t.lG li1ClltiS VI tiic iGW, W t'-ie1t
ing and otherwise ill-treating them; by gong
TO their houses in the night, gaming ADMIT,
lance by force, taking away their papers, ana
committing other outrages, enlpioylng TOR those
understandable purposes the agency OF afilso'
5Gnaifti disguised in slch manner as 1or the
most part to escape discovery"
Men call Sheridan hard names W3so Woatu
be ashamed to have them suspect them Or has-
ing done so ii they were to meet him face 70
Tee The opposition may hold their carnival
nov, and for the moment put down the solelefs
Of the Republic; bat they mistake the people
Il they think that all the "reminiscences OF the
war sha.l be remembered no more. Gsa can
not get l,p oblivion enoug. to have l4ib5y prls-
on and stndersonvlle find no place III the an
nails Of the rebellion. The powers Of this gov
eminent may be used to Cypress negroes ara
make their condition even wors. and more ny
toler:lble than il was III slavery times, ana 10
make null and void the amendments TO the
Constitution which were Intended 10 secure 70
them absolutely the rights Of ffee-born Afnerl-
caa citizanss the power OF the Government
may be employed (and in many places STATE
authority SAL elton it.now) to drive negroes ent
OF co:lrts and Outrage Justice, equity and nler-
cy; but think not that God in Heaven vii! hide
sncEl niauitics and not aycnga them. The
blood Of negroes which the plantations and
swamps have swallowed MP will yet become the
seed Of rctribntioa. As no sparrow falsth 70
to the ground without the notice Of the sicaY-
emily Father, and as the very hairs Of orr heats
even are numbered, so surely viii Gad treasure
lip the wrongs inflicted and imposed upon the
negroes for their vinslicatioa end Justification.
The negro was p slave; he w.s and IS poor
iIliterabe, doeilc and sssbserviaHf The Issues 81
the war made him free. lie became the owner
OF his own manhood, fine lawful custodian Of
his own wife and children, and entitled to the
friiits Of his labor. The war did not make
him 4 citizen, however, did not panoply him
with the dignity, power aud glory OF an Amer
lean citizens; but the Republican party dig tlo
it in the face of an unlenitting fierce and ter
rible opposition from the Democratic party and
from weak and doubtful Republicans. 1t Is a
historic fact that the Democratic party at
no time yielded its opposition to the complete
acknowledgements OF the negro, and to-day it IS
q matter of no concealnent with this party
that it is not reconciled to his political eqaali-
ty. The Democratic party accepted the sltila-
ton Oh the subject from necessity. anti not
choice. Would the citizenship Of the negro be
secure with the Democratic party If IL had the
power to take it away? This is a serious Qaes-
ton. To us OIL this size Of the Hoase-to the
Repllblicans-belollg the responsibility and
/! honor OF elevating a ciattle to a freenan-a
slave to citizenship. It was an achievement
that won the admiration af the civilized world.
and marked one Of the greatest epoehs in the
J
It was the greatest and sublimest stride that
has ever been taken by nation. When she
| war was over. we proudly pointed to this as
neSs to the greatest trophy OF them all. Isic
salvation Of the nation was the first, and the
greatful hearts breathed thanks to God that the
Union was saved, one and inseper;lble, and that
a SLAYER longer trod The American continent;
and Oil the back ground Of the great picture,
amid the carnage and battle scenes that the
war had made, We're four millions cf Africans
sons and daughters, and we said to them,
ssYon are slaves no longer; the year Of jubilee
has come, and with it your ransom. Abram
Lincoln, the man whom Providence has raised
mp to be your deliverer, has sancti!iea his tlepo-
ton to your freedom witt. his blood.''
have slid the Republicans made the negro
a eizen. and to protect him in the enjoyment
OF his rights we enlarged the Magma Ghalta OF
liberty by adding thereto the thirteenth, four
teenth and fifteenth. arlelldlaaats The Negro
i'll theory is citizen. bat practically in many
places he is not; he is hinfleretl AMI ohstructeel
in the full and free exercise u the enjoyment
o. the franchise.
The following is taken from the Southern
ChnrcRnaan, Published at Alexandra ''ln the