The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-03-09

1
OF the party he represents. In that speech he
expressly and definitely amour ed the doc
| trine OF State Sovereignty, as maintained by
the Calhoun Democracy the. States, and
not the People, made and adopted the consti-
tuition, and by necessary implication, recogni-
zed the right of secession, for sovereignty does
not inhere with subordinates, and it the states
are sovereign then the national government is
not It is the very same doctrine announced
and maintained by the act Of secession-it was
the foundation stone of the Southern Confed.
eracy, and the primal cause of the blood and
desolation that followed.
10 show, too, that Mr.. Tucker was not in
his party in this declaration, we have only to
refer again to the recommendation of the Com
mittee on Constitutional Amendments of the
Virginia Legislature. As we have stated
above, they presented and asked for the adop-
ton of amendments to the State Constitution
which expressly and completely struck from
the Bill of Rights the clauses recognizing the
perpetuity Of the Union, and inliibiting the Sc
cession of the State-leaving that instrument
precisely as it was, IN this respect, when tae
State did secede from the Union.
The point that we wish particularly to i'm
press upon the popular mind is that the ''CoE-
sentative" party of Virginia is controlled and
shaped by the men who have never abandoned
the exploded doctrine of state sovereignty-w
do not recognize the accomplished facts of his
tory, and would to-day, if they had the power,
assert the doctrine they entertain and preach,
by separation from the National government.
1t is the old State Sovereignty Party concealed
beneath the garb of Conservatism" by which
the people can the more readily be deluded
and deceived into its support. These design
ing schemers know full we'll that if they an
nounce to the constituent body their true SEN
timents, place themselves squarely where Mr..
Tucker has frankly located himself, and pro-
claim the idea that he has announced, that the
popular instinct and CONSCIOUSNESS would re-
volt against them and hurl them from power
Examine the history of the conservative"
party in Virginia, and it presents the most
hideous record Of deceit and treachery that
ever stained the political annals of any period.
1t has been false to every thing but the plum
der Of the people. 1t attained power by du-
plicity and qualification and has kept it by the
most disgraceful devices and subterfuges that
were ever practiccd upon all unsuspectng and
and confiding constituency. Had the State been
handed over to the ''carpet-baggers' and ssne-
groes" and 'scalawags" in 1869, as the Repub-
lican party was constituted according to Con-
could they possibly have inflicted, than have
been perpetrated? All the available assets of
the State have been squantlered; the current
resources have been expended in worse than
useless legislation the interest on the public
debt, has in large proportion, gone unpaid
the funding job is fastened as a milestone
around the necks of the taxpayers the sane
tity of the ballot has been outraged irnmigra--
ton and capital driven away-what, in the
name Of heaven, could have been done by any
other party, that has not been done by the
Conservative party, to Cypress and wrong the
people.
Yet the voters of Virginia, whose sympathies
are national, whose inner-self revolts against
the wrongs they have suffered and the decep-
tions that the Conservative fraud has practiccd,
have allowed themselves to be lead and con-
trolled under the specious name Of Conserva-
tive, while the schemers and plottcrs laugh in
their sleeves, as they contemplate the credulity
of their victims.
Why not all true men, who a:e opposed to
the pestifero.,s and seditous doctrine of State
Sovereignty as announced by the recognized
moutll-piece of the Conservative party in Con-
gress-who condemn the profgacy OF that
party in its management of the affairs Of
State-who desire to see enterprise and capital
come into our borders and aid honest indus
try in developing our wonderful resources,
unite with the only truly national party now
organized, and crush out the State Sovereignty
Conservative party, that has done so much
harm to the country and the State, and which
il contin1ed in power in Virginia, will render
her condition still more appalling?
The Republican party of this Republic is
national i'll its aims and aspirations-it is formed
of the intelligence and wealth of the country
it seeks sincere determination of the sections
and only demands that the Constitution and
the laws shall be honestly obeyed, and the
rights and privileges OF all classes respected
and acknowledged.
The Republican party OF Virginia is only a
part Of this great national organization. 1t is
true its members have been denounced and
slandered because Of their adherence to the
national government and their honest mainte-
nance of the obligations Of the wal adjastment.
1t is true, because of this many who really
sympathize with their convictions, have been
afraid to encounter the stream Of opprobrium
that has been poured out against them, and have
turned their backs upon them. But we conf
IDENTIFY look forward to the time when the hon-
est sentiment Of the State will find expressl on
at the ballot-box, in the condemnation and
utter overthrow OF the political fraud known as
the Conservative party. And the unmasking
of the deception by NJ. Tucker, and the can
did announcement of the principle that con-
trolls, will contribute largely to this result.
The rumors set afloat by the Washington cor
respondent Of the Democratic press about an
enlargement between the President and the