The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-04-06
Then and, Nnvv,

Observation-Disclosures but not outbraved''-,
laid down their arms to the victorious forces
OF the Union Army, the ,loctriuc for Which the
war was precipitated and prolonged, was rec
ognized as defeated. The question then was,
what terms will be imposed upon us, and what
Will be the conditions demanded as security
for.the future? The destruction of slavery
was fully recognizcd--thc rejecting portion Of
onr.public men knew that four millions OF
freedmen could not exist without being made
a factor in politics and government, and that
to do SO fEil citizenship must be conferred,
with the ballot as the instrument OF protection.
These conditions were Incorporated into legis.
iative enactmeats and accepted by the South.
With slavery abolished, and the citizeship OF
the freedmen recognize d, no one would have
Thought as late as 1869 that there would ever
again be Presidential contest, waged upon
sectional lines and the very ideas that culmi-
mated in secession in 1860. Had any one pre-
dicted in 1859 in Virginia, when the .'Com-
mittee Of Nine" was asking for term, at WASH
ington, that seven years later, the very men
who actively engaged in that movement, would
be found identified with Il party that rcpresen-
ted the doctrine that brought on the war and
would have been regarded as a fit subject for
mad house. The people everywhere recogni-
zed the results of that conflict-that State
Sovereignty. as understood and maintained by
the Democratic party South. was dead--that
the amendments to the Constitution were the
supreme law of the land, and that they would
be faithfully observed in the Southern States.
with all the inm,nites they guaranteed and
the sanctions they carried with them.
| But what do we see in 1876? The contest
for President narrowing down to sectional
ines-scctional feeling and sentiment controll-
ing in the two parties, as they did in 1860, and
the probability that the Southern States will,
with few exceptions, cast their electoral
votes for a Democratic candidate and the
Northern and Western States for Republi-
can candidate. However much this state of
things is 10 be regretted, yet it is a fact that
has to be recognized and considered. If we
inquire into the cause of it, we are driven to
the conclusion that it is the result of deep
seated and ineradcable opposition to the spirit
\ 80
merits to the Constitution and the RECONSTRUCT
ton acts. The pledges involving faithful
observance of this legislation have been viola
ted-the immunities guaranteed have been de-
MED, and the practical nnllificstion of the
laws effected. Take the States OF Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as illustra-
ton, and we find that popular sentiment has
| not had a freq sion af thp baI lof.h
that those identified with the party which has
uniformly upheld national authority, have
been driven of the polls by intimidation and
violence, and frauds committed, that have de-
priyed the majority from the exercise of their
rightfnl and legal privileges. In brief. that
the results of the war have been Substantial,
ignored and repullidted. a'''
These facts, taken in connection with the
declarations made in Congress during the pres
ent session, by representative men from the
South, have aroused the apprehension of the
| people of the North; have awakened them to
| the unpleasant truth that a contest for Sec
tional supremacy must be again coirfronie,l,
and that the success OF the Democratic party
as now organized. will be ii. reversal Of The
verdict OF the bayonet ami! the repiitlia ion of
| the principles and ideas recognized in the
terms of adjustment between the sections,
after the war. These considerations are crys-
talizing popular thought and sentiment in the
North and West, which will develop in an al
most solid electoral vote from those sections
for the candidate Of the Republican party for
President. =
There is no friend OF the peace and harmony
of the country and the progress of the South
who must not lament that the matlness of
sectionalism has SO shaped the political senti-
ment OF the country, that the lines between
the sections will be inevitably and distinctly
drawn in the approaching Presidential cleo
ton. 1t was easy to have avoided it by strict
| ly carrying out the condi ions of amnesty
and faithfully maintaining the terms of recon-
| struction. But these having been ignored By
the Que side, the natural and logical result
must be, that the other partyt to the issue vii!
have to insist upon the observance and main
tainance of the spirit and letter of the laws of
the country. and appeal to the American peo-
pie as the peaceful arbiters in the premises.
| Those Conservatives in Stanton who have
thought politics. should not he introduced
into ihe city government will have their eyes
opened by reading the frank ayowa of Mr..
Frank Ware in the Basement Convention, Sat
urday, that the Republicans have, at the fer
mer city elections, when no politics were intro
| I,nIl 80 \