The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1876-10-26
South Carolina.

heretofore distinguished biul, anu CI WHICH
the speech on Monday was q fair illustration.
- >--------
South Carolina.
We publish on the first page Of to-day's
V1RGINlAN the full text OF the President
proclamation, commanding the ''rifc clubs"
and other illegal armed organizations in
South Carolina to dsband and dispense with
in three days. This proclamation has been
the melting cause to vast amount Of DEM
ocratic clamor about the oppression of South
Carolina, and in Remuneration OF Gen. Grant
as usurper and tyrant. OF course nothing
else could be expected from that source. 1t
was so in 1861, when the orders Of the Exec
utive Department OF the United States were
directed to maintain the integrity OF the
Union, and defeat the purposes of secession.
And the same character Of men are leading
the Democratic party in 1876 that lead it in
1861. 1t is the same spirit that disrupted
the National Democratic Convention in
Charleston in 1860, that planned a consum-
nation OF that result in Baltimore and evcntu-
ally plunged the country into civil war. The
devastation that followed, the ravages Of war
which swept with bloody fury over the South
during the four years OF struggle and con-
fiict, the bleeding hearts and desolated homes
which stand as the fruits Of the success OF
the plots and purposes Of these designing
mei, can all be traced to South Carolina.
There is scarcely household in the land that
has nos been made to mourn because Of the
bloody treason which instigated the leading
spirits in the politics Of that State. For fifty
years, the spirit OF resistance to national att
thority, defiance to national power, has
ruled IN the counsels Of that State, Nnlli1-
cation in 1892, secession in 1861, and bloody
anarchy, and murderons tyranny in 1876,
constitute the marked periods in the history
of that Commonwealth.
And because the President now says this
defiance to national law, this outrage upon
the rights Of citizens, shall cease, and the
authority OF the government be respected
and the rights Of citizens protected, the
clamor is raised Of military despotsm and
usurpation. by the Democratic party The
country will sustain the President. Whena
government becomes SO craven and imbecile
that it cannot enforce its own laws and pro-
tect its own citizens, the time will then
have come for it's cffacement from the map
of the world.
The people OF South Carolina as well as
other portions of the South will have to learn
that The Republicans, white and black,
have rights and liberties that are as sacred in
the eyes Of the law. as those of Demo-
Gratis. They will have to learn that the
| same freedom of thought, speech and action
is guaranteed to Republicans that is volch-
safed to Democrats, and that the same inn
munity will be claimed by tue one as the
| other. The idea that In q free government
| one man cannot express his sentiments at
the ballot-box as freely as another, and with
the same impnnity. that he cannot exercise
his legal and constitutional rights, without
threats and assault and sometimes death, is
| monstrous, and cannot be tolerated longer.
The time has come when there shonld be a
distinct understanding, when the whole
| power of the government will be invoked in
order to protect the subjects OF the govern
| ment, to preserve and defend the equal
| rights of all alike, and uphold the dignity
and character Of fundamental law.
The purpose OF the proclamation of the
President Is to secure fair expression Of
public sentiment at the balIo1-box, to pro-
tect Democrats and Republicans alike in the
| right to vote, and not to interfere with the
elective franchise, but to guarantee and de-
| fend it. No good citizen can object to this.
Read the proclamation.a and the impartial citi-
| zen, who desires to see the laws observed,
cannot fail to endorse its wisdom and the emf
nent propriety Of its issuance. 1t is in the
interest Of peace and order, Of law and
right, and must commend itself to every just
man, whether he be Democrat or Republic
can. France drunk with blood" presented
no more fearful picture than South Carolina
under Hampton's rifle clubs,'' within the
last few months. 1t would be pretty spec
tacle for the gaze OF the civilized world. for
| President Grant to sit quietly In Washington
| and learn OF the citizens OF this government
being shot down or driven into hiding places
for no other offence than voting to sustain
the Constitution and the laws OF the country,
and not exercise the authority vested in him
to protect them. Let it be known once for
all that every man has the same rights as any
other man, and shall be secure in their exer-
else, and the days OF bloody riots and MUIR
ders will end, and peace he restored to all
parts OF the country.
The Constitutional lawyer of the Dispatch,
arraigns the President because Of his Procla-
nation in reference to South Carolina, and
sagely announces that he has made himself
''lisbe to impeachment. The grounds for
this-viUlation Of the Constitution, in-as-
much as is provides that the ssUnited States
shall guarantee to every State in the Union
republican form Of government" and not