The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-01-27
5 vIrrinia Lezislats1re.

WAY to bring aDOuC SHHHse ~ ioisNI =.
opinion In intelligent bottles to offend them,
and 4 man Of proper. senstbilities would not
desire to 6lisparage q representative body 20
degree that might impair the public arg
nity OF the State. Still, body OF iegisia-
tors should not be 80 thin-sEinned that they
could not stand little pointed satire-ho.
that we have devoted to our own Genera
Assembly anything OF consequence IN TINS
line.
Nevertheless we arc disposed to say some
thing in an earnest and respectful spirit TO
the LEGISLATURE of Virginia with regard TO
the policy Of members OF she present ses-
sion on the subject Of national affairs.
Virginia is a State in the, Union. and
should asserther equality amongst the States
with an independent spirit. she should
never shrink from candid declaration OF
her opinions whenever acquisition arises as
to what they are. 1t has been contendea
that Virginia was In former days too much
given to the Giscussionof Federal relations.
Perhaps she was; but ae least hss couio
never be said Of her: that she was not
thoroughly understood. She exhibited that tta
good faith to her sister States OF never DIS
sembling her opinions. She was always
understood, and could never y be ac-
cused OF the trcaehery OF conceai-
ment. This was noble and faithful, and
her character should be maintained by
her public men always. The present Legls-
lature could have done; this with both
dignity and prudence. Impuisiveness and
passionate defamation do not suit the dig
nifty of the State; neither do timidity and
mutcness. which tend to oblivion. oh,
this is not Virginian; it is not freedom; 1t
is not manhood. -1 Estt'.
The Legislature has been clearly called
upon the present winter to declare Tor the
people OF Virginia their recognition OF the
wrongs towards the South and the usurpa-
tons OF Federal authority in the presiden-
tia, election. That she was the victim OF
only a comparatively small insult from the
Federal Government made 1t all the more
imperative upon the Legislature, as repre-
senting. just and generous public, that
they should have censured the infractions
of the Constitution, and should have de-
clared the sympathy Of Virginia with her
southern sisters in their woes, and espe-
cialIy with South Carolina and Louisiana.
Tue resolutions Of sympathy with south
Carolina, offered early in the session, should
have been promptly passed. Sympathy
that comes at a snaiPs. Price gives poor COM
fort to the distressed. It must be fleet
footed to inspire gladness. 1t must come
upon the swift wings OF soiicitude to excite
gratitude. The South Carolina resolutions
| have not been honored with a position on
the calendar" First detained sadly by
INDIGESTION in the Senate, they have lain in
the House committee like the skeleton OF
murdered man hidden for years in dark
cellar. ~, . -, ... ,..-... .......t
When the committees OF the two houses
Of Congress hit upon plan which plainly
promised to settle the perilous trouble of
counting the electoral vote and proclaim
ing the President, the general JOY Of the
land soon showed how the people received
the intelligence. Everybody saw that the
danger Of usurpation and force in the mat
ter of inaugurating the President was avoid
ed, and that the civil authority alone would
govern the proceeding. ALI hailed this with
delight, and all foresaw that there would
now be peace and confidence, and activity
and thrift, in all the pursuits and enterprises
OF life. . ha. e,,~.s:. ....s., f5l.t1
If the voice OF she people of Virginia had
been expressed by her representatives it
would have been gratifying to the public,
proper in the legislators, and would have
placed Virginia, in q matter interesting to
the whole nation, in harmony with the great
body Of the people and States of the Union.
Certainly that would have been happy for
us in Virginia. So favorable an opportu-
nifty for those who, like us, have been so
long sustaining somewhat 4 relation Of en-
clusion from participating in the emotions
Of the great heart OF the republic, to join
in such jubilant and unanimous outpour-
ing Of the sentiment Of the nation should
not have been lost. 1-.. .4.s'
But opinions and policies we do not I'M
derstand INSTRUCTED this. The great mea-
it should not have been-and the caucus
adjourning without final action twas as
sumed by some that nothing could be done
until the last president Of the council
called the caucus together and it acted
upon the matter. We do not mean to say
anything unkind in this article, but such
explanation is altogether unworthy of con-
sideration. .,.
And thus the voice Of the people of Vir-
ginia, upon the happiest and only occasion
for mingling that voice with that Of the
whole nation that has occurred since the
war, was postponed until the Senate passed
the peace measure, and then it would have
been with such bad grace to bring Virginia
forward that we were gratifed that the
House declined to take up tl9 resolutions.
We hope now they will be left to their
final sleep. The steamboat has gone by
and the passenger cannot he taken. on
board. .:.sy, .g .,1.s.; : ID. ii
It is now too late to attempt to remedy
default which has occurred for reasons we
cannot understand. South Carolina, or
south anything, will not thank Virginia for
legislative sympathy expressed now, and
any action upon the peace measure now
would only expose. the dear old State to
derision. There has been forfeiture OF
the candor and manliness Of her public
charactar-Of that feaIfy tn her co-Statas