The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1879-11-17
a Negro Allianoe.

The Petersburg Appeai recently made
the following statement:
! !, Nav ftc vote at the late election. q Q
,,,a,,nr he whom cast, developed tue Iace
that q saaiority OF the qualified voters OF
virginia opposed the McCuiioch plan OF Ee-
adjusting t2e public deb"
In the first place, this statement is, IN our
opinion. not true. The negroes, VINO ae-
cided the election, cared no more ioF Tue
Na,urIocn bill than they did for the pre-
d;c,ions In last gears almanac. They voted
aoa,ns. the Conservative party not
ae.,ns, the McCgLLocH bin. The Ap-
neal said few days ago that we were
mistaken on this point, and declared
most emphasically that The negroes In re-
tersburs voted as they did in the late cleo
lion because they were in favor OF repudia-
tion, We hold 1t to be demonstrable that
majority of the qualified voters did not OPP
nose the McCULLoCH bill In the late cree
tion. There arc thirteen negroes elected 20
the General Assembly: and it is just as GER
tain as anything can be that not one OF tneln
was elected because he was opposed 10 the
McCuLLoca bill. or would have been ue'
feated II he bad come out for that pui.
Tbev we're chosen because they were ne
eroes and Republicans. These 10 ne
proes added to the Sc Conservatives make
60 members of the Legislature VINO
were not elected because OF their op'
position to the McCuLLoCH bill. In 1act
number OF these negroes were electeo as
ayowcd friends OF the McCULLoCH Dill. BE-
sides. there were four white Republicans
psected who were elected as advocates Oh
the McCuLLoCu bill. Where Is the majority
the dnyeal speaks OF to be found? why,
the conservatives could have had Repub-
lcan elected in every county IN East VIZ
pinia as q friend OF the McCULLoCH bill II
they had chosen to do elsewhere as they dld
in A,bemarle. We could, by adopting tue
Readiusters' tactics, have elected Leglsla'
ture almost unanimously in favor OF that
bjll-that is, if the Readiusters claim that II
was by their tactics that twenty-siX Repuo-
Ecans were elected to The General Assem-
bly,.
But what about the negro alliance? We
have already published Colonel CAMERON
programme. Now we have an oufg1vlng
on the same subject in the central organ OF
the Readiusters. That organ reproduces
with approval what we have quoted above
from the appeal, and then goes on as fol-
lows:
"What do the Funder organs mean by
SIGNALLING out special classes OF citizens
as improper elements in the majority {!
Do they mean impertinently 10 charac-
terize a dissent from their own opinion
on public matter as sufficient evidence
az the incompetency OF the dissenter to
cast a valid ballot? Or do they mean
TO announce as the doctrine OF their fac
lion. after all that has passed, that the legal
qualifications attached TO suffrage 6y the
to,,s of the Federal and State government
are not in their high and mighty Judgment
sufficient? Do they mean, after all thelr
debased and debasing methods OF seeking
the coorcd vote Of the State, and notwlth-
standing the fact that in many counties
they succeeded in gaining the support OF
citizens OF that race, that the result OF the
election is any the less binding upon the
minority because money and official lnnu-
ences were unayailing to seduce the masses
Oh COtOTcu ClllLtuS slOuu tiSii opPoSAsio-A w
the brokers' bill? Or do they mean, in
plain terms, to confess that they do not BE-
tieue in the right Of q colored man TO eTer-
else suffrage in freedom 2"
four italicS.]
There is bid for the thirteen negro
votes in the General Assembly. 1t is an at
tempt to array the negroes as class against
the Conservative party. 1t is subtle ap-
peal to the negro's prejudice in favor OF
that Federal /" law which made him vo-
ter. The negroes undoubtedly by their
casting vote made the complexion OF the
Legislature what tits; bnt we do not believe
that the conservatives who aided them In
that work will be satisfied when they see
that they are to have new attempt made to
put negroes on iuries, in the Legislature,
and wherever else the HUNN1cUrT party
tried to put them.
How does the Appeal like the sermon for
which it furnished the text?