National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1880-04-06
THE OUTLOOK IN VIRGINIA.

General MALONE has issued his war pro-
nunciamento against the BourbOns in the
form of call for a State Convention to be
held in the city of Richmond on the 9TH of
July next. The objects of the convention
may be CLEANED through the following ex-
tract from the published call;
We know that the people are sensible Of
the prodigious interests which they have at
stake in the situation of public affairs now at
hand. They have in the recent past nobly as
serted their purpose to be free-irec TO think
and to act for thcmsevcs-to control their
own affairs in their own way. They have
Justly and resolutely spurned the arbitrary
dictation of men presenting to prescribe their
| individual liberty of thought aud Of political
action. They mean now, as then, to speak
and to act for themselves, as, of inalieuable
right, frecmen may do. They mean TO take
charge of and direct their own destiny, the
dctati0n of parties and of factions and their
spokesman to the contrary, Notwithstanding,
This movement indicates what all who
have understood the true inwardness Of
the matter have known that General MA
HONE and his Readjuster following have
enlisted for the war, and will not relax their
efforts until they have consigned the self
STYLED Conservatives to permanent and last
ing defeat in Virginia. This we infer will
be easily accomplished in view of the bad
record of the Conservative or Bourbon party.
1t has forfeited public confidence, and it
only needed some vigorous leader to secure q
| faithful following and certain defeat to that
| tyrannical and unpopular dynasty. We
commended two years ago, and VIC have not
since changed the opinion, that the Repub
Iican party, with its numerical predomi-
nance in the State, sh ould have preserved
its organization and power intact at that
time; that it might be preserved as the
controlling political agency Of the Old Do
mipion, but under the discouTagements o
reconciliation and pacication II let go it,
hold aud lost its opportunity and prestige
and the duty and honor of rescuing thu
State has passed into other hands.
This, in our opinion, is the great mistake
the party made at that time. Since then
unfortunately there has been want o
unity, harmony and concert of action OF
the part of the Republicans which afforded
a temptation to others to step in and oc
cupy an estate that legtimately belonged
to them, and which they have forfeited by
their own improyidence and folly. 1t wa
evidently the duty Of some party to breal
the power OF the Conservatives in Virginia
and that duty being neglected and the op
portunity having been frittered away BY
the Republicans, it now becomes a question
whether or not there is Republican prestig
enough anywhere to form nucleus o
future action and success. Affairs in Vir
ginia have drifted into the very condition
that we then app rehended, with the result
long ago predicted The trouble with tn
Republican party of Virginia has been
since we have become at oil conyersan
with its inside work ings, that it had to
many ambitious leaders, who failed to SC
cure the confidence of the Republican
masses, and under these agencies and inAu
ences the party seems to have fallen int
decay. Whether il has integrity and vi
tally enough to recover its lost estate, tim