National Republican., 1881-01-07
General Malone and His Purposes.

! He cheerfully, and at great length, gaV'
the desired information. They were 81
much impressed with the facts thus pre-
sented that they requested him to ALLOW
their publication. He readily consented
being well pleased to have the much
abused Readjuster party, of which he il
the recognized leader, better understood
by dissemination of their views. Hi
amanuensis has prepared the report o
the interview, and it having beer
finally revised by him, will appear
in THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN tomorrow
1t contains all that was discussed OF
the occasion referred to. The meeting
was no more consultation than it woulC
have been if he had been addressing al
audience in public hall. There il
nothing sensational in the document. L
simply vindicates the Readjusters from
the calumnies uttered against them by
the Bourbon Funders, and exposes to the
worlds scorn the rascally confidence op
erations of which the manipulators of the
debt have been guilty while enjoying the
reputation of being honest debt-payers.'
There was no conversation at the so-called
conference" concerning General Ma
homes intentions in the future, outside Of
the local affairs of Virginia. His course
in the Senate was not even alluded to
The writer of this was present and
vouches for that fact.
This most simple and natural affair has
been made the subject of some comments
so wide of the mark that it is deemed
proper to here correct them. A special
dispatch from Washington of January 3
to Western paper, copied in full into
the Richmond State of the 9TH, especially
demands our attention 1t is therein
stated that General Malone had been
" in consultation with leading Republi-
cans,' instead of which he had only
civilly replied to questions concerning
his State. 1t is further stated that a
great sensation" is forthcoming in the
nature of "a statement by Malone to
the country at large of the position of
the Readjusters upon the debt question,
with rieW Of uniting rith The Republican
party in Virginia and the Nation"
There is nothing upon which to found
the italicized portion of this declaration.
General Malone has probably talked as
freely with the editor of this paper as he
has with any Readjuster of Republican
antecedents in Virginia; yet he has
never in single instance manifested the
slightest inclination to attach himself to
either of the main political parties of
the day. He has a purpose which he
pursues with the directness and tenacity
of brave and earnest man. 1t is to lead
in the work of repairing the fortunes of
Virginia and bringing her people into
line with national ideas, policies, and
prosperity. In this work he labors with
an enthusiastic zeal and a patient disre-
gard of obstacles than which nothing can
be more admirable. His party triumphed
in 1879, and he was chosen Senator, an
office he did not pursue. The Legisla-
ture, a majority of which WAS composed
of his followers, passed bill to provide
for the settlement of the State debt. 1t
was vetoed by the Bourbon Funder Gov
ernor.
During the coming summer there is to
pe a State election in Virginia for the
choice of Governor and legislature
In that election the State debt is to be
the main issue. Those who agree with
the fairness and integrity of General Ma
homes position Will, without regard to
previous political opinions, support the
State ticket to be nominated by the Re-
adjusters. The result in 1879 showed
that this party embraced majority of
the white votes as well as a majority of
the colored votes. We hope and believe
it will be attended with similar success
in the coming campaign. We hope this,
because in opposition to it is the Bour-
bon Democracy-a party welded to the
past, sullen and hostile to the constitu-
tional rights of the blacks, faithless to
the conditions on which Virginia was re-
admitted to the Union, bitter and unre-
lenting toward popular education, and
alien to all sympathy with the Nation.
In 1879 a minority of the Republicans
of the State, unfamiliar with the debt
question and deceived by the clamor of
brokers and wreckers, declined to follow
the majority of their political brethren
into the ranks of the ReadjGsters, and
voted for candidates of their own. Doubt
less some who agreed with General Ma
hone on the debt question were distrust-
full of the professions of the Readjuster
Democrats as to a fair ballot, fair count,
and fidelity to the public schools. In 1881
these objections will not exist The good
faith of the Democratic portion Of the Re-
adjusters concerning elections and educa-
ton has been abundantly proven. They
are found to be absolutely free from hos
tility to the political rights of the enfran-
chised blacks. They have earned the con-
fidence of that race, and can, if not OBJ
structed by Republicans, overthrow the
old Bourbon, reactionary, implacable, and
irreconcilable Democracy. THIS the Re
publican party Of Virginia cannot do.
If the statement of General Malone on
the debt question shall commend itself
to the good judgment of Republicans
the country, if he shall satisfy
the popular conscience that his party,
more than any other, proposes to devote
Ill available State resources to the main
first, of the government and the
schools, and then to the discharge of
State Indebtedness, why should the Re
Dublicans contribute to Bourbon success
BY making it a three-cornered contest?
If we are asked what better off the Re-
Dublicans would be under Readjuster than
under Bourbon-Funder rule, we reply that
n the one case freedom, nationality,