The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-12-28
s. WELLINGTON, LoRA1N COUNTY, OHIO, a,
The cltaAei - Bssrbsuisn rcaptarsa.


The importance q the late anti-Bour-
bon victory in Virginia VIII be fully ap-
preciated when the relAti4e position Of
that State In ths Solid South is consid-
cred. Virginia was the backbone Of the
Confederaey, and il has
been, until lately the citadel OF Bour-
bonism In the Solid South.
The persistence of Bourbon ideas in
Virginia has beer, . remarkable fact in
American politics. With the exception
of . few years in the reconstruction
period, s.ths First Families" !" who from
q rule of their keing arr most. bigoted
Bourbons, have always controlled the !
politics of the State From the fDunda-
tion Of the Government until 1924. Vir-
ginia voted only for her own sons for
President-twice for Washington, three
times for Jefferson, twice for Madison, I
twice for Monroe, and once for William
II. Crawford o. native Virginian by
birth, who removed to GeorRia). From
1884 TIL 1850 the vote Of the State was
always cast for the Democratic Electors
Virginia voted twice for jackson, twice
for Van Buren,, for Polk, for Cass. for
Pierce, and for Buchanan. The plural
tiles in some years were small, but they
were enough r.,,.. ....,,.t IL. ~ -
The greatly reduced plurality in 1s4o
was due to the candidacy Of John Ty-
Ter. q native Virginian, for the Vice
Presidency, ahd Shsp of ls4S TO theScan-
didacy of General fxyior, . Southern
soldier and aristocrat, who had come
out of the Mexican war with honor,
and was very Indifferent. Wing, for
the Presidency. Even under these dis
couraging conditions Virginia remained
faithful to the Democratic Bourbon
cause. In 1860 Lincoln polled but L..
e29 votes In the State and Douglas but
l6, $50. The real contest was between
Breckinridge and Bell, both Southern
ers; and out of O total of nearly $50, 900
votes polled for these candidates the
latter had plurality of only 358. =.
The contest In yirginia in the old days
was between the tidewater counties and
the uplands. In the former region the
planters had fun sway. y They lived ON
vast estates and exercised q feudal au-
thority. Their slaves, their wealth and
their family connections gave them a
social position and influence which they
were disposed to make tho mostof, and.
though their chief occupation in the
years before the warwas the breeding
and sale of slaves, often their own fesh
and blood. they assumed TO be and were
in fact -s the aristocracy Of the South" "
The upland counties, though having few
such immortal estates, disputed with the
tidewater planters for the political. su-
premacy, and often made the elections
extremely interesting. The old fami-
lies were almost invariably found on the
side Of the lowlands, and never came
forward as leaders Of the uplands. Rep
resentatiyes of the former were the Ma
sons, Hunters, Prestons, Randolphs and
wises; while A. n 81. Stuart and John
Minor Bolts were conspicuous among
the latter, many OF whom were Union
men during the war.
Virginia was the birthplace Of the de-
structive and riipous doctrine OF State
sovereignty, out of which came recession
and the War The resolutions Of '98 in
Virginia and Kentucky were drawn up
by Jefferson and. Madison. natives of
the former; and the extension and ap-
plication of the principles then an
nounced in the slavery controversy were
first conceived of by Virginians. State
sovereignty was merely rampant be-
hind which the slave-breeders fought
for their cherished privileges in the
States and new markets in the Terrific
ries. .--.-.i.-.s' ;-.-...- -t.-..- b.
The secession of Virginia was worth
to the South more than the adhesion of
any other three States. It prolonged
the War by two or three years. 10 Vir-
ginia was from the beginning the actual
theater of operations Its proximity to
the North threatened the National Cap
ital,. while the Confederate Capital was
wisely put in the midst Of the people
who It was known were, most capable
of protecting it. The Confed derates won
no Important victories except on Yir-
ginian soil. Virgins gave to the Con-
federaoy three Of its five best Generals
Lee, Jackson and Johnston; its Secre-
tary of State, R. M. T. Hunter; its Min
lister to England, James NJ Mason; and
| It's biggest. thief, John b.. Floyd.
Virginia troops were conspicuous in
every battle fought lin the East.
and the Northern soldiers who met
them never had reason TO doubt their
bravery. q aUnguestionably the State Of
| Virginia was the chief member of the
Confederacy, leading all others IN popu-
lation. wealth, and resources of every
description. L Though Virginia was one
of the last States to secede, and was
taken out Of the Union by q trick there
is no doubt that . majority of the
whites, in the present territory atleast,
were heartily in favor of theWar.a The
pretense of reluctance was due chiefly
to the unwillingnessi of the people to
give up the thousands of offices they
were holding in Washington. But,
once having gone out, her people were
faithful to the end;, and both the frsi
and the last battles of the War, guer.
rilla skirmishes excepted, were fought
on her soil. 60, ia. 20.
With the Characteristic obduracy of q
Bourbon Commonwealth the Stst<
which went into the War almost the las
STAYED in it the longest, and was one o.
the last three that came back. 1t wa,
also among the first to re-establish tht
Democratic party on the ruins OF the ole
slavoeracy. The organization of -Wes
Virginia as State would naturally have
given the Bourbons in the remaining
fraction of the Old Dominion a grea
prepondersnce of power; but the en-
franchisement Of the negroes NOR
than overcame this advantage
In 1867 majority of the white
refrained from voting for the new CON
vention to frame Constitution, and o
those who did vote eighty per cent op
posed it. The new Constitution was no
ratified until July 6, 1869; and Virgins
was not readmitted by act of Congress
until Jan. 26, 1870. being, with Missis
sippi and Texas, the last to come in I
is singular fact that the State neye
had a straight Republican Governo
elected by the people. Gilbert Q
Walker, who was chosen in July, 1869
ran as a Conservative against H. ii
Wells, Republican, and former militar,
Governor, and was elected by 1900
majority. He held Office until 1874, an,
was succeeded by Democrat. Th'
State has had but one Republican SEN
ator. John F. Lewis, who has recent.
been elected Lieutennnt-Gov Thi
brief review of the political history o
Virginia may suffice to show how pur
and unadulterated has been the qualit.
of her Bourbonism since the Union wa
L fnr-nad IL ahn oar, nnru he forced hxr