The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1881-03-03

ratified by the people on the 9th Of July 1860.
At the same time and in pursuance of an
Act of Congress passed 10th of April, 1869 the
people of Virginia elected a Governor, repre-
sentatves in Congress, ard members OF the
Legislature.
Gov Walker was inaugurated in Sept. 1869.
anil in pursuance of the same Act of Al ril
1869. tie Legislature met ON the 9th OF Oct.
1869 and fastening 10 comply with the only
remaining conditions of Telttbal5tataon, as they
had more than once been prescribed byCongress,
the Legislature on the 9Th of Oct 1869. ratfl-
ed as well the 18th as the 14th Amendments,
thus making them both parts Of the Federal
Constitution.
And now Messrs Editors, pause here for
one moment to ask you and my friend, "a
Republican Debt Payer" if there be any vir-
tue in good taith, was not Virginia, after all this,
ENTITLED to rehabilitation" as d member OF
the Union.
That she had complied with euery condition
required of her. is attested by the Act OF Con-
gress itself, that of JAM 26th, 1870, which so
tardily and grudgingly permitted her represen-
tatives to take their seats in that body. That
Act recited-that:
Whereas the people of Virginia have framed
and adopted Constitution which is Republ-
can, and whereas the Legislature of Virginia
have ratified the 18th and 10th
Amendents to the Constitution Of the U s.,
md qolereas the performance Of these seoeral acts
IN good filth goaS condition precedent to the rep-
resent0taoe of the State in Congress; therefore lit
is declareD "that the said State of Virginia as
entitled to representation i'll the Congress of
the United States" And then follow certain
| neo Provisos and Fundamental Conditions"
on which Virginia is to enjoy the rght,to which
as acknowledged, she had already entitled her
| On Of hair thata
cept for crime, she shall never amend her con-
stitution of 1869 so as to deprive of suffrage
any person or class of persons whom that au-
| thorizes to vote.
And now maintain that this so called "con-
dition." was in no manner binding on Virgin
Ia and that her disregard of it, Gf indeed GA
Republican Debt Payer" properly interprets
its meanng) involves no violation of the honor
or good faith of her people.
1. Because it is purely en- parte. Congress
had offered terms. Virginia had accepted and
complied with them. And Congress had no
right, decent protect whilst in the very act of
acknowledging this compliance, and declaring
Vryi1aa entitled to the benefits Of the compact, to
superadd neW conditions, conditions which
Virginia was not asked to signify her assent to,
and to which she has Meier assented, by any
act of her Legislature or people. fit be said
that it is the act of 1870 which admitted Vir-
ginia to representation, and that she must take
the benefit with the burthen, reply that she
was entitled to the benefit, aoatt0ut the burthen
by the acts of March 1867, which offered the
contract that was accepted by her and which
were never repealed, and that it was no breach
of faith in Virginia to ignore condition which
itself was fragrant breach of faith.
2. But even admitting for arguments sake,
that Virginia must claim her right to place
in the union, under the act of January 1870
the Conditions of that act so far as they seek
to limit the right of Virginia to amend her
constitution of 1869, in respect to suffrage or
Schools are absolutely null and void.
! First, on the established principle of in
depreciation, that 0ny condition wholly incon-
sistent with and destructive of the grant itself,
is void If land be granted absolutely and yet
a proviso or condition be added that it shall
never be aliened, the grant is good and the
condition void And so when the Act of 1870
declared that Virginia having complied with
all the terms required of her, was entitled to
representation, this was formal recognition
of her as a member of the Union, entitled to
every rlghtnot taken aaoay By the Federal Coaasttu-
t6on to e0e1y right ea0yed6 By each and every OTHER
State. Andyet ifthe conditions of that act under
consideration are valid, Virginia is not in the
Union as an equal member the reof, and not
entitled as other States are, to amend her suf-
frage and school laws at her own will and
pleasure, subject only to the restrictions of the
Federal Constitution. And in this connection,
Messrs Editors, I beg 10 know of you, as the
organ of the Republican party of Vir-
| glnla, If it is part of the creed OF that
party, that Virginia is not in the Union
as the equal Of other States? Many of the
Northern States and Republican States al
ready require prepayment of the "head tax
as a condition of voting Is this just or right?
And do you not admit the perfect right of
every Northern State, within the limit of the
Federal Constitution to alter its school and
suffrage laws at pleasure? And then, if you
answer these enquiries in the affirmative, let
me further ask, do you and your party concur
with "a Republican Debt Payer" in the opin-
ion that if in the fall elections the verdict of
our people should be against repeating the
"head tax" requirement, Congress has the
right and should be appealed to, to exercise it,
to deprive Virginia of representation, and re-
mand her people to military rule? l respect
fully ask frank reply to these enquiries.
Second. 1t is hardly necessary to add to
what have said, that the fundamental con-
dition" which is to be made the lone supreme
ISSUE in our next elections, is void and mere
nuSlity, because Congress had no constitutional
right to enact it. What clause in the constitu-
ton confers such power? The power
to impose a restriction upon any one
state which the Constitution does not
impose upon all. 1t will not do to say that
Virginia had forfeited her place in the Union,
and that Congress had the right to restore her
on its own terms. Congress has no powers in
any contingency which the constitution does
not confer and | have yet to learn under
what clause of that instrument it is that even
if a State attempts to throw off her allegiance
to the Federal Government and to withdraw
from it, Congress while denying this right
may yet punish the State by degrading it from
its equality with other States If her citizens
are guilty of treason they may be punished
according to laao. The Constitution declares
in what treason shall consist, and authorizes
Congress to provide for its punishment. but in
terms which show very plainly that the power
to punish is confined to the citizen, and does
not reach to the State But I need not argue
this. 1t is the theory of the Republican party,
sanctioned by the Supreme Court under the
lead OF Judge Chase, that Virginia was neoer
out Of the Union, and she must have been in it
as early as Oct. s, 1869, ao7len her rutif-
cation Of the 18th and 18th amendments, aoailed
to make them parts Of the Federal Constitution
Then by what logic can it be maintained, that
in Jan. 1870, Congress, the mere creature of
the States could impose Deao terms on Virginia
as member ofthe Union terms not imposed by
the Constitution, nor upon other States, and
which were thus, if valid, destructive of her
equality with them? ALBEMARLE.
FEB. 81, 1881.
Sound Sentiments
The following summary of the charge of
Judge Pressly to the Jury in the case of Cash,