Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-06-22
Virginia and the Equities Of 1865.
M ~ Ed.for ofM1 Disnntch

! there is an insurance OF SiU,UJJ I'D hItetu
companies.
Virginia and the Equities OF 1868.
! To ne Ed,f0r Of the Dispatch
Your articles on the reserve right by Viz
GINA in 1883 of seeding from the Federal
! compact whenever in her judgment she
| deemed It proper 70 Do so has disturbed the
sense Of judicial security which Ecpubll-
| cans have felt IN the correctness Of Fcdc-
rsl opinion and action IN ls6l-65. ltwas
| only necessary that the debates of the con-
yeution OF 1853 should bee produced as YOU
/ have dOno 10 throw llght--a convincing
/ licht-ou the purposes of those who adopt
| al the Constitution framed by enc found
ers Of the republic.
Virginia. as VOL as the cthcr seceding
! States. was atroclOusly WrOngcd IN this
ugqt Of collaborating action 10y the
| Federal Government IN making var upon
/ her and nothing in history which yiudi-
| Gates her position N TINS matter Is plea
SAINT 10 those Of the successful party who
/ glOTify that war on its pohtlcal reasons and
! lbs results. Virginia Is yluGlcatcd 90 the
world and her own children IN TIE political
position She assumed lu 1861. aud the Fed
| cral Government Is corrc,p oudlngly con-
/ dcmned SO, 20 maintain Union of con-
/ sent toyce was used, and certain other re-
| suits lust fed as "a con sequence Of main
y
robbery OF four millions OF slaves
| and their vicious eufrauchisemcnt-aro
! Clorhcd rs worthy achievements, and
IT cost of hundreds Of thousands Of
| lives and billions Of dollars. To the writer
who was IN tho belcaguered Contcdcracy-
who saw II, rise decline, and iall-the
maintenance Of the sO-callfd Union. the
freedom II the negro and his Cnfranchisc-
ncni. does not appear 90 have been worth
one single dollar. and infinitely less one
human lifr. There Is nothing IN the pres
ent political, commercial, mechanical. and
agricultural condition of that portion OF
this continent embraced within tine limits
Of the Federal Government but which
could have been secured through the
agencies If pcace-withOut any sense of
hateful political union and OF atrocioU,
wrong iu the spoliation of two thousand
millions Of personal property protected
under that Constitution whose pow
ers were IgnOrantlv andtanatiCallY invoked
to keep in the Union states which dii
not think that that personal property
would be safe IN the mon. and the re-
suit" has justified the wisdom of that
opinion. This spOlisJIon stands on the
PAGES Of history. with It's autccedeut and
consequent circumstances, as the most
vicious and atrOclOuS that was ever perpe-
tratcd in the name of anything. IL should
be eyerlastincly condemned. It's without
q reason in morals or religion; IN law, civil
or military. II stands as the expression Of
the violence and hate of q party whose
hold upon the Government machinery
enabled them % force Their policy
on the South particularly, and on
the country generally. But this is not the
end Of the matter politically or financially
Out OF TINS SpOllGtIOn and negro cnirau-
chlScment have arisen vast cqultleSln poll
tics and in money. Already and for some
wears the political equity has iorcshadoWed
itself i'm the increased representation IN
Congress- from cx-slave-holdlug States,
based on that class 81 orr population
whose voters We're expected to give uniAll-
ing success in the South 90 that party
which freed and enfrauchscd them. but
10 has not been so and viii never bee. The
prosperity of communities and of Sfatcs
and the bread and clothing OF individuals
cannot and viii not permit it. c0u9tltd-
tiOual amendments ncycr ratified and the
Federal army 20 the contrary notWltEstald-
inc.
As tho political equity has emphaszod
itself. the financial one VIII stalk upon the
stage Of national affairs. State dents are
difficult things to repuiIate, and MT
tioual robbcrcs are hard % contone,
20 forget. and IL is hard To pass un-
improved an opportunity 10 secure res
tuition. international matters, poilu-
sAf'aAf'A
and other national outanglcmeuts can
afford the South It's opportunity 20 secure
I'm some form value commensurate VIII
the forcble extinction of two thousand
millions of property M slaves. IIme L. the
avcngcr and restOrer of all things. its ope-
ratiOns are, however, too SLOW for human
patience. IL Is for mine IN this matter,
though | never owned q slave. ! Wou!l
have this restitution % come, d possible,
with the silence and Qulclness az light
ming. would have 1t % come because 1T
is right, and TO come nom to those Who are
living and TO whom it belongs.
Is this % practical question? Not now
Nor does the South propose 20 make 1t one
uudCr present crcumsl Qncc5. but VINO
shall say that there shall not come cr' s.
that VIII favor this great equity o. tlc
SOUTH The repeal of the Missouri col-
promise iu 1850. which infiamed the ANTI
slavery sentiment Otthe North and formed
.hc Republican party, did NOT al Jrl amy
better prophetic ground for predicting tla
abolition If slavery in 1868 than TINS equity
has for believing its settlement rs among
the possibilities of the future. be Con-
stitution may iuhibit il. but that does not
matter. That Constitution protected slave
nv. vet the slaves were made fIee not
Witbstanding. If public sentiment favor
10 it Will be paid-and public sentiment
can be influenced.
Painted high and broad. and in strong
and everlasting cOlors, upon the M
tional canvas by the pen of history
and engrafted in organic law, this
result Will be a constant rebuke
10 the honesty of the nation. Iothe court
Of the American people sitting in Judgment
or this equity. and when those who hate
the South shall have died, the South APP
peals this claim, the most colossal III the
annals of the world.
Continue 70 use your pen IN vindlcatnS
history and your cOuntrynCn. Honor
truth. and Justice ask this, while yOur own
sympathy for and brotherhood with the
South will ALWAYS arouse you 20 meet with !
nm unbending crest the assaults of a North |
arrogant and oycrbearlng. Seli-respect de-
mands this.
Oh. Southland whose wrongs awake the /
indignation, whose sulerinGs past and !
present, stir the sympathles, shall nothing |
come out Of your desOlatlOn but the fame /
of high endeavOr clouded by the darkness |
of defeat! Our dcspOilCrs ask OF Us a |
song that they have wrIt-a song whose /
sing the treason of thy living |
and thy dead, and leave unpiticd, un- /
cheered and to restitution those crpples |
whose limbs lie on every battlefield of thy |
bosom! Let the North praise its dcadand |
living and succor its cripples-its duty /
will demand no less. But We shall be /
faithful TO thy memories and the high pur-
poses which survive that conflict, whose
in its resolution, pathetic
in its endurance and ending-will out
shine that OF the conquer0r.
WILLIAM A. KIRKuAM,
TetrsbuTy, Va, June 20, 1889.
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