Year: 1869




of the public purse for the common de-
fence, be put in commission for police
force to trim and arrange the franchise of
Virginia, and prnnc il 10 such dimensions
as may tit The private eye and preference
Of the conscience keepers Of Mr. Grant
| Of the soldiery who are made to do this
vaiorons duty in Virginia, some, doubt-
less, took part in the late War for the
Union-fought for and received the terms
OF honorable surrender to which General
Grant set his sign manual at Appomattox
! Court House remarkable transition
from this brave office for any officer to be
playing prefet, III the Radical cOncier9cyie,
III maintaining "our penitentiary of bay
/ onets p


[. is very probably, in view Of the state
OF public opinion, cooled off by four years
of peace, that this spectacle Of political
! perhdlty VIII by no means meet with pOpu
lar approval. It is impossible to blind the
| public miad TO the overw helming fact
that, had tie Wells party succeeded, there
woull have been no thought Of the Test
Oath after the election. This fact must
naturally tnseat confidence in the stability
| OF the Radical party. Aside from the evil
| dent injustice and inconsistency OF en-
forcing the Oath it woull be regarded as
a marked measure Of political despera-





entrllst the principles of their party to the
| approval Of & constituency manufactured
expressly for themselves through four
years of various manipulation. The failure
of all the Congressional schemes to control
and Radicalize the South, as shown by the
elections in Virginia and Tennessee, is
the lmpOtent conclusion Of this long and
| tortuous programme : the confession of this
| failure lies III this new and infamous effort
to dragOJn tho State OF Virginia into
Ratiicalism by the Test Oath Public
common sense will scarcely reconcile the
logic OF such prescription at the hands of
the profeSsed high priesthood of freedom
Of the ballot, and liberty Of the subject
Is it not high time that the Judgment Of
this generation had penetrated into the
spirit OF a'lch paipable hypocrisy rs this
minghng OF Test Oaths with universal snf-
frage, OF giving liberty to tho negro and
robbing States of their rightG-of pro-
scribing one class to liberate and utilize
another To what end is all this done
What conceivable good can come Of this
Babel Of confusion and contradiction eX-
cept it be, for the few, the spoils of office
and the greed of political plunder-for the
many greater weight of debt, for the
poor moro poverty, for the rich all increase
Of riches


We have had political dead-l lock for
four years, and nothing is at length accom-
plished by it for the permanent advantage
of those to whom we owe this state of
things, not even the successful prostitu-
ton Of the Southern States to organized
Radicalism. Such failures do not strength
en- the allegiance of party followers. Had
the Radicals succeeded in carrying Ten
nessee and Virginia, and in bringing the
o1fo ,Io,, |,
sway of their party-no matter at what
cost to the country, Cr through what yio-
lations Of good faith-their leaders might
still have counted upon the loyalty of their
constituents. But to have laid out great
scheme through four years of painful in
anition, and then to have conspicuously
failed at the first fair election, is by no
means fine exhibition of party strength.
The prospect now seems to be that, instead
of extending its A.1its, the Radical party
is destined to gradual but continuous con-
traction. This process will not be de-
layed, but rather hastened, by desperate
endeavor to choke off by Test Oaths the
expression of opinion in Virginia or else
where. That kind of political manoouvring
has worn out in public estimation-es-
pecially when within an experiment of four
years duration it has failed to S1arre tho
people of the South into conversion of
faith Such tactics now are only the old
way renewed which has ended in chagrin
and defeat how then can Boutwell, and
his disciples hope to win by them


It has grown into q conviction in the
public mind at last, that all attempts at
political exercism in Virginia and else
where, and under whatever form, should
be done away with as speedily as possible.
There is practical side to the question, in
which the people of the whole country are
interested, without distinction of party
The sooner her disabilities are removed,
the sooner the South will be invested with
the capacity to pay her part of the public
burdens the sooner the products of her
industry, her resources and commerce will
be added 70 the taxable assets of the coun-
try. Capital cannot have full confidence
as long as the South remains in the ''chry-
sails condition Of exclusion, divided by
angry political distinctions, the prejudices
of caste and race fomented By Test Oaths,
and the foolish monotony of superanuated
catch-words rung in the ears of her peo-
pie 1t is necessary that her populations
should be harmonized by bonds Of mutual
interest, and her labor disciplined. In
migration will not incline toward her in it's
full measure until the Radical party lead
ers cease to have the power at will to stir
up idle and selfish contentious in her
midst. 1t is directly, therefore, to the in
terest of the whole country that every i'm
pediment be withdrawn from the social
and commercial composure of the South
ern States, that thereby personal taxation
may be lightened by being more equally
distributed, and the development of her
resources keep pace with the growing ca
pacity of the country TO pay the public
debt, maintain secure the public credit
furnish means for her material develop
ment, and Tighten the individual burdens
of the whole people


The Test Oath is powerfully disturb
ing element to domestic harmony wher-
ever it is attempted to be enforced. 1t
must retard that cordial Cooperation for
the common good which the people OF the
South require to restore what they have
lost in war and III the long probation
through which che has been made TO rasR
The Fest Oath engenGers bitterness and
ill-feeling, separates and distinguishes III
enmity one party from the other to the
injury Of both. While it may do all this,
it cannot help the permanent power of the
Radical party If done without POI, ulal
sanction and in defance Of the express
;rt ofo - ;ku E 10