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Staunton Vindicator: April 12, 1867 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Singularities of Suffrage
(Column 5)

Summary: The article calls attention to the apparent disconnect between what Radicals preach and how they govern, noting that only eight of the twenty-two states controlled by the Republican party grant blacks the right to vote.

Origin of Article: New York Sun

Full Text of Article:

A nice commentary upon the Radical demand for impartial suffrage in the South is found in the fact that only eight of twenty-two States controlled by the Radicals permit such suffrage. Of the New England States Connecticut is the only one that refuses the ballot to colored men. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont make no distinction whatever in respect to suffrage, but Massachusetts and Rhode Island do. The laws of Massachusetts requires the voter to be able to read the Constitution of the United States in the English language and to write his name.--Know-Nothingism in the its suffrage law, by declaring that every native male citizen may vote. In New York negroes with certain qualifications are allowed to vote; that is, such as are worth two hundred and fifty dollars, and have been in the State three years. In Wisconsin negroes are allowed to vote by virtue of a decision by the Supreme Court of that State upon a technicality. In Ohio the greater part of the negroes vote, although the law gives the ballot only to those who have more than half-white blood. Darkeys who are black as charcoal can vote there in the Radical districts under the half-white law. In nearly all of the other States, however, the Radicals have declined, by tests in popular elections, to give the negroes that which they so strenuously insist the Southern people shall give them.--New York Sun.

The Income Tax
(Column 6)

Summary: The article discusses some of the provisions and instructions contained in the latest tax laws.

Negro Suffrage To Be Forced Upon The Northern States
(Column 6)

Summary: It is reported that Thad Stevens introduced a bill on March 29 that would force northern states to grant blacks suffrage rights "under the pretence that it is authorized by the second section of the constitutional Amendment, which abolished slavery."

That Oath
(Column 7)

Summary: The article suggests that "the vast majority" of southerners could take the registration oath "with a clear conscience," though it doubts whether the Radicals could.

Origin of Article: Lancaster (Pa.) Intelligencer

[No Title]
(Column 1)

Summary: Recently, note the editors, Senator Wilson, a Radical Republican from Massachusetts, spoke in Petersburg to an audience composed primarily of blacks. In his speech, Wilson asserted that it is unfair that only the South has been forced to suffer the consequences of the late war because both the North and South had been at fault. Though the editors admire his sentiments, they argue that there is "a conflict" between his "words and acts" because he is a Radical and thus partly responsible for the present conditions in the South.

Full Text of Article:

Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, delivered an address to the people of Petersburg on Thursday, 4th inst.. Although a number of whites were present, among whom were some of the prominent citizens, yet the colored people were more numerously represented. He spoke plainly and candidly, boldly declaring that he was a Radical Republican, and defended the acts of his party, while he denounced the Democracy. He asserted that the late war was "unavoidable," for which "the North and South were both responsible and both were alike guilty."--We doubt not he uttered his candid opinions, but when we remember that Mr. Wilson has acted, as he asserts, with the Radical Republicans in Congress, and has had no small share in the passage of bills inflicting punishments on the already sorely punished South, for the part she took in th war, which he declares "was unavoidable," and recall the fact that he was lately instrumental in imposing unjust conditions on the Southern people for the course they pursued, we can not convince ourselves that his acts have not grossly belied his words. For why vote to inflict punishments on the South and not on the North as well -- why exact conditions from the South, which according to this assertion, are more manifestly unjust, since they are not demanded of the North, and yet the "North and South are both responsible and both alike guilty." Really there is such a conflict between the words and acts of the Massachusetts Senator, that we fear his efforts will be fruitless here, while his Northern friends will read him off of the Radical list for proclaiming that the North was equally guilty with the South, and thus condemning his own and the acts of his party friends. We always knew that the Southern climate had a powerful effect in modifying and even changing the sentiments of Northern men who came this way, but we did not expect Mr. Wilson, a Radical leader in Congress, to be so biased by a short visit. We advise Thad and Sumner to keep their cohorts well in hand, or in their stump speeches in the South they will be letting out the whole truth, that the North was responsible for the late war, and alone guilty, and now desires to destroy the Southern lamb because it did not muddy the stream.

[No Title]
(Column 1)

Summary: Reports that Judge William Sharkey and Robert Walker, counsel for the state of Mississippi, appealed to the United States Supreme Court to enjoin "President Johnson and Gen. Ord from executing the Reconstruction bill and supplement in the state." It is believed the attorneys for Georgia, Charles O'Connor and Jeremiah S. Black, will do the same.

[No Title]
(Column 1)

Summary: It is reported that that Cuban planters have "strong apprehensions" that "slavery is to be abolished" on the island "before long."

Origin of Article: Baltimore Sun

[No Title]
(Column 2)

Summary: Reports that Gen. Sheridan's decision to remove the governors of Louisiana and Texas has provoked an outcry among those who question whether he has overextended his mandate; even Gen. Grant has questioned Sheridan's right to do so.

[No Title]
(Column 2)

Summary: The article relates that negotiations to purchase Alaska from the Russians are "awakening considerable interest in the Pacific States" where "the acquisition is considered of great advantage."

[No Title]
(Column 2)

Summary: It is reported that the leader of Haiti has been deposed in a coup. With "public opinion strong against him," President Geffrard and his family fled to Jamaica on a French man-o-war.

[No Title]
(Column 2)

Summary: The article notes that Rev. J. A. Snyder was installed at St. Matthews (Lutheran) Church in New Market on March 20. Rev. J. I. Miller, of Staunton, delivered a sermon during the ceremony that was highly regarded.
(Names in announcement: Rev. J. I. Miller, Rev. J. A. Snyder)

Origin of Article: Shenandoah Valley

[No Title]
(Column 3)

Summary: Contains Gen. Schofield's proclamation calling for a constitutional convention, which lays out the terms of suffrage.

[No Title]
(Column 3)

Summary: Contains a second general order by Gen. Schofield requiring all those elected or appointed to office to take an oath.

A Northern Man's Observation
(Column 3)

Summary: The article describes the diverse character of Charleston's black community and argues that voting patterns reflect the socio-economic differences.

Editorial Comment: "A correspondent of a Northern Republican paper, writing from Charleston, says:"

Full Text of Article:

A correspondent of a Northern Republican paper, writing from Charleston, says:

It is very clear to any one who has watched the political current in this quarter of late that the colored men will vote as a unit.--There is quite a large number of them who were free before the war, and who hold themselves partially aloof from the rest.--These, to a man, announce their determination to stand by the old white residents in whatever action they may take. On the other hand, there is more numerous party, composed chiefly of idlers from the plantations, who have found their way into the city, where they live from hand to mouth, who are convinced that their release from daily toil was accomplished by the Radical party of the North, and who may therefore be relied upon to vote and act with the men who represent and are endorsed by that party.--But the most numerous class of all is made up of sensible freedmen, who are now earning a living by honest labor, who are intelligent enough to think for themselves, and to act as they believe their own interest dictate. Perhaps if they followed their own impulse merely, they might imitate the example of their shiftless and improvident brethren from the country, and give their support to the Radical candidates. But it must be borne in mind that these men derive their subsistence almost entirely from white employers, and they will take heed how they put their livelihood in jeopardy, for the sake of what, to them, is now a mere political abstraction. In view of these facts I find that the shrewdest observers here are of opinion that either a majority of the blacks will be found supporting the whites at the polls, or that if this should not be the case, the freedmen's vote will be divided so as to become a matter of little comparative importance. If this be true in Charleston and along the seacoast, it is even more so in the interior, where the freedmen are less exposed to the influence of political agitators. The gathering of negroes that have lately taken place, to listen to harangue from orators, white and black, were rather tame affairs, having been gotten up in the interest of a few would-be leaders of the colored population.

Correspondence
(Column 4)

Summary: The article highlights local residents' attempts to mediate a dispute between N. K. Trout and R. Mauzy. Evidently, Mauzy was offended by remarks made in Trout's editorial last week.
(Names in announcement: A. A. H. Stuart, N. K. Trout, R. Mauzy, Thomas J. Michie, John Baldwin, John N. Hendren)

Trailer: Thos. J. Michie, John B. Baldwin, John H. Hendren, N. K. Trout, R. Mauzy

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: Since 1866 the black population in Augusta has declined by approximately 852 to 4,700 while the white population has remained around 22,212. Of the county's total population, around 3,600 whites will vote and 800 blacks. The editors offer the figures and leave their "readers to draw their own conclusions."

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: Warns readers that a new counterfeit $50 United States note has appeared: "It is a very dangerous counterfeit, and would very readily pass undetected through the hands of nine out of ten persons."

Origin of Article: Lynchburg Republican

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: Relates that Dr. A. M. Fauntleroy delivered "an able and interesting" lecture on science last Monday night. Also that evening, the question "Was the Revolution of 1776 a mistake?" was debated and a decision in the affirmative reached by a close vote of 13 to 12.
(Names in announcement: Dr. A. M. Fauntleroy, J. Bernard Peyton, Y. Howe Peyton, Powers, Christian, Harris, Skinner)

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: Advises parents to keep their children off the streets late at night and reminds them of the value of an "'ounce of preventive.'"

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: Henry Thornly, "colored," was arrested for breaking into Henry P. Cease's chicken coop on April 4 and confined to jail.
(Names in announcement: Henry Thornly, Henry P. Cease)

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: Reports that Martha Mosby, Sylvia Jackson, and Ellen Mayo, "colored," were arrested on April 4. The three women were charged with stealing two pieces of Alpaca and three pairs of shoes from A. F. Ackerman.
(Names in announcement: Martha Mosby, Sylvia Jackson, Ellen Mayo, A. F. Ackerman)

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: General consensus among county farmers is that this year's harvest is the best wheat crop that anyone can remember.

Local Items
(Column 1)

Summary: Among those selected by the governor to serve as Visitors to the Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind are several residents of Staunton: N. K. Trout, David Fultz, and John Hendren.
(Names in announcement: N. K. Trout, David Fultz, John N. Hendren)

Married
(Column 2)

Summary: On April 4 James H. Greaver and Margaret E. Gearheart were married by Rev. Thomas L. Preston.
(Names in announcement: James H. Greaver, Margaret E. Gearheart, Rev. Thomas L. Preston)

Died
(Column 2)

Summary: Julia Grove died last Sunday at the residence of John R. Schmitt. She was 13 years old.
(Names in announcement: Julia Grove, John R. Schmitt)