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Staunton Vindicator: July 1, 1870 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

[No Title]
(Column 01)

Summary: Highly praises the actions of Baldwin Alexander, a 17 year old newly appointed cadet to the Naval Academy who refused to take the test-oath out of principle. Quotes Republican newspapers and Senators who support Alexander's course, and calls the test-oath in this case a mockery which is only prolonging sectional bitterness.

Full Text of Article:

Baldwin Alexander, a youth of 17 years, of Pulaski, Co., Virginia, was appointed, by Congressman Gibson, a cadet in the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. He stood his examination successfully and made a most favorable impression on the Examining Board and the Secretary of the Navy, and his appointment was confirmed.

As a pre-requisite to his admission to the Academy, he was required to take the test-oath. When it was presented, he told the authorities, that, though but twelve years of age at the close of the war, the struggle in which his friends and fellow-Southrons had engaged, had enlisted his earnest sympathy, and to take the prescribed oath would be the basest perjury on his part, and declined to take it.

With all the aspirations of a youth of seventeen, with the object, perhaps, of his fondest hopes with all it prospective advantages almost in his grasp, and but a child during the progress of our long protracted struggle, yet, with a manliness far above his years, he resigned it all, rather than tarnish his honor by swearing that he had not sympathized with or countenanced the cause of the South. His noble conduct has won encomiums for him from friend and foe. Senator Johnston tried to have him admitted upon taking the oath to support the Constitution, but the Secretary of the Navy decided the law was imperative and he must take the test-oath. Representative Platt (Republican) declared that he would urge a special bill for the relief of young Alexander. The New York Tribune(Republican) makes it the occasion for a pointed editorial and "trust that the young Virginian who is debarred from admission to the Naval Academy because he declines to swear that he had no sympathy in the Southern war, in which his family heartily enlisted, will not any longer be proscribed. The test-oaths which boys are called upon to take before admission to the national schools are a disgrace to our statute books. The more oath-taking the more lying there will be, and the more children are proscribed for the acts of their parents the more long-continued will be the sectional bitterness. The administration of the test-oath to a boy who was only twelve years old when the war closed, and who is still a minor, is an absurdity which ought to secure the repeal of the statute."

The Tribune is right. This absurdity has kept the most competent in the background to the great detriment of the country. If it keeps Baldwin Alexander out of the Naval Academy, the Naval service, not he, will be the loser. Such metal as makes up his composition will stand the ordeal anywhere, and will win merited laurels in other fields.

Address of the Democratic and Conservative Congressmen to the People
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Summary: Prints an address by Democratic Congressmen calling on all conservative men in the country to work hard to elect a Democratic majority in the upcoming Congressional elections. Brought up issues of taxation, misrule, corruption, etc. Also warns Southerners not to elect men who will not take the test-oath and thus risk their disqualification from office.

Full Text of Article:

The Democratic Senators and Representatives in Congress, have issued the following address:

To our Fellow-Citizens of the United States, Friends of Constitutional, Economical and Honest Government:

The undersigned beg leave to call your attention to the peculiar importance of the elections which take place this year, and beg respectfully to submit some suggestions for your consideration. By the State Legislatures to be elected, nearly one-third of the United States Senate will be chosen.--Nearly all the members of the next House of Representative are to be elected next fall. Upon the coming elections there depends the question whether the Democratic and Conservative element in the Senate shall be increased and whether that element shall have a majority in the House of Representatives, and as a consequence whether we shall have a constitutional, economical and honest Government, or a continuance of the revolutionary, extravagant and wasteful partisan rule; whether we shall have general, uniform, just and constitutional legislation with reasonable taxation and frugal expenditures, or unconstitutional, partial, unjust class legislation, with oppressive and unequal taxation and wasteful expenditure. That we have strong reasons to hope for a favorable result is plainly apparent. Elections already held clearly show that the title of Reform has set in with a power that cannot be resisted if no blunders be committed by the friends of reform. If they do their duty and act wisely--if they throw off all apathy and act with vigor and steadfastness--there is every reason to hope their efforts will be rewarded by success. Let there be no dissensions about minor matters; no time lost in the discussion of dead issues; no manifestations of terror or proscriptive feeling; no sacrifice of the cause to gratify personal ambition or resentment, and let the best men be chosen for candidates, and we may hope to see our country redeemed from misrule.

And in this connection we beg leave to say a word to our fellow-citizens of the Southern States: Do not risk the loss of Senators or Representatives by electing men who cannot take the test-oath, or who are under the disability imposed by the fourteenth amendment, whatever may be said of the validity of that amendment or of the test-oath act. You may rest assured that Senator elected by the votes of members of the Legislature, who are held by the Radicals to be thus disqualified, will not be permitted to take their seats, and that members of the House of Representatives thus disqualified will also be excluded. It is the plainest dictate of practical wisdom not to incur any such risks. We hope soon to see the day when all disabilities will be removed; but in the mean time do not, we entreat you, lose the opportunity to strengthen the Democratic and Conservative force in Congress, and the possibility--nay, probability, of obtaining a majority in the next House of Representatives, by putting it into the power of our adversaries to overthrow or disregard your elections.

Married
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Summary: J. T. Whitlock and Miss Sarah M. Alexander, both of Augusta, were married in Waynesboro on June 7th at the residence of the bride's father, W. B. Alexander, by the Rev. J. C. Beard.
(Names in announcement: J. T. Whitlock, Sarah M. Alexander, W. B. Alexander, Rev. J. C. Beard)

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Summary: The ladies of Greenville raised $112 at their recent fair.

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Summary: The Eastwood School held closing exercises on June 24th. Maj. Elder and Principal Powers delivered addresses on the occasion.
(Names in announcement: Maj. Elder)

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Summary: Staunton Lodge No. 13 elected officers at a recent meeting at the Masonic Hall.
(Names in announcement: Dr. A. M. Fauntleroy, Seymour Mandelbaum, John C. Covell, James F. Patterson, Philip H. Trout, J. H. Wayt, Dr. J. M. Hanger, H. R. Matthews)

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Summary: Staunton Council No. 47, Friends of Temperance, elected officers at a recent meeting in the Temperance Hall.
(Names in announcement: W. D. Candler, James W. Baldwin, R. K. Rice, John S. Lipscomb, C. W. Miller, John A. Noon, H. H. Peck, Levy Shafer, F. H. Lushbaugh, J. R. Summerson)

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Summary: Charity Council, Friends of Temperance, elected officers at a recent meeting in the Temperance Hall.
(Names in announcement: James W. Blackburn, D. R. Blackburn, John W. Bare, William Wallace, William Terray, John Gish, William Faubush, Samuel Wehn, William Grove, George Bunch)

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Summary: Stevenson Commandery No. 11 elected officers at a recent meeting held at the Masonic Hall.
(Names in announcement: William A. Burke, W. H. H. Lynn, Samuel Kennerly, W. L. Lushbaugh, E. L. Ide, James F. Patterson, P. H. Trout, S. H. Lushbaugh, R. E. Bishop, J. A. Wilson, H. R. Matthews, D. C. McGuffin, J. H. Wayt, J. L. Timberlake)

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Summary: Commencement exercises for the Wesleyan Female Seminary concluded on June 23rd. Valedictory and salutatory addresses were delivered as well as speeches by prominent ministers.
(Names in announcement: Sue H. Francis, Corinne de Launey, Rev. S. S. Rossell, Rev. Busey, Rev. William A. Harris)

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Summary: The blind pupils of the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute gave their annual concert under the direction of Prof. A. J. Turner. The paper praises the performance. "The various pieces were rendered in a superb manner, eliciting the wonder of all present that the Blind should become so proficient in Music and be able to render pieces so perfectly, which are even very difficult for those who have sight."
(Names in announcement: Prof. A. J. Turner, Mrs. Gifford, T. M. Turner)

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Summary: The African American Union Grand Lodge of Virginia celebrated St. John's Day with Staunton's Mt. Zion Lodge number 12. The festivities included a procession and addresses by prominent members.
(Names in announcement: W. W. Foreman, W. B. Derrick, A. Shoveler, R. J. Morgan)

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Summary: The Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institution held its annual exhibition on June 23rd. The exercises showcased the accomplishments, philosophy, and successes of the school. The paper singled out the principal, Maj. J. C. Covell, for his success in raising "the standard of education of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind." Maj. T. C. Elder delivered the main address.
(Names in announcement: Maj. J. C. Covell, Maj. T. C. Elder)

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Summary: John Paris has been appointed clerk of the court at Staunton.
(Names in announcement: John Paris)

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Summary: The Rev. G. W. Samson of Columbian College will deliver a series of lectures in Staunton's Baptist Church. He will speak on Goshen and Mt. Sinai, Palestine, and Jerusalem.
(Names in announcement: Rev. G. W. Samson)

Reaping Match
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Summary: The farm of J. Wayt Bell hosted a trial of reaping machines on June 28th. A large number of farmers gathered to watch the trial. The machines were tested in both an excellent field of standing grain, and a tangled field of inferior wheat. The Hubbard Reaper defeated the Johnson Reaper, the New Yorker Reaper, McCormick's Advance Reaper, the Valley Chief, and the Excelsior.
(Names in announcement: J. Wayt Bell, M. W. D. Hogshead, Davis Craig, W. H. Gamble, D. R. Williams, John J. Bell, Alexander Anderson, Thomas Burke)

The Fountain Cave
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Summary: The paper calls attention to the Fountain Cave, a "great natural curiosity" located seventeen miles northeast of Staunton. The article gives an account of a recent expedition to the cave.
(Names in announcement: Mr. Pirkey, E. M. Cushing, William H. Gorman, Dr. W. B. Young, James A. Wilson, Prof. Joel Ettinger, E. Richard, H. P. Cease, F. Balthis, M. Lara, M. Kennedy, Y. M. Bickle, M. N. Bradley, John B. SchererJr., Robert W. Burke, W. H. H. Lynn, W. Wisner, T. Burke, Harnesberger, M. Strickler, D. F. Haynes)