The Vindicator, April 6, 1860, p. 2, c. 1
We are on the eve of an important political campaign, and it is all important to the success of the Democracy that every voter in the county should have a Democratic paper. We therefore appeal to our Democratic friends to exert themselves in extending the circulation of the VINDICATOR. Let every man who feels an interest in the triumph of our cause, and the healthy and profitable existence of a Democratic organ in "Old Federal Augusta," procure an additional name. We want none but paying subscribers. We will shortly present the paper in an improved and handsome dress, by which we will be enabled to give a larger amount of reading matter, and in more readable type. See to it, Democrats, that our list in increased.
The Vindicator, April 6, 1860, p. 2, c. 2
The line of demarcation which divides the Democratic and Opposition parties, is daily assuming a more distinct and pertinent significance. As with Abram and Lot, either the right or the left has to be taken, and a palpable line of separation designated. The aspirant of the Opposition who presents the most modified and plausible claim, by reason of his geographical position, is Mr. Bates, of Mo., who has recently written a letter which fully throws him into the embrace of the Black Republican party, and places him in the position of a formidable competitor with Mr. Seward for the Chicago nomination. There is nothing in all the tactics and pretensions of the Opposition which discourages the idea of a programme being adopted at the National Convention, which will make all other issues and questions subsidiary to the all-engrossing one of opposition to the Democratic party and the interest and institutions of the South. Any difference of opinion which heretofore may have existed upon questions of governmental policy, is totally ignored, and the painfully significant aspect presented of a party seeking and determined to make the next Presidential contest hinge upon and aggression, on the one part, of the Constitutional rights of one section, and on the other, a defense of those rights. There is not an organ in the confidence of the Opposition which does not freely admit that there is not the shadow of a hope for carrying the electoral vote of a single State south of Mason & Dixon's line. If successful at all, they expect to attain it purely by a sectional vote--an expression of deep seated and aggressive hostility to the South--and upon principles so entirely antagonistic to, and destructive of, the equality of the Southern States, as to make that success the synonym of dissolution.
This being the position of the Opposition, defiantly and boldly taken, it only rests with the Democratic party to again come to the rescue of our inheritance of constitutional freedom, and again vindicate its claim to the proud character of being the only national organization known to the country.--This solemn and momentous duty thus pressing heavily, it will be a question of the weightiest concern, as to whom the Charleston Convention will designate as the proper person to be presented for the suffrages of the people of the United States. The great battle of the Union and the Constitution against the heterogeneous mass of corruption which compose the Opposition, will have to be fought in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota.--There are 303 electoral votes, 152 of which will be necessary to secure an election. Of these, 120 are cast by the southern slaveholding States, which can be safely claimed to be fore the Democratic candidate. We will then have to secure 32 more votes to achieve a triumph. If we carry Illinois, (11) Indiana, (13) California, (4) Oregon, (3) Minnesota, (3) and New Jersey, (7) we will have then 161 votes--more than sufficient by 9 to elect. Or even should w lose New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and win the others, we will still have a surplus of two votes. It will thus be seen that the contest will necessarily be thrown into the non-slaveholding States we have mentioned, and the important duty will devolve upon the Charleston Convention of selecting a Candidate who can carry 32 of the 68 votes cast by the free States enumerated.
We are free to confess that our predilections are strongly in favor of some sound, conservative Southern man, not only for the reasons of a confirmed faith in the safety of such nomination, but for the additional consideration that it is justly due of the South upon the ground of reciprocal claim and courtesy. But the issues involved in the action of the Charleston Convention, and the result of the November election, loom up in such grand and momentous proportions, as to make all questions of individual preference or sectional predilection pale into insignificance, and present in bold relief the great paramount idea of the success of the Democratic party and the defeat of the Black Republicans.--That is the question. Men are mere ciphers save only in the proportion of their ability to achieve that end. That is the essence--the Alpha and Omega--of the issue, and he is the proper person for the nomination--be he from the North or South, East or West--who can the more surely secure so desirable a result.
It is a duty as sternly incumbent upon the delegates to Charleston to go there in a spirit of conciliation, free from individual partisanship or captious prejudices, and open to the light and information which must necessarily flood in upon them as it is for them to consult the interests of the Democratic party, and respect the dignity and importance of the position they will fill. If it is made apparent, or even probable, that a Southern man can not carry a sufficient number of electoral votes in the free States to secure his election, then, by every consideration of policy and patriotism, that man who can receive such votes, should, with cordiality and unity, be chosen. It is made the duty of the Democratic party to crush out the odious factions that have combined against it, and which, with ruthless and impious tread, would trample down the Constitution and the laws of the country. Success we must have, though men now prominent in the public eye, sink beneath the surging current of the people's patriotism, never again to rise. No sacrifice of personal and individual attachments and predilections is too great, when it is made to secure the triumph of our principles; and by this controlling, conservative, catholic feeling, every delegate to Charleston should be actuated--a patriotic ambition to do the country good, instead of the contracted desire of promoting the interests of men.
It seems to us, then, in order to embrace and comprehend the whole range of considerations involved, that Charleston would be the proper place to mature an intelligent opinion as to the most available, at the same time orthodox Democrat, to be nominated. If this idea is acted upon, harmony and good feeling will pervade the deliberations, and a spirit of confidence and enthusiasm be inspired, that will lead us on to a victory as decisive and significant as that which defeated John C. Fremont in 1856.
The Vindicator, April 6, 1860, p. 2, c. 4
By an order of the Board of Directors of the Central Railroad, there will not be hereafter a Sunday train of cars on that road further west than Charlottesville. Whether this remarkable determination is the result of a superabundance of piety on the part of the Directory, or the fruits of the absence of common prudence and justice, we are unable, with the lights now before us, to divine. How much greater violation of the moral laws of the christian dispensation it would be to continue the cars to Staunton, than it is to run them to Charlottesville on Sunday, is a nice question in metaphysical theology, which is alone solvable by the pious disciples who preside over the destinies of the Central Road. There may be an immense deal of justice in the policy of making the stockholders west of the Blue Ridge pay for the accommodation of the people east of the mountain, but if so, it is past our dull comprehension to perceive it. We respectfully suggest that the Board have committed a very grievous, unjustifiable and inexcusable wrong, and nothing but a prompt return to the former usage can atone for it. If it is not their wish to do so, an appeal will be made to the Postmaster General, through the Representatives in Congress from this, the Albemarle and the Botetourt Districts, to see whether the Central Road cannot be made to repeal their "penny wise and pound foolish" action. This pharisaical and puritanical movement is too transparent to deceive or mislead any one, and the sooner the board retrace their steps the better for them. The people along the western line of the Road have rights as well as those east of the Blue Ridge, and they do not mean to quietly submit to so palpable an imposition.
The Vindicator, April 6, 1860, p. 2 , c. 4
Our enterprising citizens, availing themselves of a late act incorporating a company by the above title, have already subscribed $20,000 to the capital stock, and organized by the election of the following officers:
President - H. W. Sheffey.
Directors - M. G. Harman, Benj. Crawford, R. G. Bickle, Jno. D. Imboden, W. J. D. Bell.
It is proposed at once to establish a large Tannery, and connect with it an extensive manufactory of Boots and Shoes. A committee has been appointed to select suitable grounds for the building, who will shortly report, when the work of erecting the establishment will immediately commence.
We are glad to see this evidence of reviving enterprise. Instead hereafter of sending our hides to the North to be dressed, manufactured into Boots and Shoes, and then returned to use with a heavy profit to Northern enterprise, we will have a producing and consuming market of our own--facilitating home commerce and enriching our citizens.
The Vindicator, April 6, 1860, p. 2 , c. 4
The Election for Corporation officers came off on the 4th inst., and resulted as follows:
For Mayor N. K. Trout.
Sergeant B. W. Stevenson.
Council M. G. Harman, E. M. Taylor, Simpson F. Taylor, J. H. Skinner, H. M. Bell,
George Baylor, Benj. Crawford, B. F. Points, W.G. Sterrett, J. D. Imboden and G. E. Price.
There was no contest, except for the office of Sergeant, the candidates being R. W. Stevenson, James H. Waters and Wm. Craig. Mr. Craig withdrawing in the morning, Mr. Stevenson was elected by 34 majority.
The council on Wednesday, after being sworn in, proceeded to elect officers, which resulted in Mr. Stevenson being chosen Chief of Police; W. H. Harman, Chamberlain; Benj. Crawford, Recorder; James W. Patterson, Clerk, and M. G. Harman, W. G. Sterrett, John D. Imboden, J. H. Skinner and S. F. Tylor, Aldermen.
The Vindicator, April 20, 1860, p. 2, c. 3
We presume there is no doubt of the vote of Virginia at Charleston being cast as a unit. Such has been her universal policy, and it is this that has given her the influence she has heretofore exercised in National Conventions. Whether the vote be cast for Hunter, Wise, or some other Southern man, and this it will be at first, let it be cast as a unit. And after that, should a Southern man not be selected, let the vote be cast for that Northern man who can best secure the triumph of the Democratic party in November next.
The Vindicator, April 20, 1860, p. 2, c. 2
Freqent allusion is made, in the discussion of the question of Congressional power over the Territories, to the action of the people of New Mexico, through their Legislature, upon the subject of slavery. A law was enacted, protecting the right of property in slaves, and attaching severe penalties to the violation thereof. It is but just that the history of the origin of that law should be made known, as we have on several occasions seen the facts in the premises greatly distorted, and an erroneous phase given to the circumstances which originated the Territorial action.
The writer of this article was at the time of the passage of the law, residing in New Mexico, discharging the duties of a Federal office. Immediately after the decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, we received a letter from a Missouri U. S. Senator, and one from the delegate in Congress, and a like one was written by a Mississippi U. S. Senator to the present Secretary of New Mexico, suggesting the propriety of having passed by the Territorial Legislature a law for the protection of slave property. It was argued that such Territorial action would be simply in accordance with the Dred Scott decision, and giving practical application to the principle it adjudicated. After considerable reflection and consultation, the bill, which passed the Legislature with but one dissenting voice, was drawn up, submitted to the assembly, and became a law.
It is well known that there are not over twenty negro slaves in the whole Territory of New Mexico. The law, then, it is apparent, was created merely to assert the principle which had been recognised [sic] by the highest judicial tribunal known to the country. Its assertion was of no practical benefit or pertinency to the people of New Mexico, for they never had the question presented to them. It was simply to show that the Territorial Legislature had the power to pass such a law; and if the power to pass, then, also, to defeat the bill. Hence, if it was deemed important by Senators to have a law passed by the Territorial Legislature of New Mexico, conveying the idea of protection to slave property, doe not this fact argue that the refusal to pass such law would be considered tantamount to a want of protection? The whole question (reasoning logically and legitimately from the circumstances of the case) of slavery in the Territory, is left to the will of the Territorial Legislature, or the people. We are satisfied that the idea of the Senator who addressed us on the subject was in accordance with this conclusion, and that it was deemed an essential point, in order to illustrate the practical effect of the Dred Scott decision, to have this law prohibiting slavery, passed by the Legislature of New Mexico.
The converse of the action of the New Mexican Legislature was seen in the passage of an act both in the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska unfriendly to slavery. Here they legislated on the subject, exercising the same degree of power, but for a different purpose than was used in New Mexico. In both instances it was a practical declaration of "Popular Sovereignty"--not "Squatter Sovereignty"--and an illustration of the doctrine of non intervention by Congress. We so understood it at the time the New Mexican law was passed, and it was so intended we should understand it by the Senators who interested themselves in the matter--they seeking to give significance to the theory embraced in the decision of the Supreme Court.
We are well aware that with many persons a version is given to this question of slavery in the Territories, and justified by a process of metaphysical and theoretical argument at variance with the practical view of it. It is not a difficult or laborious task to mystify and confuse the mind by this mode of discussing the subject. But this end, when attained, as it must be, sooner or later, is narrowed down to one of two points--the people of a Territory, if they want slavery, will have it, and if they do not want it, they will not have it. It is sheer folly to exhaust time and create dissension in the ranks of the Democratic party, by a discussion of the abstract right involved, for it is a plain proposition if the owner of a slave knows that a majority of the people of a Territory are unfriendly to slavery, that slave owner will not jeopard [sic] his property by placing it in an insecure relation. Wherever slavery is profitable, there slavery will go, and where it is not profitable, that principale of self interest which controls every community, will not let it go. We have never given an abolitionist the credit of being governed by conscientious principle in the advocacy of his peculiar view on the subject of slavery. We believe, if it could be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the people of New England, that their manufactories could be operated five cents on the hand cheaper by employing negro slave labor, than they can by white or free labor, there would be no time lost in introducing this species of servitude into their midst. It was only when the people of the North--bordering as they did on the ports where the hordes of foreign immigrants landed--found that slave labor law was unprofitable, that they sold their slaves and passed laws prohibiting the existence of slavery among them. They did this as an act of economy, because they were satisfied by mathematical certainty, that foreign white labor was cheaper than negro slave labor. It was a practical question, and not theoretical. It was a matter of dollars and cents, and not conscience; and thus it will ever be. It may suit the purpose of noisy politicians to rant about the abstract right of slaveholders in the common Territories, but when the great fact is to be approached, as to the existence or non-existence of slavery, will pass laws protecting it; and if they do not want it, they will pass no such laws, and this action will decide the controversy; for slavery will go there or not, just in accordance with the character of the legislation effecting it.
We believe slavery is the best condition for the negro--morally, socially and politically; but if we were to ascertain that it was not pecuniarily advantageous for us to own negroes, we would be far from retaining them. The South does not maintain and foster slavery because of any moral compunctions; nor does the North oppose it from any such considerations. It is a question of finance, and the community which finds it profitable will have it and vice versa.
We have given these views relative to the question of slavery in the Territories, knowing that many of our own party will dissent from, and endeavor to controvert them by a resort to metaphysical reasoning and assumptions in theory. We have not, nor do we mean to treat the subject in a hair splitting manner. We put the plain, practical interrogatory, "Will not the people of the Territory eventually decide whether they will or will not have slavery?" If so, is not the whole range of argument and thought touching upon the tangible practical issue, embraced in the term "popular sovereignty"--the sovereignty of the people in determining what local laws they will pass regulating their own domestic institutions?
The Vindicator, April 20, 1860, p. 2, c. 1
Messrs. Peyton & Jordan are making extensive additions to the Virginia Hotel, and enlarging their facilities for accommodating the visitors and travelers who generally flock to the mountains in the summer season. They are now erecting a building connected with the main Hotel by a porch containing between 20 and 30 rooms, each with a fire place in it, and to be lighted with gas. This will make the Virginia one of the most commodious, as it is one of the best kept Hotels in the State.
The American Hotel, kept by our friend, S. B. Brown, Esq., is also undergoing renovation and preparation is being made to meet the demands of the vast patronage which finds its way here in the months now approaching. Staunton, now, as she has always been is marked for the superiority of her hotels, and the comfort which the wary traveler receives on arriving here and finding such excellent accommodations.
The Vindicator, April 27, 1860, p. 2, c. 2
We reached this beautiful city yesterday morning, after forty-eight hours travel from Staunton. The cool, refreshing breezes which invigorate and enliven the physical man in the Valley of Virginia, are sadly missed here. Those of us who had never experienced the heat of so Southern a latitude, were unprepared with wardrobe for the change of temperature, and consequently, are gradually loosing, by profuse perspiration, our surplus flesh. The thermometer stands to-day about 93 degrees.
The country through which we passed, both in North and South Carolina, before we reached Charleston, is very uninviting, and is only endurable in the fact that its appearance is novel. The large turpentine orchards, so to speak, are sights with which most of us were unacquainted, and of course were viewed as of the new things that are always presented in traversing strange countries. The soil is very barren and, to all appearances, totally incapable of sustaining a population, save only by means of the "pitch, tar and turpentine" manufactories.
The foliage of the trees is beautiful. Vegetation is much farther advanced than I had anticipated, and awakens a lively remembrance of the months of June and July in Virginia. The graceful and symmetrical holywood, luxuriant in its verdant apparel, and festooned by the growth of moss, hanging in negligent grace from every bough and twig, impersonating, figuratively to speak, a lovely maiden en dishabille--are very attractive, and from which we could scarcely turn our eyes, to glance at other pleasant sights, gradually developing as we neared the city.
Charleston is a handsome, compactly built city, containing between 30 and 40,000 inhabitants. From appearances, its business is brisk and large. Some of the most beautiful store-rooms I have ever seen are to be found here. The streets are narrow, a defect traceable to the French taste of those who must have laid out the city--a defect similar to the one which so disfigures and embarrasses the city of St. Louis. There is a strong element of the French and Spanish races discernible in the population.
The negro population is far inferior to the same class in Virginia. One of our best negroes is worth a half-dozen of the dwarfish, disfigured, filthy creatures which swarm the streets of Charleston. Their dialect is different, and almost unintelligible, resembling more the chattering of a monkey or a parrot than the enunciation of a human being. Indeed, it is a question whether some of these "ebo-shins" (I beg Gov. Wise's pardon) are not a modification of the ape, and divested of that element of our Creator which partakes of the divine.
Mr. Memminger, the gentleman recently sent to Virginia from this State, to discuss . . . [text missing] . . . South Carolina in iniatory steps to secure a Conference of the Southern States, has been very attentive to our delegation. Yesterday he took us to the Orphan's Asylum, a noble institution, of which the State might well be proud. There are now there 310 orphan children, being educated at the expense of the State, happy and well cared for. When asked how the system worked, he remarked, with evident pride and a glow of genuine gratitude, "Admirably. I am one of its creatures." McDuffie, also, was in a great measure educated under the auspices of this institution.
The delegations from the different States are rapidly coming in, and the city is assuming a thronged and jammed up appearance. There can be no legitimate speculations made as to the result of the Convention. Douglas' friends are very sanguine, as are Hunter's. I am fully convinced that it will be one of these two aspirants who will receive the nomination. Douglas now has the inside track. The North and Northwest are very candid in stating that their political existence depends upon his nomination.
Green peas, new potatoes, onions, lettuce, radishes, and in fact every description of vegetables are in abundance.
Not one-third of the visitors expected here arrived, being kept away by the swindling prices imposed by the Yankee landlords of this city.
S. M. Y.
The Vindicator, April 27, 1860, p. 2 , c. 1
Will not our City Fathers look to the Market House? Until it is paved it cannot be comfortable? Until it is locked and the negroes are put out, it will be dirty!
This is a subject of great importance, and we invite attention to it. Our present efficient Chief of Police, we are confident, will be active and energetic in carrying out any resolution the Council may adopt.