746 



VIRGINIA. 



one for the State at large; one at large and 

 one from each congressional district to be 

 chosen hy the convention. The committee 

 was accordingly appointed, with ex-Governor 

 "Wells as chairman. The following series of 

 resolutions was unanimously adopted as the 

 platform of the Republican party in Virginia : 



The Eepublicaus in Virginia, in convention as- 

 sembled, do resolve as follows : 



1. That they approve and reaffirm the principles set 

 forth as the creed of the party by the Eepublican 

 conference of April last, and earnestly invite the co- 

 operation of all men upon that liberal and compre- 

 hensive basis. 



2. That the pledge then given, of support to the 

 policy of Congress and the Administration of Gen- 

 eral Grant, has been justified by the great achieve- 

 ments of these branches of the government in the 

 reduction of the public debt, the enhancement of the 

 public credit, the augmentation of the public revenues, 

 the lessening of taxes, the equalization of the cur- 

 rency among the States, the saving of interest by 

 the funding of the national debt, the reduction of 

 the army and navy expenses, the restoration of peace, 

 the growth of the country in wealth and population, 

 and the realization of the blessings of self-govern- 

 ment under the auspices of the largest liberty, and 

 the equality of all men before the law. 



3. That in the enjoyment of these fruits of the na- 

 tional Administration, we feel it a pleasure, as well 

 as a duty, to recognize and claim them as the result 

 of Eepublican measures and Eepublican counsels, 

 and commend them to the people as the best proofs 

 of the wisdom and prudence with which our nation- 

 al affairs are conducted by the Executive and Con- 

 gress. 



4. That, notwithstanding the declaration heretofore 

 made by our party for the exact and scrupulous en- 

 forcement of our constitution in all particulars, our 

 special interest in our system of common schools 

 does not allow us on this occasion to withhold from 

 the people the expression of our settled distrust of 

 what has already been done or may hereafter be done 

 on this subject by the present General Assembly ; 

 and to exhort the people to look to and strive after 

 Eepublican ascendency, as the only hope of establish- 

 ing a prosperous system of common schools, to 

 which the Eepublican party is committed as one of 

 its chief aims. 



5. That we cannot but deplore the facility with 

 which our whilom true Republicans in office have for- 

 gotten and abjured their pledges to General Grant 

 and Congress, and the zeal they now display in op- 

 position to both ; but the remembrance ot their venal 

 professions, and of their falsity, enhances our wish 

 and determination to show by trie results of our elec- 

 tions this fall that the bulk of our people have been 

 no parties to this game of deception, and are swift 

 to condemn it. 



6. That the contrivance, through means of a third 

 party, termed " Conservative," to evade the issues 

 between the great national parties Eepublican and 

 Democratic is but a part of the artifices and decep- 

 tions which won the late inglorious victory in this 

 State, is too palpable to mislead, and is unworthy of 

 of a frank and honorable foe. 



V. That no disguise nor pretext can avail to save 

 this third party, so far as it aifects opposition to 

 the Eepublican party, from being merged into the 

 Democratic party, which alone constitutes that op- 

 position, so that, in respect to all national issues, and 

 all national elections, the Conservative party means 

 nothing more' nor less than the Democratic party, 

 unless, indeed, this organization be a convenient 

 house of refuge for time-servers, whose expectation 

 may be to go over to that one of the two parties that 

 shall prove, to be the stronger, so that for the present 

 these two parties have an equal interest in demolish- 



ing this half-way house, and lea ,-ing its timorous in- 

 mates to make the same open fight which falls to 

 their lot. 



8. That while the baffled leaders of secession are 

 announcing the failure of republican government 

 and the inevitableness of monarchy or imperialism as 

 its successor, our faith, on the contrary, is strengthen- 

 ed and confirmed in our republican government by 

 late events ; our sympathy stimulated in behalf of 

 the people abroad, who are struggling for it, and our 

 fervent gratitude to God aroused by the glad tidings 

 of the spread of republican ideas among the nations 

 of Europe. 



9. That we are admonished by the course of the 

 General Assembly that we have no chance of securing 

 the fruits of our new constitution ; nor the measures 

 of relief required by the people, unless we shall de- 

 monstrate at the polls a strength that cannot be con- 

 temned, and a public will that must, sooner or later, 

 be obeyed ; and hence that we invoke our friends 

 throughout the State to unusual activity and vigilance 

 in the pending canvass, in order that we may not lose 

 by evasion or delay what the people have decreed by 

 a vote nigh unanimity. 



10. That we earnestly recommend the formation 

 of Union Eepublican tickets of county officers in the 

 spirit of a concilatory policy, and congratulate our- 

 selves and the State upon the liberality and regard to 

 the public service which have so far characterized 

 these Eepublican nominations, especially in counties 

 where the Eepublicans have undisputed sway. 



11. That the Eepublican party of this State respect- 

 fully and earnestly asks Congress for such legislation 

 as will secure to the people of this State the beneficent 

 provisions of the homestead clause of their constitu- 

 tion through an amendment of the bankrupt laws of 

 the United States, and for compensation to loyal men 

 in the South for property taken for the use of the 

 Government during the war, and the payment of all 

 claims due citizens of the South for services rendered 

 prior to the war, under such guards and restrictions 

 as may be necessary to protect the Government from 

 imposition. 



12. That justice to all men, harmony among all 

 classes, the protection of labor, the encouragement 

 of capital, the education of all, the impartial adminis- 

 tration of the lawSj the development of our State re- 

 sources, the moral, intellectual, and religious advance- 

 ment of all our people, and, as the cap-stone of all, 

 inflexible devotion to that Union which makes of all 

 these States one great nation, are the cardinal prin- 

 ciples of the Eepublican party, and upon there rather 

 than upon strifes of race or section we challenge the 

 honorable rivalries of all men and all partly. 



At the election held in November, three 

 Kepublican and five Democratic Congressmen 

 were chosen. The total vote cast was 166,559, 

 and the Democratic majority 2,239. 



The suit between Virginia and West Virginia 

 concerning the jurisdiction over the counties 

 of Berkeley and Jefferson, which had been 

 pending for several years in the Supreme 

 Court of the United States, was decided, in 

 December of this year, adversely to Virginia. 

 During the war the question of annexation to 

 West Virginia was submitted to the people of 

 these counties, who decided in favor thereof. 

 Thereupon Virginia brought suit to annul the 

 transaction, on the ground of alleged fraud in 

 the election, and the action was finally decided 

 by the dismissal of the complaint. 



Soon after the restoration of civil power in 

 the State, an exciting contest arose between 

 George Chahoon and H. K. Ellyson concerning 

 the possession of the office of Mayor of the 



