The Constiutional Amendment

The main question for the people of Virginia to vote on will be the constitution. Will the Union adopt it relieved of certain obnoxious features or will they keep "Virginia on the broad ocean of uncertainty, on which we have had such a long and disastrous voyage."

The Constitutional Amendment. In the matter of the ratification of the fifteenth constitutional amendment as a condition precedent to the admission of this State to representation on the floor of Congress it should be borne in mind that the people at the polls are not to vote upon it. The question is for the decision of the Legislature, and must depend upon the opinions of that body, and the circumstances by which it is surrounded when it casts its vote. The main question for the people will be as to the constitution : whether they will adopt it relieved of certain obnoxious features. If they think it better to restore the State under the constitution thus purged than to cast her, and themselves with her, back upon the broad ocean of uncertainty, on which we have had such a long and disastrous voyage, they will vote against the obnoxious clauses and for the constitution re-lieved of them. After this they must en-deavor to select as their public officers and representatives those who are most available and most to be trusted of all that are presented for their suffrages. The people will have quite enough to do in these matters to call for the exercise of their best judgment and their most ardent devotion to the public welfare. It is very well that the question of the constitutional amendment is not added to the complications of this extraordinary election.

“The Constiutional Amendment,” Reconstructing Virginia, accessed March 30, 2023, https://reconstructingvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1311.