But even Schofield could not protect Virginia from the more vicious legislation of the unscrupulous radicals then in control in Washington. At the close of the war the necessities of the situation were working out, in Virginia at least, a reasonable and moderate readjustment of relations between the white people and the former slaves. The negroes looked to their old masters for employment and the whites, in their own great poverty, gave to them what they could; and while wages were very low, the negro was assured of shelter and food. The enfranchisement of the negroes in March, 1865, the establishment of the Freedman's Bureau in the following June but more particularly the organization of the Union League late in 1866 broke down the friendly relations between the races. The representatives of those politically begotten organizations taught the ignorant and always credulous negroes that the whites were their enemies and oppressors, discouraged them from working and persuaded them to ally themselves with the disreputable "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags" who were perniciously active in their efforts to foment trouble, for their own profit, between white and black. The worst results were registered in the eastern and southern parts of the State where the more extensive of the old plantations and consequently the densest negro population existed; in Loudoun, most fortunately, there was little or no racial animosity and the negroes appear to have been more content and appreciative, as well as dependable in their work, than in many of the other counties. To meet the confusion and turmoil in the State and the threatened complete overthrow of white supremacy, the best and most representative men in Virginia formed, in December, 1867, the Conservative Party, drawing its membership from former Whigs and Democrats alike. In the election of 1869, to accept or reject a new Constitution, the Conservatives were successful, the proposed Constitution adopted and the State rescued from fast developing chaos. It is remembered that in this election John Janney made what was practically his last public appearance. He had been an outstanding leader of the Whigs in Virginia, had opposed secession but, at the end, stood with Lee and many other Virginians in the belief that coercion of the States by the Federal Government was the worse evil of the two. Before this decisive election of 1869, he had suffered a stroke of paralysis; but to set an example to his former Whig associates, he had himself driven in his carriage to the polls to vote the Conservative ticket. It was a last and effective act of patriotism. He died in January, 1872.[184] [184] _Loudoun Mirror_ of the 10th January, 1872.