the party, the Funders and the Readjusters, who would later create their own party, over the debate on whether or not paying the debt was more important than supporting the public schools. A group of conservative members of the Virginia state legislature met in Richmond on July 1, 1870 to reorganize the party and submit their recommendations to the Legislatures with respect to congressional redistricting. Demise A popular bill that would increase the amount of revenue available to public schools was introduced and passed by the assembly in 1878, but was vetoed by Governor Frederick W. M. Holliday. The Readjusters would break away from the Conservative party and formed their own party and the remaining Conservative Funders lost their majorities in both houses in the same year to the Readjusters. The Readjusters would later win the governorship in 1881 causing the few Conservative bills passed by the assembly to be vetoed by William E. Cameron. In 1883 the party and most of its members merged with the Democratic party. Criticism In 1876, former Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise denounced the party during testimony before the Virginia House of Delegates Committee on Elections, as nothing more than "old-fashioned Democrats, old-fashioned Whigs, Know Nothings, locofocos, sour-crout (sic) Democrats, and Greelyites," the latter a reference to Horace Greeley of New York, whose candidacy the Conservative Party endorsed for President of the United States in the 1872 presidential election. See also Conservative Party (United States) References Virginia Regional and state political parties in the United States Defunct conservative parties in the United States Political parties in Virginia