Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1858-01-28
Gov. Wise Deserted.

The famous letter OF Gov. Wise to the
Tammany Hall Democracy, has brought
DC wn upon him the Democracy ofo.d Nirginir
with their seyerest maledlctiOnS. The Gen
eral Assembly has passed resolutions en-
dorsing Mr. BUCHANAN and repudiating Gov.
WISE. The papers all over the state have
opened upon him q pelect volly of abuse
and all for WHAT Simply because he has
the courage to denounce the Kansas swindle.
1t is true the Governor rolls out some pills
a little too hard for the Slave Democracy to
stomach, and too true for them to contra
vert, hence the abuse. He says the entire
Constitution should have been submitted
to the people, but insted of this:
"There was a usur pation-a Withholding
from them of a fair, free, full, and equal
| election, to choose or rot to choose their
own Constitution of selE-goyerDment. 1t
was er parte; it was all on one side; it was,
in gambling phrase, the foul 'heads ! win,
| and tails you lose;' the Constitution was
obliged to De adop.ed, with tue clause or
without the clause; The vote was bound to
be for the Constitution it was all pro and
no con; and we may say that was no sub
mission to an election at all. Election is "A
choice of alternatives-to adopt as we'll a.
reject. There was no cbo zee in this case,
and no equality OF voters i'll this case. Three
MT D went to the polls A said. vote tor
the Constitution, with or without the ~ciause;'
but b and G. said: 'We vote against it, with
or without the clause AS vote was count
ed. BIS and C's were not TO be counted, and
thus one was made not only TO Offset two,
but to be sole substitute, in fact, fur three,
against the majority of two to one out Of
three.
Now, this was but the unveiled trickery
and shameless fraud o! a so-Ialled schedule.
There was neither right nor justice in it
The Democracy of Virginia Mt least scorns
a title OF any sort foundeG'oD fraud, occult
or palpable, like this. We say, that us be-
tween the Convention oil Lecompton and
the people of Kansas, the question was one
de jure, and de jure the whole Constitution
III all lS pdltS uuSuI w nave OtCu SHDh't'
ted to all the legal voters pro and con, and
the two voters ought to ::have been allowed
their voices against it, as we'll as the one
voter his voice for it. And, so far as Sia-
very is concer ed, it made the case worse
against that species of property to submit
the Slavery clause alone TO the election ot
the people. Why discriminate in respec;
to that peculiar instituti"n!' Is it be-
cause it was peculiar! Ii we contended fol
anything especially, it is that our property
shall not be distinguished or Disseminated
from other property in legislation. 1t stand:
: on the same footing OF right to protection
t and preservation which i. claimed for any
' ether description of thing owned or posses
! sed oy others as property. Why gas this
singled out for TIE chances Of prohibition
Was it not enough that the Badger amend
ment of the kansas-Nebraskd bii had al
ready enacted that all laws protecting an'
t establishing it prior to l~Sl9-,2O. should b
5 repealed! Why repeat a discliminatiOi
q against Slavery in This schedule OF submis
siOn!"