Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-01-03
Iror ,he lntEllrnneer.I


To the People OF Wsitern virginia.
E" sHcssrs: Editors: late number of your
paper contains some responding senti.
meuts as to the failure Of free Institutions.
Cheer up my friends; no cnuse for alarm
or discOnFugemeRt. B6 Il remembered
that free institutions Sfe Just institutions.
No history, ancient or modern, can else
where present so aniihating picture of
strength. opulence, security and prosperity
as the Northern STATED Of this Cnio,.-
Take, for Instance, ,fUtfF of those States.
Pennsylvania, Ohio Indiana, and Illinois,
separated from the slave States by nothing
butts geographical line They contain n
mere trifle less than eigttahla Galfmillions
Ut inliabit"nts, enjoying 0pulence and pros
pettty, of which personhequAintcd with
none but slHVeholding Communities cum
not even form an adequate conception
The xllist of 0Iio is nqS close to thou
sand millions of dollars; Aud need not
say that in Ohio, Us, ,everJSyEhere else ynst
mass of properly entirelS escapes taxation,
aud the remainder is tSiea ut about half
its sale value. Could fany government
having in its composition, Suuh elements
OF wrong ms monnrchy, 0FistocrNcy or per-
sonal slavery, attain suchi hilnspPy results p
How must the heart Of.the PhilanthrOpist,
of the Patriot, exult and lilnte at the con-
! temptation of tue opulfnce, power aud
prosperity of the growinRgG
And ull the offspring of 5pediencc. though
very imperfect obedIenfe to the dictates
of the higher and better faculties of hu-
man nature. Gompnpestss very Icnst nnd
weakest of these four sCOmmonwealths
with the little, despicahiG, treAchennus $;
treason State of South Carolina. What
comparison is there? Rtther Allegheny
county, Pennsylvania, or Hamilton county,
Ohio, is-a greater belligeSent power than
South Carolina. Yet this odious little
ncst of traitorss whose mental and moral
standard is that OF Fez and Morocco ard
onln aud old Al6ieFss IS quietly permitted
by the NdministrntiDn 10 send cmissaries
of treason TO tile border Statesl 0God, U
GOd tile dny ofvengeHnce Willcome.
In estimating the effects of political In
situations it should be observed that three
of those States are but of yesterday. Men
are still living who were living before any
settlement of people speaking the English
langiIage, existed n them Two of them,
Ohio md Indiana, have territorial sur
fhce very little exceeding Virginia in cx-
tent Ohio has forty thousand square
miles, Indiana twenty EIGHT thousand, and
Virginia but little less than sixty-four
thousand. But the good old State has for
est aud fisheries, rivers and mines, such a
nature never bestowed on the two States
All tho hest days of the subscriber were
spent i'll The good old Ancient Dominion,
and though long resident in. Ohio, can
not divest myself OF the opinion that she
has a greater natural capacity to sup
port n mighty population than the two
States named In this opinion other men
| may not concur. The surface of Virginia
/ is in part encumhered by m0unbtins
which ara absent from tho surface OF the
two States. Suppose, then, tIint her ma
tural capacity to maintain .tty given pop.
nlationTs about equal 10 tbit of the two
l,StGtes; wlIiebtts tGinlY nor tar from the
Itrukb: Then whit is ftif isfuRl fact2-s.-
The nee poilll IN. 81 l3lia Is S4Ga1- td
| q little more tiIUn one+tbtrd of that of
OhiosnUd is equal to about one-fourth of
that nf the TWO States. Where, tlietI,-is
the groWud for disc6urugemeut as to the
success OF free institutional All onr ma
-tionnl troubles arise from, Institutions of
the OPPOSITE kind. And after dissoIu-
tion of the Union We shall repine at this
/ latter class Of institutions as the source of
! all omra calhniities and Gumiliations.-
iWhetter II is ProYident for The friends of
I slnYcry 10 expose it TO such trial, leave
them tDjudge. Fellow-citiZens of Virgin
in, this language does not originate inun-
kind or snnrricndly feelings. Selfish and
canning politicians have told yon that the
Northern people entertain sentiments of
/ hostility towards you. For single mo-
meDt heed not the tale. 1t is u wicked
and malignant fable. It is not merely
false, butsthe reverse of the truth. can
never regard It as unfriendIy to speak to
you in the language of facts. The logic
of facts is cogent. You will soon have
an opportunity TO make your choice. Will