Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-02-24

- = none SOss. S4dGaARs
IN lEI9 . vote on which hesyVnntet 4 to he
: "a lleF sls. pr Con- PEFess from Va
from 7sW Warrington Letter in tBo Cincinnati coa)
spB WASHINGTON, Feb. l6, 1859.
Among tile many absorbing questions
Mnicn ~ now draw attention. sgEpwiug out of
~! tne var against the Union, the representa-
tlon which to be accorded to the secedeii'
States is one of the most iniD0rt6nt asiJttE.
surrounded with difficulties; as embracing
questions for which there are, no prece.
uentst and members Of Congress are forced
TO decide It unaIded by tho light of experi-
enee.. Already from a half dozen,to a doz.
en- Claimants for seats in the House of Rem.
tesen ntatvest have appeared in Washin9-
TON lrom portions of tho seeded States
80 lar, only i've of those have passed tho
ordeal of.tthe Committee ON Elections. Of
which Mr. Dawes, itof Massachusetts, is
Onairmau. Iheipersons admitted are The
three Western Virginia mcmbers-renre
sentlng districts where bona fde elections
were held, and the candidates received un-
Questionable mAjoritiGs- two members
y moses hlaynard and Glements) from East
tennessee, who were ,eleCted by a far less
number ofVotes, owing to tho military ter
rorism which prevailed, ButIn both these
cases, the number flYotes cast exceeded
two thousand, whilethe uDquestioned low
atty OF the districts as fairly entities them
70 q continued representation in Congress
as the districts of Western Virginia.
very different is the case ia regard 10
some ofJthe other claimants for seats in
the National Legislature. Not to speak of.
the notorious Charles H. Foster, of North
Cnrolinai whose bogus claims were so per-
slstentty urged at the extra session last
summer, and who has just been. elected
Ior tho J0urth time, there are several from
Virginia whose title to represent anybody
rs moro than doubtful, One of these Is.
the Hon. Joseph Segar, of Old Point.
whose case has just been decided against
him 10y tue House, This DR.. Segar is1nn'
old politician, OF Wing Gntecedeals, who.
unwilling to abandon tho cause of the
Federal Union, secured his safety by an
early emigration into New England, from
whence he discteetly emerged in Washing
ton near the e.COmmencement of tlIasprese1t
session, with sort of certificate of alec
ti9n from the First Congressional District
of Virginia. His certificate set forth tf,ht
twenty-five votes had been cast for JoseDh
Ssgar, at a single poll, and that no other
candidate was voted for, On the strength
of this "unRnimous" election, DR.. Se1ar
had the face to demand his rights as tic
representative of the Fortress Monroe dis
trtct, where he "keeps n hotel, }" in!tha inn
mediate vicinity Of which house of enter. :,
tainnient the five and ditwenty constituents
of the doctor were gathered together. OF
course, no honest Committee on Elections,
could recommend the admission of a repre-
Sentative in Congress on such II showing.
as this. It would betoo baro faced an en-
dorsement Of the mOnstrosity of tue Le-s
compton Constitution swindle in Kaneass
to say nothing of the ''rOtten borough;
system of Great britain. So the Commit.
tee on Elections reported unanimo1sly
against DR.. Segar. Yet the House, With
singular courtesy, admitted himato the
hoor, and patiently listened. to two or
three long speeches from him in defence
Of his claims. Still stranger, he was
sustained by over forty votes2the mAi0Fit
y against his admission being only forty;
i've. rt aa,if h ei.,.s
A scrutiny of this vote, and of the Rem
resentatives who spoke in favor of Separ's
right to seat, reveals the fact, that there
is more involved in the matter of these
trumped-up claims than appears upon the
surface, Nearly eUery FepFesentatt5e Jr6M
Tie SldDe States FOted to admit DE. .Ssgur. in
the face of the potent fact that he was
elected by inadequate authority, and that
| he really represented nobody but himself
and q few friends in the vi6ihity,6F his res.
ideuce. Such a vote, under,isuch circ1m.
stances, shows clearly that these Southern
representatives are oyerweeningly anxious
i TO INCREASE the representation of fheit Sec
4 tion upon the floor Of Congress-. sIV "A.
imp5ssibie TO believe that such clear.head-
edlawyeEs as.John j. Crit epdep and, Hor-
ace Maynard would vote TO receive a rep
reseptatiye from any other section, Wild
could show no better eTidence ofaSslepil.
e1ecti6nA than this. HThS peculiar instiIni
tion, Z like a bribe in the scale of justice,
has blinded The eyes, of these Legislative
judges. And the same pcrverting process
viii be applied, as we have eyeryFeasont6
believe, In the cassof fstores of fsimilarclaims
to'be trumped uphereafter. Already, there
are four OF five more upon the docket, aud
i the Gommitiea On EIecffhh1s -.ssra 40.