Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-06-29

ton, and submitted it to the people for
their ratification or rejection, and they &C :
cepted it. The Legislature afterwards gave
its sanction to the movement. This prop.
osition for the division of the State, TO-
gether with the new constitution adopted
and ratified, was submitted to Congress,
; and after some delay, was sanctioned
through bill submitted for that purpose,
which bill the President signed
The new State of West Virginia was
then organized under the constitution thus
provided. On the Goth day of June, 1863,
Hon. Arthur /. Boreman, was inaugurated
its governor.
The legislature had provided that when
the State of West Virginia should become
organized, the Governor might move the
seat of government to such place in the old
State as he might deem expedient In
conformity with this law, Gov. Peirpoint
removed the archives of the State to Alex
audria, and declared it, by proclamation,
to be the temporary Capital of the State.
Several of the old State officers removed
with the removal of the seat of government
and the affairs of the Commonwealth have
since been successfully conducted at that
point.
Francis q. Peirpoint was appointed Gov
erner of the State by the convention which
convened at Wheeling in the spring of 1861.
He served by appointment until the next
regular election. In the spring of 1862 he
was elected by the people to fill the unex.
pired term of John Letcher, whose term
| of office did not expire until Dec. 81, 1853
but whose Office had been declared vacant
| by the ordinance above alluded to, He
was re elected by the loyal voters of tho
old State, at the general election held on
the fourth Thursday of May, 1863 and was
inagurated for four years, on the 1st day of
January, 1864.
The General Assembly of Virginia, un-
der the restored Government, met at Alex
andria in regular session on the Grst Mon
day of December, 1868, and passed an act
providing for the election of delegates to
convention, to alter, amend, revise, or to
form a new Constitution for the State. The
members of this convention were duly and
legally elected by the people. The con-
ventlon met on the 18th day of February,
1854, and on the llth day of March follow
ing, adopted clause, NTH but one dissenting
Uoice, G6oliShing Slavery and inU oLuntary SER
pltude, except for crime, in the State forever.
This provision provides that minors of
African descent may be spprenticed in the
same condition with white children, and
prohibits the Legislature from making any
law contraVeniug the provision. Under
the constitution and laws of the restored
Government, therefore, when the rebellion
shall be suppressed within our borders, the
Government will be in loyal hands, and
conducted, as it is now, on the most liber-
al democratic or republican principle
Some objection has been raised to the
Constitutional Convention above alluded
to-. These objections may be stated as
follows:
FTrst-That the number constituting the
convention was too small; and
ISeeond-That the convention did not
submit its action to the people for their
ratification or rejection.
The answer to the first objection is, that
every county then within the Federal
lines was represented. More than one
tenth of the entire State was represented.
The Presidents proclamation liberated
a portion of the slaves in the State, while
Slavery still existed in the larger portion
of the territory represented in the conven.
ton. The State officers, according to
their oaths of Office, were bound to enforce
the laws, however repugnant it might be
to them. The old Constitution recogni.
zed the institution, and forbid the Lei gis-
latufe to liberate the slaves. The officers
of the Federal army were charged with
the duty of carrying t7the Emancipa.
ton Proclamation. This, it will readily
be perceived, brought the State and Fed
eral authorities into conflict. A Justice
would order slave arrested and returns
ed to hismaster, and:a squad of soldiers
would be ordered to effect his release.
The abolition Of Slavery, therefore, be-
came necessity, in order that the State
and Federal authorities might work in
harmony fol, the restoration of civil law
and good order.
The answer to the second objection is,
that 1t was useless to submit the Consti-
tuition, thus amended to a vote of the
people for their ratification or rejection.
Suppose that only oneSeighth ofthe State
had been represented in this convention.
The adoption of the Constitution by that
one-eighth would have been no expression
of opinion of the other sevenseighths.
No one is so foolish to maintain that the
adoption or rejection of the Constitution
by this one-eighth would have been any
expression of public sentiment throughe
out the State. The convention was call.
ed for the purpose of abolishing Slavery
The delegates were elected with the full
understanding of what they were to do.
and they didit. Therefore the submis<
sion of the Constitution to another vote
of the people, while q large majority of
them had already expressed their opinion
in its favor by the delegates whom they
had elected for au ayowed and well un-
der stood purpose, would have been
piece of supreme folly.
l might answer both objections thus:
The rebels forced upon the loyal people
a state of affairs which rendered this acl
ton on their part necessary for self-pre>
servation. If the loyal portion of our
community had inaugurated the existing
state of affairs within our borders, and
then undertaken to do what they did, still
being in minority, the matter would
have worn a greatly different aspect.
The object of the loyal people of the
State was to free the slaves and resore
civil law, in order that the benefit of a