The New era. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1865-1871, 1865-10-12

NOIc NIilSi 10 Sidiiicu, anu III WIS way
they can accomplish all that was intend
In concluding upon this subject, l de-
sire to say that / was not, as is errOne-
ously supposed, the originator of the law
in question. The original bill requiring
the imposition of this oath, was "House
Bill No. 90" introduced by MIR. Flem-
ING. of Harrison county, (see House
journal, page 40, but l voted for and
supported it, and am as responsible for
its passage, in one sense, as If l had orig
mated it. My only object in referring
to the matter at all, is to excuse myself,
to some extent, for not having looked
more carefully into the matter before
voting for the bill. | would not nave
introduced so grave a measure WITHOUT
having examined it in all its bearings.
but having the matter first brought to
my attention by gentleman OF age ana
experience, and being SO pressed with
other business at the time, / did not be-
stow upon the subject the consideration
its importance demanded. Had | have
done so, would have discovered then.
as now, that the oath required by theact
was not only unconstitutional, but un-
necessary to accomplish the object we
had in view. In regard to the proposed
constitutional amendment ! have but
little to say. The arguments againstthe
constitutionality of the measure are not,
in my opinion, worthy of the slightest
consideration, but it is matter for great
consideration, whether or not it is good
policy, now that the war is over, to insist
upon the amendmentin its present form.
As it now stands it DISTINGUISHES all per-
sons, for all time, who, since the 1st day
of June, 1861, have given voluntary aud
to the rebellion. The high and the low,
the intelligent and the ignorant, the
leaders and the led, are alike, forever
stricken down by it; saving only, such
as have volunteered into the military or
naval service of the United States, and
have been or shall be honorably dischar-
ged therefrom. This measure was intro
duced into the Senate by Mr.. Maxwell,
of Harrison county, the ablest lawyer in
that body, and was passed, as we all
know, at a time when the war was still
waging, and when none of us supposed
it would have such an abrupt ternina
ton. It was believed by the members
of the Legislature that while one portion
of the inhabitants of the State were try
ing to destroy the government by the
use of the bullet, it was not right to al
low those who We're aiding and abetting
them at home, to assist them therein by
the use of the ballot. If the war had
continued until the submission of this
amendment to the people for ratification,
it might have been proper to submit it
in its present shape; but now that the
minated, if the proposition be adhered
to at all, it ought, think, to be chang
ed so as to fix some period at which dis
reimbursement should cease, and the
number of persons excepted from its OPP
Grafton should be decreased.
But in my opinion, the better way of
settling thisand all otherquestions grow
out of the war, would be, for the next
Legislature to pass law, submitting to
the people the question of calling con-
vention to form a new Constitution, in
which every portion of the State could
now be represented. There are so many
defects in our present Constitution, that
it will be absolutely necessary to call
such Il convention a short time hence !;
and this being the case, there can be no
time SO appropriate as the present.
In addition to the question growing out
of the rebellion, it is we'll known that
Mr.. Lamb, who is now preparing a new
code of laws for the State, will make his
report to the next session of the Leg
| lSldluTc, Nuu I'LL duJouIlleu ScsSlOll Will
have to be held, some time in the sum
mer or fall of 1866, to act upon that re-
port. a new constitutional convention,
when called, will, unquestionable, make
a great many important changes in our
Constitution, and our new code, when
adopted by the Legislature, ought to con-
form to those changes instead of being
based upon the present Constitution
This can be accomplished without diff
Guilty, by calling the convention at an
earlier period than that fixed for the adj
journed session of the Legislature, so
that the new Constitution can be framed
and adopted by the people and published
along with the new code. In this way
we can, at the same time, settle all the
the veXed questions growing out Of the
war, and adopt a Constitution and code
of laws in harmony with each other ;
and, thus, save the trouble and expense
ofremodeling and epublishing our code,
which new Constitution, made after its
adoption, would render necessary.
And now, in conclusion, may | not
appeal to every one without distinction
of name or party, to consider well the
grave subjects involved in this discussion,
and h, .,s.+ ,,,o,, fhn,p in the lirht of