The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1865-01-11
Smith and Hale.

A. ~ have already stated repeatedly. one
OF our main objects in the establishment Oh
The JOURNAL was to give more hearty sup
port 70, and make nero decided 'tano i0f'
th. Union cause; and especially as against
tho,. among % whe, undcr the guise Of no
di,loyal aet,, still gave oil the encouragement
fhsy might do safely to the rebel cause. Re-
lying on public opis;sn, and the uniform tcsti-
nory 40 70 belief Of oil whom We met.
xhieh VIC took to DO quite stron9 evidence
~ wcre induced to allow the use Of the
name, Of Ne,sss. Saith and HALE as repre-
sentative, OF the class of men against whom VIC
wore fighting. We had never heard them
spoken Of otherwise than rs rebel sympathi-
s.rs--no one claimed for them even, that they
were loyal; and, if they we're rebels, why
should they be permitted TO remain here en-
Toying az the privileges Of citizens and Of
society while our own brave men, who had
taken up arms in defense Of their country,
wore dying on tho battle field or langui,hing
in rebel prisons? ......
These we're pertinent questions; and though
Il was far from our wish or intention to drire
e~ey any ono who was disposed to be good
citizen, still we held, and still holj, that q
re6<! CANNOT be good citizen; and that If
man cannot eonseicntiously subscribe to the
SUPPORT and defense Of the Federal Govern
mont, It Is bis duty TO resign the protection Of
that government and go where he con support
tho government under which no lires. We
would rather shoulder our gun to-day and
nshs rsbe,s in front, than to tamely submit to
their presence in the rear.
But Messrs. Smith and tKsle, We have
learned from reliable source, since our last
issue, claim to be Union men. This claim put
forth and 1ouched for by men whose vcracity
va have no right TO doubt at once compels US
to desist from using their names in the way
and for the purpose We have done--at the
same time We wish it distinctly understood
that We have not heretofore spoken Of them
from any personal feeling, or with any per-
sonsl motive, but merely because NO believed
them to be representatives OF a class OF per-
sons in our midst who werc Some Of them
more culpablc than they. e.
Their claims to loyalty, behind which We
have no right to 50 unless we can show acts
to tho contrary, otonly demand LEGISLATION
Of hostility" but that VIC should give their
statement or version Of the cnse, and Of the
act, on which they have teen charged with
disloyalty, for we wish to srrong no man.
In 1861, they were both members (privates
Of the Kanawha Rifles, IN Independent Home
Company. Nc have no disposition to qucs-
ton the motives which led them, when this
company was declared, by it's officers, 10 BE-
in the State serrice, and thus practically in that
Of the so-callcd Coufedcraey, to 60 with the
company rather than desert. They accepted
commissions, but claim that their sole ohjec,
in doing 80, was to gain some honorable mode
Of getting out Of this company and of tho
service, and that they both used tho first op.
portunity Offering, to resign; and, as soon as
they could do 50 with safety, they returned
homo; and upon Gen. Cox's driving Loriug
out Of tho valley, they went to him, gave
themselves up, under the provisions Of Pres
ident Lincoln's Proclamation OF 1862, and
fulfilled al tho conditions required By Gems.
Cox and Morgan, and which were endorsed
BY Gov. Pierpont. Since then they claim that
all their acts have been loyal, and challenge
any one to prove the contrary.
Sines We have learned this, we have foand
several persons to defend their conduct in
1861, saying that they denounced the cause
Of the Confederacy in round terms, and no
one has been able 10 show that their act, since
their return con be construed as traitorous.
But it still appears that they, being inau-
entail citizens here, have taken little or no
public interest in the affairs Of the County,
State, or Government-bave withheld their
influence from the cause Of the Union,-in
fact taking tho seeming position Of neutrals.
Would it not be better, especially under the
circumstances, il they arc as they claim, and
~ 10 nov claimed without successful rcfuta-
ton, for them, Union men-would j. no. be
better to throw tho weight Of their influence,
&C., into tho Union scale, and in support Of
The Union cause7 --.'