The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-03-08

\ House. We are thus saved atne 'roupie
/ of examining three Of the charges, forit
will not be commended that there is any
necessity to defend the accused against
a charge abandoned by the prosecution,
or rejected by tribunal determined to
condemn.
Tie Legislature, when they remove a
Judge, are obliged to enter the cause of
removal on their journals. In the pres
emit case, they have ventured to assign
but two specific charges as the justifica-
ton of their act. By these alone, then,
they must be judged.
The ostensible prosecution in the case,
on the oath of February, offered in the
House of Delegates the resolution for
Judge KENNEDY's removal. 1t was &C
companied by long preamble setting
forth the alleged causes of removal, one
of which was thus expressed:
"And whereas it is further proved to
the satisfaction of the Legislature, that
on or about the first day of April 1864,
the said John w. Kennedy, by virtue OF
bis Office as Judge of the Tenth judicial
| Circuit, did appoint Thomas Hollis Sher-
| iff of Berkeley county, the said Thomas
Hollis then being rebel, and the said
John W Kennedy then Mo,ping him to be
such" ........
We take the liberty of italicizing the
last clause of this paragraph, as we wish
to direct our readers attention particu-
larly to it.
The next thing which appears i'll the
proceedings is, that the same gentleman
who offered the preamble and resolution,
moved to amend this paragraph by strik-
ing out of ID the words "and the said
JohnW Kennedy then knowing hin to be
such" 1t was so amended; and the par
agraph, thus modified, was adopted by
the House, agreed to by the Senate, and
DOW stands entered OH their journals as
one of the two causes to justify the re-
moval of Judge KENNEDY.
1t cannot have escaped the attention
of the reader, that it is distinctly admit
ted on the face of these proceedings, that
if HOLLIS was rebel, Judge KENNEDY
did not know him to be such when he
made the appointment. That portion OF
the accusation was distinctly made and
then formally withdrawn by the prosecu
ton. The charge against the Judge, as
it passed the two Houses is, in substance
that he appointed rebel to office with
out knowing it. And this is one of the
causes gravely and formally assigned by
the Legislature of West Virginia for.his
removal
Nothing more, perhaps, need be said
about this specification. The portion
stricken out was the material part of it.
As adopted by the Legislature, it is a
burlesque on criminal proceedings. That
the appointment was made 10y the Judge
in pursuance of authority conferred on
him by lazy, was not disputed by any
body Neither gross negligence, nor cor
rupt intent is charged Was he bound
toinsme his appointments! Ifobjections
which he was not aware of, existed to
the person appointed, did that constitute
ground for impeachment How many
hundred improper appointments have
for which they have not been tried9 In
| the nature of things, mistakes in regard
| to such matters must be constantly oc-
curing; and if they proceed from lack of
information, or even lack of Judgment,
no one ever supposed them to constitute
cause of impeachment against either
President, Governor OF Judge. ...
The facts in relation to HOLLIS were
briefly these: He was a resident of
Berkeley comfy, and entered the rebel
service in the beginning of the war -
After he got his rights" or became tired
of hunting for them in Dixie, he left the
rebels in 1869, gave himself up and took
the oath of fidelity to the United States
under the amnesty proclamation of July
25th, 1862 There was no evidence that
he had been unfaithful to his oath The
Testimony was all to the contrary In
1864. pt-haps two years aftc' his return
to his s-!e, .auce, II became necessary to
appoint temporary Sheriff for Berkeley
county. Judge KENNEDY had very little
acquaintance in the county, and none at
all with HOLLIS HOLLIS did not make
application for the appointment. bu: 1t
| was offered to him by the Judge upon the
recommendation of several respectable
citizens of the county.
Unless we propose to set che Presl-
dents proclamations of amnesty at def
ance, and adopt the principal, once
rebel, al,says a rebel, we cannot say that
HOLLIS was rebel at the time of his
appointment, as alleged in this specif-
cation There ought to be allowed some
opportunity for repentance, even TO
rebel. We are commanded to pray that
our trespasses may be forgiven, as we
forgive those who trespass against u.s.
i IL, =. 30 ho ,l,,t &c