The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-08-27
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mere = TINS general remark however,
o be made-viz: that the gatherine
vas substantially composed OF the
anne elements that have constituted all
he opposition bodies in West Virginia
Turing the war and since. True, an eli
iort was made at Parkersburg as at
Philadelphia, to putt forward as much as
possible certain men whose antecedents
are not distinctively and prominently
identified with the opposition to the
war. And yet Notwithstanding that
visible effort on the part of the mann,
gers, we have only tolool at the leadjos,
names to see how exceedingly thin wsa
the covering that yelled the real charac-
ter of the Convention. The temporary
chairman was; Ex-Judge Kennedy,
who was found guilty by the Legisla-
ture of certain reasonable practices,
and, therefore, deprived of his Office.
The permanent chairman was Lewis
Rufner, whose opposition to secession
was more than neutralized by his i'm
placable prejudices against Mr.. Lin
coins administration and the whole
course of the war. The ticket nominate
ed is of a character to correspond
with these two presiding officers. Col.
Ben Smith hardly knew where he be-
longed half the time during the rebel
lion. While his convictions were op-
posed to secession in the abstract, yet
his sympathies were strongly biased
toward it as a reality. He stands in
the same class with such men as Ruff
ner. The tergiversations of Mr.. Bur
dett, the candidate for Treasurer.
are familiar to all who know anything
about him. His backward and for
ward course on the New State ques-
ton, his intense professions of radical
ism when candidate for Congress, and
again his platform when a candidate
for the State Senate, and finally his
total copperhead collapse last winter,
are all matters of newspaper record.
his own county will repudiate him
overwhelmingly at the polls this fan,
as will the two other counties compos-
ing his Senatorial District. AS for Mr..
Richardson, the candidate for Attorney
General, we all know in this comInu.
nifty how he stood during the war, as he
was twice a candidate in opposition to
the Union party, and twice beaten, as
he will be again, third time, in octo-
Der. OF Caleb Borgess.. the candidate
for the Supreme Court, we know
but little, and that little is made
up of his nomination by the
rebels Of Grant township, in Harrison
county, last fall, In opposition to the
Union ticket, and his inglorious and
utter defeat on election day. Capt. OAR
nell, of Mason county, candidate for
the authorship, is in,the same obscure
category, and is simply known for his
opposition to the ConstitutionalAm Amend
ment in the House of Delegates, last
winter, and for nothing else that we
ever heard Of. But for that opposition
he would not have been nominated at
ParkersburR last Thursday, Does not
that fact speak volume against him !?
And what is true OF him is true of the
whole ticket. Every nominee was Sc
lected because of his record in oppose
ton to the new State movement and the
lato amendment. The convention was
composed OF men who viii never for
give those two grand achievements Of
the Union party. And although they
may acknowledge fealty to West Vir-
ginia and protest their good faith ever
so loudly, yet we all know that like the
professions of the Southern rebels in
regard to the Union when sueing for
pardon, 1t is a political necessity that
compels and not a sincere CONVEX
sion that prompts them to make
such professions. Theifls is the ancient
Punic faith over again; that brings
disappointment and disaster upon all
who put faith in it. The Union men in
West Va. have no need to make the ex-
pertinent as to what such people would
do had they the power. We know that
We could possibly gain nothing by the
experiment, while we might lose every
Thing. The past we an know well
enough, as 10 what dangers we
have escaped at the hands of such
people as composed the ParkersburQ
Convention, but the future Is fun
OF uncertainty. These are eyentful
times in which we I've, and within 4
year OF two the destiny Of the country
Is TO be moulded, perhaps for century.
The great results OF the war are not
saved Jet, but on the contrary, they are
imminently threatened. This fan viii
open q chapter in our national history
not less important than that OF the .ytlIr
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