The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-01-18

and it is in the highest degree obnoxious;
to all the objections that can be urgeu
against the whole class 6f test oatns'
general aud particular. 1t requires
person who has been elected to ONCE by
the people to swear that he has not com
mitted some particular act. III he taxes
the oath he is admitted to the office; IL ne
refuses. he is excluded. Here Is PUNISH
ment for the guilty without CONVICTION
and punishment for the innocent man
because of conscientious OPINION, II 10
believes as do, that these exclusion
acts ought not to be encouraged sy SUI
mission to them, and that by acq9ies-
cling in them, he becomes aparty to tnelr
enforcement By the refusal OF DIS prac
tical assent to an unconstitutional Ia"
he iucurs all the penalties of having per-
petrated an infamous offense.
disqualification for Office, as l nave
shown. follows conviction ofan infamous
crime; conviction cannot be had With
ont trial. and, when the accused is put
| upon his trial, he cannot be compelled
| to give evidence against himself. Here
| his whole trial consists of his own testt-
! mony, and, if guilty, he is offered a pre-
MUM for perjury; if innocent, he is re-
warded for assisting in the violation OF
| fundamental principle OF our govern
ment.
| Another violation of the constitution
which this test oath commits is Its &c
post facto character The history OF man
| kind furnishes many test oaths the OBJ
| iect of which, as in this case, was to con-
| fine power to men OF one set OF opinions
to the exclusion of those who differed
| with them, and an oath was pre-
| pared to test these opinions and
| look to future action; bat, in the his
tory of the world, the radicals OF our
once free country are the first to present
an oath which retrospects the whole life
of the citizen and requires him to swear
| himself clear of crime as preliminary to
admission to Office lit be right to re-
Auire him to clear his skirts by an oath,
Why confiue the requirement to one
species of crime Is treason the only
crime which ought to disqualify7 Ought
not all crimes that bring infamy to oper-
ate a disability for office2 Are pecula-
ton, theft and robbery no disabling
crimes2 Or are these, too, nearly a
monopoly, and, therefore, mere venial
offenses to be forgotten, forgiven, or fos-
tered
Such oaths are framed with no view to
the good of the country, but solely for
the purposes of party. They are justitia-
BILE under no circumstances in govern
ment like ours; for as to what conduct
or what opinions are to be put undtr the
ban, ,must be always at the option of
those who hold power Once admit Ex'
clusion Bills, in the form of test oaths or
in any other shape, amongthe legitimate
instruments of party machinery, aud we
are undone The ingenuity of every
dominant party will ever be exerted to
frame one which will keep down their
opponents
That the public good has nothing to
do with the enactm ent of such laws is
| self-eyident, and, among those who use
| them, the candid will always ayow their
design In British party contests they
have proved as formidable to the OUTS as
as they have been shameful to the Ing /;
though more excusable there, as they are
more in consonance with a monarchical
and aristocratic than with republican
or democratic form of government. On
one occasion British statesman, Lord
Thurlow, whose party was maintaining
itself in power by means of attest oath
applied apparently to religious opinions
was visited by deputation FROM the
excluded sects,-he replied to them =
Gentlemen, you have called on me to
request my vote for the repeal of the test
act Gentlemen, | shall not vote for the
repeal of the test act. care not wheth.
er your religion has 'the ascendancy, or
mine, or any, or none; but this | know
that when you we're uppermost you kept
as down, and now that zoe are uppermost
we will keep yOu down"
Here is an attempt at justification up
on the rule that toO ,Crongs make one
right. If one party does wrong when in
power it does not Justify the opposing
party, when it attains to power, in com
hitting either that or another wrong
On the contrary, in our country, where
the same men may be IN Office today and
ont tomorrow, there is every reas on,
both upon the score of morality and
sound policy, why they shonld observe
in their public acts, the golden rule. In
the use Of force, and in discarding pre-
scribed restraints, they WELD a two
edged sword They may remorselessly
apply one edge to day they may feel the
other tomorrow.
In the great contest, through which
we have just passed, the Southern .peo.
pie have lost the wager which they them.
selves staked on the issue of the strug
gle, and they are willing to pay it all
or,nearly all, who fought braTely and con.
tended manfully, confess that secession
and slavery are at an end, and are ready
and willing to resume their place in so.
ciety and perform their duties faith fully
as citizens of the United States The ir.
reconcilable malcontents are few in mum
Der and of no weight of character.
This ought to be, and is sufficient for
the great ends of government; and every
man who wishes to restore and advance
free principles, return to domestic tran
guilty, and re-establish order with pub
lie and private security, is satisfied to
receive the people of the rebellious States
within the fold of the Union, letting
bygones be bygones. But such enlight-
ened, generous sentiments, tending to
great patriotic ends, do not harmonic
| with the views of selfish or vindictive
men who are always ready to take adj
vantage Of whatever turns up. ALI
great conflicts excite the feelings of the
people and give prominence to the char
acteristics OF each individual. Through
ont our whole country the passions of
the human heart hare b en- stirred to
their lowest depths. Hate, malice, re-
venge, avarice now in5tigate the public
arm. as they rule the private heart. But