The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1866-10-08
The Frieud. Of west yirElnis.

The radicals pretend to be the only
friends of the new State. They tain
loudly about the peculiar guardians
they suppose themselves lnves' 90 wsst
y;reinia and draw doiefui plosuro' =.
ns mediate absorption Of the new
s S.e inio the Old Dominion the moment
tbat its government passes into the
hands of the conservative party. They
have made the plea that their opponents
favored the destruction Of the new State
government, their staple argument In
every political campaign and have harp
ed upon this single string an endless
monotone of disgusting nonsense. Ano
truth is that the radicals are the ioes VI
the new State and the enemies OF its
prosperity. If there be any dissatisfac'
| tion with the new State government
mon the part of the people, that dissat-
isfaction is directly attributable to the
proscriptive and oppressive measures OF
the radical administration.
But in the present division of parties
| into those who support the President
and those who support the Congress, the
adherents of the latter party in this
State are, in double sense, the enemies
of West Virginia If the congressional
theory of our government is made sue
cessful, West Virginia must inevitably
perish. If the radical theory In
relation to the status of the Southern
States prevails, West Virginia has no
legal existence and the new State Gov
eminent is plain aRd palpable usurpa-
ton. Everybody knows that in order
to effect the legal formation OF new
State within the territory of an old one,
the consent of the legislature OF the
mother State must first be obtained. In
the case of West Virginia, the legislature
of "the restored government of Virginia"
gave that consent land thus the constitu-
tional requirement was compledwith and
West Virginia was admitted to the Union
as State. The legality of the restored
government and its power to give this
n necessary consent were recognized and
acknowledged by the Federal govern
ment during the war. Delegates from
Virginia and from the new State were
admitted to both houses of Congress and
no one questioned their right to be there.
But how is it now9 The radical party
in Congress, including Mr.. HUBBARD,
from this district, now denies that Vir-
ginia is State. 1t excludes the repre-
sentatives of Virginia from seats in
either house of Congress. 1t does not
recognize nor in any way acknowledge
the legality of the State government of
Virginia 1t therefore strikes a fatal
blow at the legality of our new State; for
if Virginia has not legal existence
neither has West Virginia, her child.
Virginia is no less State in the Union
new than when the restored government
consented to the formation of the new
time to destroy her legal relations to
the Union, and if she is not State now,
she was not State then.
The radicals in this State, by follow
| ing the lead of STEVENS d Co., and adj
herring to his Estate suicide theory OF
governments, are, in reality, befouling
their own nest. They go about the
country prating of their love for the new
State government and falsely accusing
their opponents of seeking its overthrow
| while at the same time tho ''10 "u'oo"
y. ~, reconstruction which in
Sritable makes West Virginia an illegiti
mate child, q bastard organization
Thus, in q double sense, these radicals
are foes to the new State. They first
administer it's government in such a
narrow, proscriptive, bigoted and i"t"l
Grant manner as to create and spread dis
affection among the people, and thon bold
lyassume that the State has no legal exist
ence ut any rate, and they do AL this
while protesting in the noisiest possible
terms that they are the only A No. orig
inal, Simon pure friends West Virginia
now has or ever had Away with such
base and glaring hypocrisy; dow" with
such transparent fraud. The t'iends
of tho new State are those who will adj
min lister its government according to the
tennis of its consti Tu ton, aud, by main
ing the legality of the State government
Of Virginia maintain also that of West
Virginia All other friendship is cheat,
an imposture, a lie.
Meeting at West Liberty