The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-05-12

Y I welcomed home or furnished with
meals to cheer them on their weary
kwey.9 - f1fFE rL,g r.
~ but you-saw them looking troubled
and gloomy when the news of a great
u Union-yictory was received. You saw
them looking as though they, had heard
good news when the rebels were yicto-
4 rious. You-sawI them quietly aiding
Il and sympRthizing with rebel prisoners
4 in the Athenteum oftentimeS during
the war. You saw that several of the
leaders were put inthat building because
of their rebel boastings and rejoicings.
Yoursaw5 others in the City Council yo-
i ting Ato.take- away the privilege of the
I soldier to send home his ballot on cleo
tions daYs.s You saMOthers then in the
same council electing men to the city
4 Offices who had voted for the ordinance
Il Of secession. You saw them sending
I as delegates to their conventions, and
making officers of them, too, the most
prominent secessionists in our midst.
4 You saw that the other day In their
I State gathering III this city the most
\ noted secessionist in Marshall county
IrIyas appointed oneaof their State COM
mitteeg And since that you saw that
in their, Clarksburg convention some
/ 5of, the most noted rebels in the State
were the leading spirits. .-a.s3.y .y.1 3
What do you imagine fellow citizens,
these men would do had they only the
4 power Would they carry out your
4 Views as tough for and upheld by the
| Union armies during the war? or
4 would they carry out as near as rpossi-
.ble the views Of those with whom
They so notoriously sympathi on
the side of tie rebelfionT We put
the question to ,you. What would be
the natural course for such n party to
take in case it came into power 2ruWhat
! would Union men do in case the!rabel-
| lion had been successful r. Would we
have ceased to hate treason and would
/ we have changed over to sympathy
with rebellion2 Assuredly not. The
frebels at lehst would have taken care
that we had no opportunity to exercise
tcontrol. They would have made good
the address issued. by. Charles w. Rus
sell and lottieras ftoin Gthiss section in
| 1863, which was that voluntary aid
| and assistance to the government OF
| our country would "never be forgiven
or torgotten, blythe rebel leaders when
they became successful, as they then
| boAsted they soon would be.
Fellow citizens swe quote and endorse
the Language of President johnson in
his speech Of June 9th, 1854, at the city
| of Nashville, Wien he said that the
Itraitort t'hdd forfeited his right TO Uote
IVitt loyal men IOheaL ne ae7toltnced LttS elt-
fzehSHtp and sought 10 destroy our Cop
erememt.r And, again. we especially
endorse this Language from the same
source: 30 roe izlE
awe say. to the most honest and in
I dustrfous foreigner who comes from
| England or Germany to dwell among
| us, iand to add TO the wealth Of the
Fcountry, Before you can be a cltlzen
| you must stay here for five years Ii
| we are SO cautious about foreigners,
who oyoluntarilyir irenouuce their homes
| to live with us, what should we say to
lithe traitor, who, although born and
reared among US, has raised a parrlcl-
4dalhand against the Government which
always protected him? My Judgment
| is that lie should be subjected to Sc
| we're ordeal before he is restored to citi-
izenship.n. .n.9'A 12zE1l
And, again., fellow citizens, we en-
I dorse and commend togyou the lan-
| guage of Daniel Lamb, ESQ.,, of Wheels
ting, who, in our House of Delegates In
/ February 1865, announced as great
public necessity Tor the safety and
\ permatiency of West Virgtniaas State
\ in the Union that we must :
+ ssL41iopt a O,lstiLuti0ndL restriction for
the purpose of preventing rebels from
coming here among as to exercise the
| our affairs, dfter beng engaged for gears
in endeavoring to destroy u.s."
These words OF. Mr.. Lambs are as
true and 5aS imp pttantl to-day asithey
| were tile day he uttered them. The
| feelings of thoSei whom he spoke have
not changed towards Union men or. the
Union cause. Except at our peril we
! cannot invest the aiders and abettors of
the rebellion with the power of the
| State.
| The men who'now denounce our Cons
| .stitutional Amendment as tyrannical
are those who in 1861 resorted to every
appliance of force and tyranny to bring
| West Virginia, and all her loyal people,
under the dominion of the. rebel Con-
federncy. f4fffteE:F Aal Lils-
/. In the month of July, 1851, the Vir-
ginia Secession Convention passed an
ordinance declaring:
oflice, under the Government of the
United States after the Slsts of Jnly,
4 1851 : should be forever banished from
| the State and be declared anEdLie1I e,l-
eny and thatany citizen of Virginia
hereafter Undertaking TO represent the
State of Virginia in the Congress Of the
United States; should, in addition to
the above penalties be, considered
guilty Of treason and his property be
! liable to contiscation." ~. .s.,l-le.
Recollect that this "measure of vim
dictive harshnessv was, in the language
of Hon. John Min9T BottsG mined at
those whose only crime was declining
"To surrenderlthei birthright as citiG
zens of the freese and best government
| on earth, or to make voluntary relin-
,quishment Of their great inheritance OF
I freedom"
Treason. in all. Governments has ever
been punished as the greatest of crimes.
/ The loyal people of West Virginia do
not cafl for the Pnni shhients laid down
/ IN the laws of the land. They seek not
ton Of any man. All they de-
lsire. is protection against the po.
Iiliticai aseehdancy in our State
1 councils OF. that rebellion which was
oyerthrown in the field. They seek
4 this protection because they feel that
4 their only security lies Inc keeping the
state in the control of its friends, and
4 not ffskfnig its ultimate fate in the
lfhands of those who are not and never
4 have been its friends. In the language
Il or one of our Senators (Mr. WILEY the
llsNfety of West Virginia as a State in
/ the Union is only assured by the con-
| tinued ascendancyS of the great Union
,Epartyl of the State and the country:
iEloverthrow that party at the polls and
4 we have no security that the State viii
ltnof at the first meeting of the Legtslh-
4 ture be transferred back TO Old Vtr-
4 ginia. .5 -
or these dangers fellow citizens, we
feelzonfselves called upon tow you
Eere yetjit is time. We pray that you
4 viii give them your serious attention
before posting Yonr ballots on the
1 24th of this Month. If the Constitu-
Y tiona1 Amendment is adopted, as we
\ believe twill be by a decided majority,
4 allwiil be we'll with the future Of our
I State. Our existence in the Untonis
a defeated we are entirely at the mercy
i of our foes. fs9es- sgz ~ ai-F
l9,i. q JoHNR HuBRARD,
4 n III. LOGAN,