The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1866-03-14
frou he Wheeling. In,ellfsenser;
The Union Party Of tVaEt Virginia
and it's rftncFicS.

The principteaenunclsted ~ XAplat.
form may fairly 81 taken to cmbG4y>A &
views Of the loyal people of tAe Ste:
As such we accept und endorse them
They are straightforward, simple but.
mprehcnsivc and sufficient. They com.
preheud the only real issues now before
our pcopleI y
We stand, FIRST, on the firm resolve
.ha. this State, ,.by the formation ofWhich
We were delivered from tho oppressive
and repre.sivf domination Of the East,
shall uovcr be c1tingu;shed in the com
mon ruin which treason has brought
down Upon its>rotaries in East Virginia.
WhiIo We stand by West Virginia for
ever, it must be West Virginia in the
Union. We con never recognize the
right of secession. It. would be for oil
the States simply national i@mSlatl21s.
IE.IIyS have. hi: nteresf 10 IN maiAtainl6gthe
Union peculiar to no other, State. ;It'is
the sworn purpose of the rebels South
and North, if they ever get the power, to
restore to Virginia her ancient bounds.
ries. Whenever the Union is mined
aud sbiycrcd to ruins, our little State
fall. into the hands of the South. We
cannot choose our position as other
States may do, for from that moment We
are nothing, The Union then is pecu.
liarly the palladium" Of our "libertics'
1t is the preserver Of our life.
We shall not argue at any length tho
position that the immediate purpose Of
the organization which steals the livery
of an ancient and once honorable party
is to extinguish this State. We cassert it
to be true, aud every intelligent man
knows it. We believe also that the
sam0 men contemplate as an Interior
purpose the asccndcncy of such a party
and policy in the country as will accom-
plish or permit dissolution of the
Union. la the SUCCESS Of either pur.
pose, our fate is sealed. Ifonly tho i'm
mediate purpose should succeed, We
would 20 back to the flesh pots Of Old
Virginia. If the ultctior purpose be
a plished, VIC would also bo turned
over 10 u foreign and detcstcd govern
mcn,. The ono would be social, poiiti.
cal and material death the other social,
political and material damnatiou.
That ,heso are the real issues involved
in the coming contest, stripped Of hol.
low professions aud pledges, is our pro.
found conviction. Believing this, We
say tho measures now proposed BY the
Uuuion party, of which tn. constitutional
amendment is tho most important and
efficient, are not only prudent aud judi
cious, but absolutely vital. For the
Union people Of West Virginia, the stake
Involved iu this contest is no less tF''
mcpdous than the stake Of the nation
that trcublcd 10 the scale at Gettysburg,
The naked issue on!ghich our people
have to vote this summeris presented oy
tho proposed amendncnt2to the STATE
constitution o, nd that question ~ simply
shall those who abettcd. tho rebellion e1'
ercisc 10 this State political Privileges
which belong only to the citizen who D
feels and ack nowledses an obligation Of
LOYALTY to the Govcrnment2 No techni'
culities cover up this issue. No man
can dodge it if ho would; The amend,
mcnt to the organic law, by those who
made the law itself, is constitu tioaaf of
course. Tho only question for every
man to face is, DO you desire that tho
men who abettcd the rebellion shall vote
in the present condition Of the country
For ourselves, VIC answer, "o DO not
We are free to say that lif the public
scfety permitted If these meo gave CYL
dcnce of returning fealty to the Govern,
ment, We would gladly see them restored
to all the privileges Of American u. citizen
ship, and. all the wounds Inflicted by
tben speedily healed: But blindness to
the truth in this case would'be more
than folly; it would :be crime: These
mon have not repented. They have
merely been disarmed.% Tboir; treason
rankles as bitter as ever; their purposes,
arc, tho same, though they are nov com:
pelIed toS'adopt different means; and
thax form tha Groundwork end ~. thS