The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-01-30
eM1tet1i99nfee
. 2[I 4 G2Tn
RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION.
LeIteEFf from Gehu n: INC H6Fris-..-!!Thei
Language OF the Constitutional
WASHINGTON, PA, Jan. q, 1886.
E5fitors T,te1soe,fee,. II

Amendments tReV1eWeuAnuD DAAcuSseu
WASHINGTON, PA, Jan. q, 1886.
Editors Inteu1genccr:A . IL y
GENTLEMEN-Itw was my purpose
IN my speech IN the =, HaH OF the
House Of Representatives the other
night, to meet and answer fairly, all the
objections that have been urged against
tuition of West Virginia. ~ > .t'4..t =
There was oneShoweyer, and7perba
the most plausible of them all, and
which II well founded Is worthy Lof the
serious copside deratiop Toflth people OF
the State, which escaped my attention.
It is this That the proposed amend-
ment Mepld ,exPstEiatsa Large Por.St2nf IdSSf
sequenhy ifanot Absolutely !nnjust, lit
would be very impolitic. I propose
now through the medium fyour paper
to consider this objection.
Theohjsction is founded on'a certain
construction of the term citGseH, las used
in the proposed amendment.
follows: No person who; since the
give voluntary did or assistahcG 70 She
rebellion against the United States,
shall be aIcitizen of lthisjState, or be al
lowed to votes any election held there!
in, unless he has volunteered into che
military or naval service OF the United
States, and has been, or shall be, honor
ably discharged from the same.iI T 4
Now'1et Us inquire what isthe obvis
GUS intention of this amendment, and
what the character and ,e6tent'of the
disabilities which it would impose LIZ
The intention of, the.prpposea amend
ment obviously is, TO protect the peace
and welfare of the state agalnst th~
machinations of its enernfes.i And how
does it propose TO, dolthisa Is 1t fair
and necessary distinction from its Ian
ptla0e that it proposes to do 1t by deny
ING Ihe right OF residence in, and BAN
is6ing from its territory a certain class
of itsinhabitahts who are assumed TO
be dangerous to its peace and weltareT
Obviously mott makes no provision
for this-neither does it authorize the
legislature 70 pass laws to secure this
result buESit2 aims toIsecures tbeTpeace
and welfare Of the State by Withholding
from this class of persona certain inn
citizenship, viz: the cleo
tive franchise, and, by consequence, the
right to hold Office. l,i2Ga
be a citizen Tof thisI State,p obviously
means, as here used, that no person who
has given or shall givevoluntary aid or
assistanSefb the rebelfion against the
United States, shall be citizen of this
State in the full and complete political
sense ofthatterm, but shall as a Gc1ttzen,
labor under such disabilities as tne
amendmentp viz: that he shall
he d deprived OF tho elective franchise
That it Is not the intention of the pro-
r1osedj amendment to lexpatriate these
rebels is made plain byaimplicatto
from the language "no person shall be
a citizenro of this State, eoribeS dLtoi0ed to
pote." The latter clause defines the
meaning of the former not to- be ithat
thew shall be denied residence in the
State, for in that case this clause would
have ebeen.unnecessary,
Webster, in defining the term citizen,
gives to it the following amongst other
Qualifications: 1st, the native Of city,
or an inhabitant who enjoys the free
dom and privileges of the city In which
he resides, the freeman of a cityS as dis
-tinQuished from foreigner, or one not
entitled to- the elective franchise. I'd,
an inhabitant of a city, town, or place.
I'd. a person, native or naturalized, VINO
has the privilege Of voting for pubic
officers, and who is qualified to I'LL OFF,
ces in the gift of the people; and any ma
tive born, or naturalized'Perso Ole
er sex, who is entitled to full protection
in the exercise of The so-called private
In the United States there are, poIiti-
callv speaking, grades of citizenship.
A very Important and celebrated .decis,
ion of the Supreme Court of the United
States says: Undoubtedly person may
be a citizen, that is, a member OF the
Community who form the sovereignty,
laIthouph he exercises noEsharea of the
ipoliticaI power, and is incapacitated
from holding particular offices. Wo-
men and minors, who form a part Of
tIss joliticaI family,i cannot yotei and
wien properly quail tieation is re-
quired to vote or hold particular Of
.tice, those who have not the necessary
cannotvote, or hold ot1ce,
yet they are citizens. lDreo Scott de-
The theory of our Government is, not
onIy that ali native born Inhabitants are
citizeus! !! but also that they are free and
equal he efore the law; and 80 theyare,
and always have been held by our
courts, except in solar as the law may,
in certain cases, and in certain meas
:, ,reS. have imposed disabi lities. = Ad
No disabilities are to be inferred -
thew must be exactly defined by legal
nrescription, or by the principles of the
cofnmofi law. so, in the casein Hhandf
no inhabitant or citizen of the State
could be deprived Of any right OF 'clti-
zenship, except those specific privileges
Teffass i iiaye fairly met the iobjec
ton. and shown that tis equally, fu-
Tile with those which 1 considered in
my address. l.ls:ll4t 10 X 2 81. - l.sal
/ al us now, put. the case in its strong
est light as againstthe proposed amend
nent. and admit that it would be con-
strued asSto expatriate large portion
of the people of the State, which, by the
way. L could only consent to admit for
the, sake of argumentp ana then 1el1 no"
does the matter stand
who are the persons who would be
thus banished from the State 1 an
sTsf, ,ffiose who ,IhaEeg1y 1yenr Yotp mary NJ
aid and assistance to the repelllon
against the United States since the hTst
day of June, 1851. Those persons who
hate beeniin arms for the overthrow Of
that eovernment, and others, also, who,
whenever opportunity offered, and IN
eyerv Ray that they could, gave aid,
comfort, shelter and support to these
rebels in arms. boththesec classes being
actuated and mpysd by g, determined
purpose, which was perslsteo IN .1LEIi y
iouf-lonE years, not only to overthrow
the fpoyernment of the United StAtes,
but also the loyal government OF VIZ
piniaI and the new State pt Dffess VIZ
einiat after its creation. -
Many of these people nave tne1r
hands stained with the blood OF their
former neighbors and friends; shea,
fbn1y and eowardly shed in the midst
of. scenes and circumstances calculated
to 10 make the heart Of even = demon re:
lent, Many of them were dragged
f-.SSSa He bosom OF their families at the
ttlesH h6Tr of night, and cruelty muir
ds-sd Almost ON the thTesholds of their
uidomicils. Others were torn rom
-tha- eTnbraees of an agonized wife and
chiidren.ltoi be shot doyn before their
sS,es., whilst others were stealthtIy way
,SS55 ssaniTshot down by the way side, or
in nitheirowni doors, hen. spRFepspaing
~ ~ 4 nt5s nm trees by the wayside, and
- ~. tISa beasts Of the forests and
isiras of tfe air, unlessc Qnsignsd to the
earth by some passing humnn Loeing (. N =