The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-11-13
The Richmond Wing ana Its Ideas of
BLRte8mRnsIlED.

bLaSe8manSlsD
A few days ago we called attention to
the spirit of "rebelIious egotism and
conceit" that still pervaded the South
ern newspapers, and remarked especial
ly upon an expression in the Richmond
Wing, one of the mildest of those papers.
to the effect that the North in conse-
quence of the exclusion of the South
from power had lost "the only stable
and conservative elements it possess
ed" and was going "madly and
blindly along without rudder or COM
pass, and would never do any good
"until those elements are again called
into play" In quoting these words of
the Wing we took occasion to remark
that it was the use of such Language
that had served in the first instance to
sectionnlize the North in 1860, and in
the next place to convince the loyal
people of the country that the Southern
leaders, while they entertained such
opinions, could not safely be restored
TO power in the government. We re-
marked further that such Language did
not befit "the overthrOwn and repudi-
ated ideas of government" entertained
at the South, and that until the men of
that section became convinced that
their former policy was hereafter to be
subordinate, not paramount, they
might make up their minds TO remain
out of power. The Richmond Wing
takes up our article for editorial CON
sideration, and as preliminary to its
comments remarks that "the differences
between the Wheeling LlteLligcneer and
the Wing are so radical that We can
hardly expect that paper to approve our
editorials"
The editor complains that the INTEL
LIcENCER, though originally published
in Virginia and the South, unnaturally
abandoned their people and their insti-
stitutions in the hour of trial, and
Joined itself to those who became their
invaders, spectators and dividers. 1t
says that our "prepossessions, wishes
and affections are all with the North, !"
while its own are with the people and
the section in the midst of which God
placed Them"
THE INTELLIGENCER belongs to West
. NAkALlt4S anu w cAl ' lIklllH abandoned
old Virginia, the mother who bore her
and from whom She ''dreW suck" She
also abandoned the South, and cast in
her fortunes with the North. She does
not like anything Southern, neither
does the Wheeling INTELLIGENCER."
After having thus prefaced its COM
ments, by way of showing the differ
ences between us, the Why goes on to
affirm its original remarks about the
South being the proper moulder and di-
rector OF n sound national policy, and
that without her there can be no proper
craftsmanship at the helm. In proof of
the soundness of his aflirmations the
editor quotes ga passage from a speech
OF one of South Cardinals most gifted
statesmen" which is, in substance, but
his own remarks elaborated, and just
as boastful, egotistic and unfounded as
his own, no better and no worse. We
quote the passage as follows:
Eve close with the following eloquent
and aPrOpos passage from n speech
of one of South C0rOlina's most gifted
statesmen, delivered in the Senate of
the United States, in March, 1855. He
said: "YOu complain of the rule of the
South. That has been another cause
NlAAb Linz klCScANeAA JOus w - uANb kept
the government conservative 10 the
great purposes of the Constitution. We
have placed 1t and kept IL upon the
Constitutions; and that has been the
cause of your pence and prosperity.
The Senator from New York says, that
that is about to be at an end; that you
intend to TAKE the government from us;
that it will pass from our hands into
yours. Perhaps what he says is true;
it may be; but do not forget, it can
never be forgotten, it is written on the
brightest page of human history, that
we, the Shareholders of the South, took
our country in her infancy, and after
ruling her for sixty out of the seventy
years of her existence, we surrendered
her to you without n stain upon her
honor, boundless in prosperity, meal
culRble in her strength, the wonder and
admiration of the world. Time will
show what you Will mako of her but
no time can diminish our glory, or our
responsibility"
For the purpose of showing how our
Southern contemporaries meet the COM
ments that are made upon their articles,
wo have given nearly the entire editO-
rinl of the Wing. Our readers can Judge
how far such AN answer meets the points
we made. In the first place it must
strike every one as exceedingly boyish
and trihing to lay stress on the fact that
neither we nor the people of West Vir-
giniA were willing to follow old Vir-
gtnia aud the South into the rebellion.
All such words only the more conspic-
uOusly point out the ''egotism and con-
ceit, and the dangerous and unchanged
opinions to which we alluded. They
are "the dead flies" in our cotCmpora-
RVS Continent" that so repulsively aE-
feet the whole of his argument. Right
thinking people are accustomed to re-
gard the plea set up by the Wig In re-
spect TO following State into rebellion
against the higher authority of the Gov
eminent, simply because it is your
State, as the very essence of the hercsy
Overthrown and repudinted by the 10y
nj arms of the nation in tho late con-
test. And it is because that leaders
like the Wig still set up that plea, and
still congratulate themselves that they
were true to partisan interest at the
expense of higher obligations and a
higher patriotism, that we distrust
them. Our contemporary may de-
pend that just so long as he, and
such as he, consider it a matter OF re-
proaCh to the people of West Virginia
that they followed the flag of their
country instead of the flag of treason
and rebellion, just that long